Gods Who Walk Among Us

I try to stay about from posting about people who just died. It's too easy and unoriginal. But this morning I feel compelled to.

I do not believe in god, eternal spirits, life energy, or any of that stuff. I do think that we are all born with differing talents and drives to develop them. At best, most of us our abilities and determination to make the world better for those immediately around us. Michael DeBakey, who died on Friday, made a difference in the lives of untold millions.

Dr. DeBakey performed heart surgery on tens of thousands of people, but created surgical instruments and techniques that are used on almost anyone who has cardiovascular surgery. He was also one of the first researchers to link smoking to heart disease.

Because of his work, my father and several friends are alive today. Dr. DeBakey, thank you for your life.

International Cultural Emergency

Lola, get yer arse on the next Aer Lingus flight. This cannot stand. A tourist caught drinking Bud in an Irish pub should be thrown out. But a local? They should sent to beer drinking re-education camp or something.

This, plus a Belgian company buying Anheuser-Busch (the purveyors of Bud, etc).

Can't wait for my home made brown ale to be ready...a couple of more weeks.

The Hard Working Media

Telling the truth is hard work, especially when everyone wants to lie to you. That's why journalists have a tough job. But, just because it's hard doesn't mean they shouldn't work at it.

Here's a case in point. Your local newspaper/internet website probably showed the following picture of the recent Iranian missile test:



But, look a little bit closer. See anything suspicious? Maybe this will help:



That's right, Agence France-Press, the folks who distributed the image which it got from an Iranian website, are now indicating that it was digitally altered. The Iranian website now only shows the 3 missile image.

So, the most respected newspapers in our country are printing second hand versions of pirated "news" images from less than reliable sources. Nice. Could they be any lazier? Still have any questions as to how Bush got away with the WMD argument for Iraq? I thought not.

There will be the usual media self-flagellation over this for about 48 hours. Then they'll go back to putting their resources towards car wrecks and celebrity crap instead of reporting important news. This is why no one's crying over so many newspapers going under.

When the Fame Fades

I'll admit it--I'm never going to be famous. As such, I cannot relate to what famous people go through, especially as they move on from their pedestals. I would think this is particularly hard for athletes, compared to entertainers or politicians, in that they are young when their careers are over. It's hard to bow out gracefully and probably even more difficult to live 40 years of your life not doing the ONE thing you were awesome at for the first 30 years.

Two things bring this to mind. First is the dance going on between Brett Favre and the Packers and whether he is going to un-retire. Favre clearly can't give football up. I'm guessing that this goes for any athlete who retires while still in relatively good health. When he announced that he was quitting, Favre said that playing on Sunday's wasn't a problem, but all the preparation was killing him. Fair enough. As training camp gets closer and he starts missing the camaraderie of the locker room, etc, the practice grass starts getting a bit greener. And he's probably thinking that last year's 12-4 team has a shot at the Super Bowl (forgetting that it was his poor play that cost them the game against the Giants).

Favre is losing sight of the fact that his skills are diminishing and the glory years are gone. I don't think he's doing all of this for one more round of adoration--he's had enough of that for several lifetimes. And I don't think he's being intentionally selfish, though his actions are making if tougher for the team to move on with their new quarterback. He just wasn't ready to stop doing something he loves cold turkey. I'm thinking it will be a year to two before he's mentally retired.

The second, and probably sadder story is that of Tommie Smith and John Carlos, the sprinters who protested the treatment of African-Americans at the 1968 Summer Olympics. These two men were a spark that forced us to to look at how African-Americans and African-American athletes were treated in this country. They now bicker like two old men over the details of the race and the event, losing sight of their contribution to our country. Sure, they have books to sell, but the energy they spend being so divisive towards each other takes away from their message of unity in 1968. The original message should have kept them on their pedestals for the rest of their lives.

Weekend Wrap

I hope that you had a good 4th of July weekend. Pardon today's grammar as I'm a bit hungover.

On Friday, the HB and I were in our local parade...twice (one with Indian Guides, once with Rotary)--yes, it's not that long of a parade. However, the number of people who show up always blows me away. After that we went to my s-i-l's for lunch and (eventually) fireworks (she lives in a city where you can legally buy fireworks). My other s-i-l recently got a cat, so my wife decided to have a kitty shower for her (don't ask). The HB enjoyed the fireworks and we saw some pretty good finales on the way home.

Saturday was hell as we went furniture shopping with my s-i-l. My wife decided that we needed more seating in our living room. This gave me the perfect opportunity to let her know that Labor Day weekend is going to involve a lot of football (my fantasy football draft on Sunday and the Tennessee-UCLA game on Monday night). The place we went to has great mission stuff, but, that's not how our house is decorated. And, as Murhpy's furniture law would have it, the pieces we liked had poor fabric choices, and vice versa. But, we did find a sectional that should fit. I think we'll try that for a while before deciding if we need to buy new chairs, etc or just re-upholster what we have. And we came *this* close to getting more red stuff.

Yesterday, the HB was at a birthday party for most of the day. That gave me the chance to watch a good chunk of the Federer-Nadal Wimbledon final. Federer has gotta be kicking himself over losing the 2nd set after leading 4-2 and serving. However, it was about the most amazing one-on-one sporting event I've ever seen.

We had some friends over for dinner last night (see hangover comment above). Two of them have teenage boys, so the HB was able to get in some good GH time with with them. Many bottle of wine were drained. As one couple was our neighbors, we always say "well, let's just have one more bottle...no one has to drive." It was a fun group of people (13 of of) and dinner was good (grilled chicken in an apricot and adobe glaze, grilled veggies, salad and garlic bread).

I'm sooooo not motivated to work today.

Oh, and funny picture goof in today's LA Times (see Sam Nunn).

Happy 4th of July

Until I can come up with something more original and ironic, this will have to do for my 4th of July post.

The HB and I will be riding a fire truck in our town parade...woot!

Now go light something on fire. Besides yourself. Or your friends/neighbors.

One More Time, Why Should We Trust You?

Every time the government (and it's not just Bush, but his lapdogs the democrats as well) asks for more surveillance power in the war on terror, they are implicitly saying, "You know we are doing the best we can with the tools we have. If you only gave us this new shiny toy we'd do even better." Let's see if they're so good going after domestic terrorists.

First, let's consider Richard Jewell. A quick aside, I was on the MARTA after watching the Dream Team play when the bomb went off. Not only was Jewell, after first being proclaimed a hero falsely accused, the guy who actually did it, Eric Rudolph, was on the lam for 7 YEARS.

OK, so maybe this case was in a less technological age. How about Steven Hatfill. As you recall, right after 9/11 someone(s) sent some anthrax to the Capitol building and a tabloid magazine in Florida. Not only did our country's high alert snooping not intercept this, but, again, they were following the WRONG GUY for for almost 7 years (the crimes still haven't been solved). Dr. Hatfill just settled for $5m+ while the government admitted no wrong doing. Uh-huh.

In both cases, the government tried these guys in the media, only to end up with egg on their faces. Meanwhile, all of their toys and gadgets were either worthless or used against the wrong people. Don't think that'll happen again? That's what I thought. Keep that in mind next time the feds ask to chip away just a little bit more at our privacy rights.