The Anti-LeBron Spirit

This summer I focused most of my attention on the World Cup that took place in South Africa, but everyy once in a while I would be bothered by the constant and insipid media attention to LeBron James and his low-class abandonment and rejection of the city of Cleveland for the beaches and glamor of Miami. His self-centered and ill-conceived treatment of the city that gave him the chance to become a star was shameful and it seemed to me that all big stars in every sport ore self-serving mercenaries, whose only interest lies in reaping the most lucrative offers imaginable. As many of us struggle through the recession, it is hard to sympathize with LeBron, but there are stories that can help restore our wonder at the power of sport and community. Two of my favorite stories from the past year come from the English Premier League.

Chris Eagles is a winger for the recently relegated Burnley side that had a remarkable run two years ago that led them to promotion to the Premiership. Despite a strong start Burnley was relegated to the second division--the Championship. This past summer, Eagles was offered the opportunity to play for Scottish powerhouse Glasgow Rangers. The money was there and the possible prestige...but Eagles said 'no.' He decided to stay with Burnley and help the team fight its way back to the Premiership. During the press conference, Eagles spoke of 'fighting alongside his teammates,' --the exact opposite of what LeBron said during his televised spectacle last summer. Kudos to Chris Eagles. Players like him make it easy to root for Burnley.

The other wonderful story developing in the Premier League involves Blackpool, FC. This team was promoted to the Premier League for the first time in nearly 40 years and what a run they have been on! They have defeated traditional powers such as Liverpool, FC and have made a proud showing for their fans in Blackpool, a seaside town located in northern England on the coast of the Irish Sea. The 'Seasiders' were not supposed to be playing so well; they did not follow the script. They have played hard and played for their community and have come up with some impressive results. Follow Blackpool by visiting the website of the The Gazette.

Burnley and Blackpool might never win the championship, but they personify the characteristics and represent the hopes and aspirations of their respective communities in a way that LeBron James never will. And for that reason alone I am a fan of these two wonderful teams. I hope that Cleveland can take heart in the fact that there are players out there who take much more inspiration from the uniform they wear than from the paychecks or prestige tossed out be the sporting elite.

Revolutionize Yourself

Image via Wikipedia

'Change Yourself, Change the World' is the motto so vociferously announced to the world by Spanish anarchists in the early 20th century and especially during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939).

So resonant is the message that many companies and organizations have adopted the saying as their mantra, in some cases completely unaware of its origins.

We are now approaching that time of the year where we all promise to make changes to our lives--the dreaded "New Year's Resolutions." Throughout the year we often need to be reminded that we need to appreciate ourselves more often. In this day and age of immediacy, distancing social relationships through technology and crumbling social etiquette, I would like to feature two sayings that are worth keeping in mind.

The first comes from a book written by Louis Auchincloss in 1974 titled 'A Writer's Capital.' In it he writes, "a man can spend his whole existence never learning the simple lesson that he has only one life and that if he fails to do what he wants with it, nobody else really cares." The message: your life should be important to you...who cares what others think! We need to be reminded of this at times.

The other comes from the "Weddings/Celebrations" section of the December 26th New York Times. A couple--Mina Guiahi and Jesse Levinson married in mid-December, but what struck me was a Farsi quote--"ghilli vili." It means, roughly translated "to create a revolution in someone."  To create a wonderful change and sensation in someone. I can't think of a more noble goal, except perhaps, for creating a revolution in ourselves.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Is Environmentalism a Religion?

Image by aldoaldoz via Flickr

Environmentalism is easily one of the most significant movements that developed in the 20th century (alongside the feminist and civil rights movements). In theory, since we all live on the same planet (well, except for a certain former governor of Alaska) we should all be unanimous in our support for protecting the environment. In reality, nothing could be more divisive. In a recent article by Joel Garreau in  The New Atlantis, environmentalism is cast as a new faith, a new religion that has inspired and provoked many people. This has nothing to do about global warming or climate change, but how people advocate their support for a movement more on faith than on empirical data. Garreau quotes noted physics professor and climate change denier Freeman Dyson as describing environmentalism as a movement that, "has replaced socialism as the leading secular religion."

It seems that Karl Marx's famous quote "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" (Religion is the opium of the people) has found a worthy successor in environmentalism.

For the record, I am an avowed environmentalist but not a carbon calvinist, as depicted in this article. Whatever your stance may be (liberal, Democrat, conservative or Republican), you should read this very interesting article.

Mapping it

Source: Carl Størmer (http://carls.blogs.com/my_weblog/2007/01/norge_sett_fra_.html)

The other day I stumbled on to a very interesting blog called Strange Maps (http://bigthink.com) and I found the postings and the concept behind them fascinating. As you know, in my line of work my objective is to encourage and inspire students to consider new perspectives Strange Maps is a wonderful tool to foster new ways of thinking. I will be visiting Strange Maps regularly. When I visited the site recently I saw this fascinating map titled "US States Renamed for Countries with Similar GDPs." Check it out. You will learn new ways to look at maps and the information they contain!

La Fageda d'en Jordà

                                  Image via Wikipedia

 One of the reasons I created this blog was to bring the world and its many treasures to my readers. Here is an excellent example of a Catalan poet, who I am sure many people outside of Catalunya do not know. He is a wordsmith whose imagery evokes thoughts, feelings and metaphors that transcend linguistic barriers. The Catalan poet is Joan Maragall(1860-1911) and one of his poems can be found below.

La Fageda D'en Jorda

Saps on és la fageda d'en Jordà ?

Si vas pels volts d'Olot, amunt del pla,

trobaràs un indret verd i pregon

com mai més n'hagis trobat al món:

un verd com d'aigua endins, pregon i clar;

el verd de la fageda d'en Jordà.

El caminant, quan entra en aquest lloc,

comença a caminar-hi poc a poc;

compta els seus passos en la gran quietud

s'atura, i no sent res, i està perdut.

Li agafa un dolç oblit de tot el món

en el silenci d'aquell lloc pregon,

i no pensa en sortir o hi pensa en va:

és pres de la fageda d'en Jordà,

presoner del silenci i la verdor.

Oh companyia! Oh deslliurant presó!

To hear a beautiful musical interpretation of this poem, listen to Dolors Lafitte. Even if you don't understand Catalan, you will be moved by this beautiful voice.

Were you paying attention in 2010?

It is routine by now that every time the year ends we look back and reflect on what happened in the world.Given our increasingly smaller attention spans, I wager that many of us missed out on some pretty important trends that might impact 2011. Thanks to Foreign Policy magazine, we have a nice list of ten trends that we should be mindful of in the next year. Check out the magazine's "The Stories You Missed in 2010." Topics range from a global sheep shortage to stem cell tourism. Laugh if you will, but if Foreign Policy Magazine mentions it, then we should be paying attention.

Nyet to Netanyahu

                                         Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Rachel Corrie protesting the destruction of Palestinian homes

We are all familiar with the the names of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and Robert Hanson--people forever inextricably linked to the term 'traitor.' They committed that most heinous of acts of betraying their nation by selling national secrets to other countries. But have you heard of Jonathan Jay Pollard?

Similar to his role as a spy, the name Jonathan Jay Pollard skims the surface of public awareness eliciting only a vague sense of recall from the most informed and well-read of us.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has recently made it known that he would like Mr. Pollard, currently serving a life-sentence for selling national secrets to Israel, released into Israeli custody. He argues that Pollard's failing health merits reconsideration. He has some audacity, doesn't he? Perhaps, while we are at it, we can erect a memorial to Benedict Arnold and declare a day in his honor. Utterly unbelievable.


What bothers me most about this episode is the arrogance of Netanyahu's approach. He dismissed the murder of the American activist Rachel Corrie by an Israeli solder in 2003 as "an accident that happened." Where is his sense of moral outrage and justice? The answer, clearly, is that since she was protesting the destruction of a Palestinian doctor's home, she was an enemy of Israel and no tears should be shed for her death. Hmm..and now Netanyahu would like for the US to release an Israeli spy simply because he has served enough time and that his health is ailing.  I propose this solution: when the solder who murdered Rachel Corrie faces justice (and a life-term in prison), then we can consider Netanyahu's 'proposal.'

A John Keats poem

                                      Image via Wikipedia

If you have been following my blog, then you will know that I like to post poems. Today, while at the library, I came across this beautiful poem by John Keats (1795-1821), a very well-known British poet. This piece resonated with me because I always try to reflect on each moment. Life does go by quickly and I try to enjoy every bit of it. Enjoy this John Keats gem.







When I have Fears that I may Cease to Be                                       

When I have fears that I may cease to be
    Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
    Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd  face,
    Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
    Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
    That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
    Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

A Penchant for the Pejorative

Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr

One of the things I enjoy most in my free time is browsing through book stacks at the library. You just never know when you will find a book that immediately piques your interest. The American Civil War historian James McPherson likes to conduct research in libraries because of the serendipitous qualities combing through old books provide.

Today I was looking through some stacks and I came across a book called "Crossing Cultures" and I opened it to an essay by Jack Shaheen titled "The Media's Image of Arabs," which appeared in the February 1988 issue of Newsweek magazine.

In it, Shaheen points out something that made me shake my head in disappointment. He writes,"In his memoirs, Terrel Bell, Ronald Reagan's First Secretary of Education, writes about 'an apparent bias among mid-level, right-wing staffers at the White House,' who dismissed Arabs as 'sand niggers.'

It seems that this term first surfaced in the American collective memory years ago and now is solidly entrenched within the psyche of the American landscape. This is a vile term that has yet to draw the same charge as the 'n-word' does. Anti-Muslims these days cannot even claim to be original. How sad.

Related articles

• Redefining Muslim Roles on Film (newsweek.com)