A Hackneyed Olbermann Has Lost His Bite

There was a time I respected Keith Olbermann for injecting sense of humor to sport broadcasting, but after suffering through his recent “analysis” demonstrating Derek Jeter’s inferiority (http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/11586050/boston-red-sox-planning-low-key-derek-jeter-ceremony) I have decided that he is not worth paying attention to.

In an almost Don Quixote-esque fashion, Olberman rattles his sabermetrics against what he sees as the windmills of Derek Jeter adulation. But there are no windmills. He is the only one who is blowing wind. He has to…………he has no modern day Sancho Panza. The only reason I can think of as to why Olbermann would engage in such a classless move (similar to Skip Bayless insinuating that Jeter was taking steroids a couple of years ago) is that he wants to distance himself from over-the-top Yankee worship. Remember, this is the man who publicly called upon Cal Ripken to sit down on the verge of history instead of passing Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak in 1995. It is amazing, isn’t it, how journalists can ridicule, heap scorn upon and make baseless insinuations against an athlete and no one ever holds them accountable for their boorish behavior?

Olbermann is the same man who found amusement at making fun of the name of the Italian goal keeper Gianluca Pagliuca. Yes, it rhymes, so what? We could extend your form of entertainment to your name: Doberman Olbermann. But you have no bite, do you? Any PR cachet you had disappeared after your short and tumultous tenure at MSNBC.

ESPN has hired Olbermann back, but what remains to be seen is if his time at the sports network will be as insightful and informative as when Rush Limbaugh joined the booth of Monday Night Football. Now, that was a great decision, wasn’t it?

The perfect antidoe to Keith Olbermann are these two links: 

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11590438

http://www.marca.com/2014/09/26/mas_deportes/otros_deportes/1411717416.html 

They even love him in Spain. Does Olbermann even know where that country is? Think bull, Keith, for that is what always comes out of your mouth.

The Ice Bucket Challenge and Moral Licensing

I am sure everyone has seen  numerous videos of friends, relatives and celebrities being doused with ice-cold water in the name of challenging others to do the same or make a donation to fight ALS-amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease). The cause is noble, of course and while some critics have denounced the act as narcissistic "slacktivism" there are others who have offered a critical and reasonable concern about the latest cyberfad.

Don't worry, I don't have ice coursing through my veins, but perhaps I am a bit of a cynic. How many people who pour cold water on themselves actually make a donation? The premise of the fundraiser is to either make a contribution of $100 or have water poured on you. Amidst the jocularity and e-camaraderie that we have seen with these Facebook exhibitions, a sense of perspective and in a way empathy is lost. People seem to have forgotten about those who lack water. How would residents of Detroit, battling a water shortage respond to the ALS fundraiser? I am sure in countries suffering through droughts could not care less about the Facebook antics of Internet denizens.

William MacAskill, research fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, has written an excellent article highlighting unexamined consequences of the ice bucket challenge. He notes that money contributed to the ALS through this challenge is funding denied to other charities. I am ambivalent about this, but his next observation is spot on. He describes another trend, "It's called moral licensing; the idea that doing one good action leads one to compensate by doing fewer good actions in the future." Many people seem to think that by making a contribution they have cleaned their soul and they do not have to do anything cause-worthy for a while. Does moral licensing permeate all the ice cubes that shower down on willing participants? Perhaps.

 

I think MacAskill says it best when he makes the case for more active and regular involvement in ONE or TWO causes; to become more knowledgeable and familiar with the issues and challenges. How many of the ice bucket participants know the details and challenges of ALS? Are any of them even aware that many people in our country are without water as they (the ALS fund raiser participants) undergo an ice shower? 

While it is extremely impressive that so much money has been raised for ALS research, it would be better if this were more than a one-time fad that will make the VH-1 highlight reel when the program visits the year 2014. 

Concrete Poetry of the World by Rakuli

Do you know what concrete poetry is? I am just getting into it myself, but here is a fine example by Rakuli (www.rakuli.com) that I like since I work in international education!

Enjoy!

Meet Isabel Leonard

Last summer I read about a young Argentine-American opera singer who performed at an outdoor concert in New York. Reviews were great and I checked her out on the Internet. I found her website and listened to a few of her concerts. Wow! What a voice! I am no opera expert, but I was moved by her performance and her multi-cultural outlook on life and how she puts her bilingual talents to good use. But don't listen to me....
check her out yourself. Her website is: http://isabelleonard.com/.

Here is a video of her in concert. Enjoy! Gracias, Isabel!

The Police Perspective

It is easy to issue a blanket condemnation of the police in light of the events of Ferguson, Missouri, but in the name of perspective we really need to see the police side of things. They are after all, human. I think if someone attacked me and I had a gun, I probably would shoot; it is a natural reflex. I think ultimately, the blame rests with both Michael Brown and the police officer who shot him in self-defense, Darren Wilson. They both took actions without considering the consequences and now one person is dead and the life/career of the other is being scrutinized in such a fashion that he will never be the same again.

Here is a nice infographic that illustrates how police feel about how justice is meted out in the US. What do you think? I have used the image from the website Policy.Mic which features an excellent take on how the police mindset has changed in recent times.

Dusklands and Ferguson, Missouri

The conflagration in Ferguson, Missouri that has engulfed the nation in inflammatory rhetoric and condemnation brings to attention many details and perspectives that many are unaware of or refuse to consider. The police have received harsh criticism for not only the death of Michael Brown, but for how they reacted afterwards, especially dealing with protesters (interestingly enough the looting that took place during the riots received nowhere near the condemnation it should have).

Many authors, historians, sociologists, political scientists and community activists have decried the police state, but I do not think anyone has put it into words as well as J.M. Coetzee. Writing about the Vietnam War in his excellent novel Duskland, one of Coetzee's characters describes a couple of lines of thinking that certainly apply to the police approach to the Ferguson protesters. He writes, "We brought with us weapons, the gun and its metaphors, the only copulas we knew of between ourselves and our objects. From this tragic ignorance we sought deliverance. Our nightmare was that since whatever we reached for slipped like smoke through our fingers, we did not exist; that since whatever we embraced wilted, we were all that existed."

Referring to the U.S. military's approach to demoralizing the Vientamese, Coetzee's character,almost proudly, claims, "We must work on the assumption that the military believe in their own explanations when they assign a solely military value to terror operations." This is what we are seeing in Ferguson. Somehow a military mindset has set-in in police approaches to protests. I cannot say if this is an inheritance from the Kent State University shootings years ago or a reality that was borne out of the wreckage of the Twin Towers and the Pengaton in 2001. It does not bode well for us.

                       

Source: Policy.Mic
                   

An Angry Millenial Strikes (at Your) Back

Katie Kieffer

Looking trim and elegant on the cover of her new book, Let Me Be Clear, Katie Kieffer, asserts her generation's list of grievances against President Barack Obama, declaring his perceived lack of effort "a war on Millenials." Browsing through some books at a Barnes and Noble store I came across this and the title caught my attention. Flipping through the pages, however, I quickly noticed Ms Kieffer's belligeraet tone. As a young woman who has clearly achieved success (she has made frequent appearances on Fox New channel (although I would consider this more bad taste than success!) it is interesting to see the ire and spite that this young woman has. The more I read the pages of her book it soon dawned on me that we have someone who wants to be the next Ann Coulter. Of course, this means attacks on President Obama and any manifestation of left-leaning policy. I can see her being prepared to be the next line of conservative right-wing screamers who will say anything to get attention. She is so committed to the right-wing cause that she doesn't take time to get her facts straigtht (an Ann Coulter trait she has perfected). She regurgitates hard-line venom without even considering what she has written. Take for example, her criticism of Jay-Z and Beyoncés trip to Cuba. She writes: "Mr. and Mrs. Jay-Z Carter vacationed in Cuba for their anniversary in the spring of 2013--you know, that communist country run by a dictator whose people love him so much that they risk their lives paddling on makeshift rafts, to get here?" Who is she referring to? Fidel Castro or his brother Raúl, who took over for him several years ago? I don't think Ms Kieffer has followed the news lately. If she had, she would have known to use the term "balseros" for the people who traversed the dangerous waters to make it to the US.

There were some other misrepresentations as well, but these days, who needs to be factual? My side bias ensures that an author of any political bent will have an audience. Young Ms. Kieffer will "write" more books I am sure; there is certainly a market for her (fiction, experimental, politics, etc.). As for me, I thought seriously about buying it, after all, in Cuba we often have a shortage of toilet paper.