Author: whodeanny

The More Things Change

 

For the past few years I’ve been holding out hope for the potential dissolution of Sudan into Sudan and Southern Sudan in next year’s independence referendum. I have dreamed that this vote would be the impetus for the eventual fall of the Khartoum government led by President (and master genocidaire) Omar al-Bashir. Bashir’s loss of oil revenue from the south would weaken his ties with China and permanently label as the man who he let the south get away. Both those possibilities would be damaging to him.

 

However, the prospects of a successful launch for South Sudan seem slim. This article from the Economist suggests that the putative South Sudan may be such a weak state that civil war would likely follow. Whether that would give Bashir a new opportunity to recapture South Sudan or simply fracture it into an aborted state, the future looks dim. Out of the frying pan…

 

FDO

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome Back…

 

It's been about a month since I posted on this blog and although I've missed doing it, I think the time away was helpful. I'm fully into the swing of teaching this semester and I think I have a little more intellectual energy right now. (Insert joke here.)

I lost a substantial cache of documents including many blog 'posts in preparation' due to my own computer errors and I'm frustrated but okay with those losses. For those of you who have asked me why I'm leaving fish behind and moving to a purely vegetarian diet, sorry. The thoughtfully worded response is gone.

My guess is that I will be a much better blogger as I develop a schedule that will make sense but that's not quite ready yet. It will happen soon and I intend to more consistently send my thoughts out into the blogosphere even if they fail the test of full formation. After all, I fail that test myself.

Be well!

 

FDO

 

Dan

This is a poem I wrote more than a decade ago. I'd basically forgotten it until reminded of its genesis by a good friend. Thanks JYL.

 

Dan

 

Young inside old out

Bright skin shines

Like tanned leather hide

His eyes

Glimmering clear

 

No feelings to deny

When he goes home

Lying in the dusty room

All he calls his own

Within his view

As he smiles

And lays down to rest

 

 

© Gayle Force Press 2010

Dusty Baker, Tony LaRussa and Red Ruffians, or, Major League Blunders!

Why Baker and LaRussa should not see each other again this season.

I have a few thoughts about the Cardinals-Reds brawl from their last series. You may remember Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips made numerous provocative comments about the Cardinals then when he came to the plate, Yadier Molina chastised him, benches cleared, bodies flew and hell was raised. At least two pitchers were tossed against the fence in a scary scene. One of them, Johnny Cueto, received a seven game suspension because of kicking at the Cardinals surrounding him. Jason LaRue suffered a mild concussion as a result. I firmly believe that Cueto’s lengthy suspension was based on the injury that his actions caused, not the actions themselves. Random kicking into an onrushing crowd is much less dangerous than throwing a fastball at a batter’s head. Cueto was obviously frightened and, as a pitcher, smartly avoided throwing punches. As we’ve seen too many times, a single arm injury can cost a pitcher his career, millions of dollars and his team a championship.

More importantly, MLB should institute a blanket rule covering fighting the way the NBA has done. In the NBA, if you are on the bench and cross onto the playing floor you are automatically suspended. (I think there should be a little gray area there because basketball benches are so close to the court that players on the sidelines are often less than a step away from the court so crossing over sometimes happens during actual play, much less during a melee.) In baseball, the idea might be to simply punish anyone who comes onto the field or, if already on the field, leaves their legitimate area of engagement. That covers guys playing defense, warming up on the sidelines, the on-deck hitter, the base coaches, everybody. As usually happens in these fights, Phillips and Molina were yelling at each other but not fighting. It was only when 50 other guys crowded the area that things became physical. (Reason #37 professional sports are like junior high school.) Removing the additional people from the scene means that umpires and security personnel can tamp down confrontations quickly, easily and safely. Ideally, managers would be exempt from this rule and allowed to bring their players back to earth from Planet Testosterone.

That notion took a beating in the Phillips-Molina encounter because Tony LaRussa and Dusty Baker failed in their primary responsibility as managers during a fight. They did not serve as peacemakers protecting the game and their players, instead they escalated the confrontation. For them, two games was not a severe enough penalty. I think MLB missed a perfect opportunity to declare that fighting is a dangerous problem for baseball by dropping the hammer on these managers. Baker and LaRussa should have been suspended for the rest of the season series between these teams. I mean, full blown suspended too, as in, can’t enter the stadium during these series. These are old school guys who behave in old school ways that simply don’t make sense in 2010. These great managers behaved in ways that encouraged their players to fight. That is entirely unacceptable. What I am suggesting is the kind of draconian penalty that would make it clear to managers that fighting will no longer be tolerated. Too harsh? Perhaps. That’s kinda the point.

FDO

HIV and Gay Marriage Rights

Last week someone showed me the first poll to indicate a narrow majority of Americans support gay marriage.  For the past few months, I have been talking and thinking a lot about our perceptions of HIV/AIDS. I teach US History and cover the 1980s including HIV, gay liberation efforts and the Reagan administration's reluctance to discuss AIDS or fund research efforts. In class, I read an excerpt from ‘And the Band Played On’ and the kids consistently flip out because they (incorrectly) assume their government would have been highly interested in, y'know, trying to stop a dread, communicable disease. It is always heartening to me that these young people almost uniformly reject anti-gay policies and prejudices, even retroactively. They are the ones who will consistently support laws, initiatives and politicians who advocate marriage rights for everyone.

 

In discerning the base level meaning of marriage, I think it is clear that for many people, the institution of marriage provides license for two people to have sex. This poll reveals significant change in attitudes concerning gay marriage and I am wondering if part of the reason more straight people are willing to support the public sanction of gay sex via marriage has occurred because our collective fear of gay sex has diminished tremendously since the gay people profiled in ‘And the Band…’ were just about the only people who knew anything at all about AIDS.

 

When Magic Johnson announced he was HIV+, I thought there was a good chance that my generation (I was 17, in college and LOTS of us were sexually active) had a new JFK moment. I was totally wrong though (it's still Challenger). Instead, Magic is so healthy, active, rich and visible that I know some people have (temporarily?) forgotten he has HIV. That's a little scary actually. AIDS is now the leading killer of Black women between 25 and 34. The most horrifying elements of that statistic, for me, is that these women have still not been educated enough to know that they are a) susceptible to HIV, b) perfectly capable of preventing their infection in almost every case and c) consistently late to receiving diagnosis and attendant care.

 

Our increasingly cavalier attitude towards HIV is another reminder that we have an amazing level of privilege in the U.S. In so many countries, HIV almost always becomes AIDS and almost always equals a death sentence. Now, early detecting Americans are likely to stay healthy for a very long time. Some of them, like Magic, will always carry HIV but never develop AIDS. The transition in our country from a) AIDS=Death to b) HIV= chronic, massive health concern gives me increased hope that some of the fears our society has long harbored about gay sexuality will continue to fade. The likely repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is another step in that direction. (Baby steps to full equality, baby steps to full equality.)

 

While judicial decisions are critical stepping stones, it is ultimately the support of the American people that generates the permanent force of change. That change is occurring. Most people I suggest this to think I’m crazy but I believe that gay marriage will be legal in half the states by 2020. That's my hope and my prediction. We're on the way, people. Slowly but surely. We're on the way.

 

 

FDO

 

US Open Men’s Tournament Preview 2010

 

 

This is the first time in many years that at least 5 men should enter a Grand Slam tournament feeling as though they have at least a 10% chance of winning. For Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Robin Soderling, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, this US Open has to be seen as a realistic opportunity to provide a breakthrough in some way.

 

For Federer, winning this title would not only ‘stop the bleeding’ but it would dim the calls that he’s on the path of clear decline. Last year, his loss to Martin Del Potro was seen as shocking, but this year, his aura of invincibility has all but vanished. Winning in New York would push him back to being the clear #2 in the world (the silly ATP rankings system be damned) and would give him another year of multiple Grand Slam victories. Not only would that pad his lead, it would also keep Nadal from gaining ground in that all important category.

 

For Nadal, this tournament could push him into rarified air. Winning the lifetime Grand Slam is significant and would allow him another feather in his history cap. 3 Grand Slams in a year would also propel him radically out of the pack and into a unique position at the top of his sport. Nadal stands to prove that his game truly does work on hard courts and US Open success could mean that Nadal would also be primed to win in Australia next January with a chance to win the “Spanish Slam”.

 

Soderling needs this win. He needs to get past the competitor stage and move into the champion stage. He has the game for it and the personality to take it. Instead of being one of the guys, Soderling could become The Next Big Thing in tennis, instantly surpassing Djokovic and Murray in that conversation. (Del Po could have been that guy but his wrist injury has made that impossible.)

 

Djokovic risks becoming a tennis afterthought. Even though he’s #3 in the world, and has been as high as #2, no one feels that he’s likely to become the best player in tennis. (To most fans, even Djokovic’s arrival at #2 was less about his climb as much as it was about Fed’s descent.) Winning in Australia in 2008 should have catapulted him into tennis’ royal box but it didn’t happen and now he’s in jeopardy of being a one hit wonder. He still has a chance to become Jim Courier instead of Michael Stich but has to take advantage of this kind of opportunity.

 

Roddick may need this championship more than any of the other top contenders because his window seems nearest closing. His only Grand Slam victory came here in 2003 and, although he’s had excellent results since then, he’s likely to be viewed as an underachiever when his career ends. Although winning again in New York would be the least beneficial major for him to win, he desperately needs another Grand Slam title under his belt.

 

Andy Murray is best suited to win on hard courts but in his two Grand Slam finals, Federer beat him thoroughly. If Murray truly believes he can eventually win Wimbledon, he would be well served to have notched a major championship elsewhere first. The openness of this year’s field may yield the best opportunity he will have to achieve his ultimate goal.

 

With the rough equality of so many top contenders, I believe the US Open may prove a tremendous fortnight for tennis fans across the globe.  Especially since the clear #1 woman, Serena Williams, is out of this year’s tournament, the excitement of the men’s tournament is likely to provide the key to a successful end to the 2010 major season. I am looking forward to the many great matches I expect over the next two weeks.

 

 

FDO

 

 

Dead Settlers Moon

I am teaching about the colonial period in US History and have recently covered the Proclamation of 1763 which defined the Appalachian Mountains as the westernmost area in which English colonists were allowed to settle. That didn't last for long. The westward expansion continued until the self-fulfilling prophecy of Manifest Destiny was achieved. Achieved at unknowable cost.

Last night the moon was as bright as I remember seeing it in years. It was a Dead Settlers Moon.

There’s a dead settlers moon tonight

When the sky is full of piercing light

Forcing the world into noticing the depth of shadows

Sparked in white not yellow

 

These were the nights

When crossing no man’s lands

Led to rampant success for the bow strung warriors of the Lakota Sioux

While the cavalries of gunpowder and smallpox blankets

Never seemed to arrive in time

 

 

 

 

© Gayle Force Press 2006

 

Cordoba House Controversy

 

In having some Facebook time, I’ve been talking about the folks who have decided that Muslims are not allowed to have buildings in certain locations. This whole news story has been a giant orgy of misinformation, suspicion, paranoia and political posturing. The folks for whom this really should matter most (the 9/11 survivors and families) don’t appear to have much problem with Cordoba House.  For the rest of us, though, for whom this is only theoretical and not part of our lived experience about 68% of us don’t want a mosque built on Ground Zero.

 

Of course, that’s only the story on the ticker. Most of us don’t know anything beyond the buzzwords that have been used to describe the situation. Generally, I believe that it's very easy for people to see a headline, hear a loud voice, form a (mis)conception and get stuck in their positions.

 

Since the rhetoric of fear, hate and suspicion means more money and more votes, it's gonna keep on coming. (Yesterday it came in the form of Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid declaring his opposition to the project. Reid is in a close race for his seat so felt the need to publicly comment on a building planned for 2500 miles away from his state.) That's part of the reason I appreciate the rise of social media. Just as quickly as misinformation can be disseminated, correctives can be shared. Hopefully more and more Americans will be willing to hear, read and learn from folks who don't share their worldview.

 

Hey, I can hope, can't I?!?

 

 

FDO

 

Same Name, Different Man

 

 

 

I’m named for someone

I no longer know

 

My father used to be a man

Who had this name

And skin

A similar color

 

But now he’s bearded

With a different body

 

And people tell us

We look alike

Because of our hair

And disdain for smiling

Which used to annoy

But now amuses me

Although not enough

To ever make me smile

At them

 

 

 

© Gayle Force Press 2003

 

All I Wanna Say Is That…

… they don't really care about us. Here's the prison version of the video.

A friend of mine is in a wheelchair and as we were talking last week I noticed that the name of the company that made the chair is Invacare. I gasped a little because I immediately thought of ‘invalid care’. Isn’t that what I am supposed to think? Isn’t that problematic?

 

The word invalid strikes me as immediately negative. I mean, it’s ‘in valid’. There’s nothing helpful about using that word, especially since the people using their products are the ones indicated by it. Isn’t this simple?

 

 

FDO