End College Athletic Scholarships?

Good ol Ralph Nader has come up with a really interesting idea in relationship college athletic scholarships. When I was in college I thought student athletes should just get paid, just like any other student working a part time job. I still rather like the idea but it has some problems. It doesn’t adequately deal with college size and the amount of time a sport requires of students. But we do know that scandal after scandal takes place in the present scholarship and athletic student perks. [Major school athletes can put in 50 work weeks in practice.]

Ralph Nader has a simpler idea. He says, just get rid of all athletic scholarships. Wow! He says this would “de-professionalize” college athletes. Hmmm.

Of course, we are all more aware of this by the recent news of wanting to create unions for college athletes as college employees. This has certainly perked public debate.

Nader believes this would help reduce the “win-at-all-costs” mentality in high schools and universities. He thinks it would lessen player playing hurt under pressure to perform.

Nader has support from the Drake Group, an athletic watchdog organization. Even former head of the NCAA agrees that college athletes should be paid.

College athletics is big business. It is even big business in some high school and even grade schools in the country. Have you ever looked at the football stadiums for high schools in Texas?

Allen, TX

Admittedly I am not the greatest sports fan. But I like the idea of sports and games. We play them for fun and the development of skills and some for teamwork. I learned to count playing Parcheesi. But all too often we see coaches railing at the athletes unnecessarily. Even little league has its wacko parents promoting winning over just having fun. We often coddle our good athletes making them seem more important and valuable than other mere students. We push kids too soon and too often risking the health and long term wellbeing.

I wonder where he learned that?

Something needs to be done. Perhaps Nader has a point. I doubt that today’s sports activities and school pride is any better than when we just chose sides and played and had school spirit with unpaid athletes.

Something to ponder.

Blame the Victim Economic Theory

Paul Krugman in the New York Times nails the one percenters and their minions thinking well in their blaming the victim excuses for unemployment.

He points out that study after study has shown poor worker skills to be a false assumption as promoted by an article in Politico by Jamie Dimon a JP Morgan Chase CEO. It is the idea that if you just keep on saying something, even if it’s false, it’s true. Thus, this has become a popular idea in this country. But the data shows that employment is lacking in all educational groups compared to the pre-Great Recession. Krugman says simply if employers want better workers and greater talent, pay them more.

This type of thinking contributes to an increasingly class differentiated society. In this society, a lot of folk buy the malarkey of the ultra wealthy and really don’t realize where they are in the class structure.

We hear this stuff all the time. The evil welfare mother’s myth by Ronald Reagan is a good example. Never happened, no such person, but lot’s of folk believe it. Folk in families where both spouses have to work longer and harder to maintain the lifestyle of the parents even believe this fabrication. Another example came from a friend with this T-Shirt bit: “Ineptocracy ) in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.”

It sounds good, does great scapegoating, and promotes as illusion that the middle class or those who think they are in it, are supporting deadbeats. The problem is it is completely lacking in facts.

Recently in the news we are hearing lots about the millionaire couple, Lord Colin and Lady Andrea Chisholm, III that scammed the government getting $167,000 in welfare. But nowhere have I heard how the Chrisoms got their millions to begin with. How much different are they from the owners of Wal-Mart who pay their workers so poorly that they government has to supplement the workers incomes with food stamps, etc.?

If we followed the guidelines of taxes when we began them tax rates would be much different. Originally, it was only the rich that were supposed to pay taxes. The average family was not expected to pay any income tax. Today the median income in this country is $52,100, thus anyone making that or less should not be paying income taxes. Warren Buffet gets it but also benefits from it by paying less income tax than his secretary. He does this by investing his money so his income comes from dividends, capital gains that is lower than regular income tax. A tax loophole created by rich lobbyists for the rich folk who control congress through their wealth/contributions.

I remain amazed that so many folk blame the wrong people for this country’s economic woes. We know what works. We saw it in the New Deal Keynesian economics that worked up till Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately, today that is not in the memory banks of most Americans. Negativity sells and so the untruths about blaming the poor for our troubles persist.

Cat Sports

“Hey sisters,” said Lamont, “I’ve found a great new sport.”

“What?,” said Pawline.

“Well, lately I’ve been sneaking into Mewreen’s and Meugh’s bed at night and laying nicely across Mewreen’s feet for long periods of time then suddenly I pounce on her feet and legs with claws extended as though they were alien creatures that must be destroyed instantly. Wow! What a reaction. They get all excited and try to calm me down. So, I lay there a bit more and do it all over again. Eventually I get tossed out of bed or just leave.”

“Lamont,” said wee Patch, “that isn’t even nice. I don’t know why they put up with you.”

“I still prefer ScRUGby,” said Pawline.

“ScRUGby,” what’s that?” asked Patch.

“It’s what we used to call rug scrungie, when we run and skid on the rugs around the house and make them curl up. I think scRUGby is a much better name,” said Paw.

“I agree,” said Lamont, “scRUGby catches the really essence of the game. Well done Paw.

“I need to come up with a name for my new game of climbing to the highest levels in a room. You know when I climbed up and along the crown molding in the great room,” continue Lamont. “Boy did that get a rise of out of the human servants. Any suggestions?”

“Well, you could call it ‘uppelling’ the opposite of repelling with no ropes,” said Patch.

“Uppelling, it has a good ring to it, uppelling it is,” said Lamont.

“You know we cats are super athletes, expert in many sports unknown or unthought of by humans. We should have our own cat Olympics,” said Patch. "We could eat a lot and become sumo cat wrestlers. We could have untag team wrestling, just all of us tussling as we do now. There are countless games we can do."

“Good thought Patch,” said Pawline, “but for now let us down what we do best --- napping.”

And they did.

History vs. Living History

Recently I got to have a quick visit with our new grandson-in-law, Richard. He is a remarkable young man with a degree in history from Pepperdine University with a minor in political science; or maybe it was a double major. At any rate, I had a favorable predisposition towards him with social science background. He is also Special Forces member, a medic and plans to get his medical degree. Nice catch Tara!

During that brief conversation I asked him what history he had studied and he said Middle-Eastern history. Now I’m really intrigued by this part of the world western minds have a hard time grappling to understand and mainly don’t. He also said he loved the history, but being there in his military assignments he did not love living in the culture. Interesting.

This got me to thinking about historical counterparts in our country’s history. My historical training is in western history meaning from Greek and Roman backgrounds through European and U.S. history.

At anytime, I wondered if living in those times whether they would live up to our expectations. Human nature being human nature, I think we are often disappointed with our current condition and we can see our shortcomings up close and personal.

Back to reflecting on the Mid-East; if I were to compare current history in the Middle East to U.S. history I think I would like compare it to our history in the South during our most racial bigoted eras. Especially those times when the Ku Klux Klan (the hooded order) was very active. They were likely strongest in the mid 1800’s, with another surge in the 1920’s and even today they have an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 members, our extremists.

There was a wonderful line in the TV show West Wing, in the episode Isaac and Ishmael where the character Josh compares Islamic extremism to the KKK when asked by a student why the Islamic fundamentalist terrorists want to kill us. I think it was a wonderful analogy.

For those of us of the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Middle East is where our faith developed. Jews and Muslims are cousins, the descendants of Abraham and Sarah (Jews) and the descendants of Abraham and Hagar (Muslims.) Cousins.

And yet these cousins, so close in beliefs and culture are like the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s with a feud that never seems to end even though their religions are religions of peace and neighborliness. The polity of Islam also makes understanding them more difficult. No one speaks for Islam as a whole. Each group under the leadership of their Iman speaks only for their own group. In a way they are a bit like Baptists and Congregationalists in this country where each congregation is an entity unto itself in contrast say to the Roman Catholic church where the Pope can speak for all Roman Catholics.

I also think it is difficult for westerns to study the Koran/Quran, which reads so differently that the Old Testament or New Testament scriptures. The Quran is most like reading Proverbs in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, a Number of pithy statements about life. But most of us in the Judeo-Christian tradition are more used to story telling. Jesus was a master teacher in that he taught through stories allowing the reader to enter the story and therefore get the idea better. Or, the Quran seems more of an academic discourse rather than a conversation and story sharing. This is too simplistic but it makes the point I want to make.

It is easy to condemn those who ways are so different that our ways as they are hard to understand. This is true for the Westerner and the Middle Easterner.

We can wonder in our society, which supposedly has, a Christian background seems so unchristian in things that we do. Though we have progressed we are still a racist country not treating all as equals. We fail to take care of our brothers and sisters in a loving and caring way. We limit our neighborliness to those near and dear. We proclaim the love of Jesus and act antagonistically towards each other. Can you really see Jesus packing a pistol, demanding preferential treatment and reaping the greatest riches for himself at the expense of others and resolving conflict with violence?

We are strange creatures no matter wherever we live. We continue to do great things and horrible things at the same time. And yet God, by whatever name we call the deity seems madly and passionately in love with us and blesses us despite our actions.

We hope and prayer that cousins, as we all are, will continue to try to get along as members of God’s family. That probably means not only believing in our religious figures but also doing what they have told us to do.

The Case of the Mysterious Blood Trail

“My name is Detective Perry Cat Mason also attorney of law,” Said PCM after he knocked on the door of the Drennan residence.

“Come on in Detective shyster,” said Lamont after opening the door to PCM. “What can we do for you?” As Paw and Patch peeked out from behind various doors.

“I’m here to investigate some rumors of possible mayhem on these premises,” stated PCM.

“Really,” said Lamont. “I’m not sure what you are talking about. There is no one named May Hem here, just myself, Lamont Cranston and my sisters Pawline and Patchtricia. Oh yes, I almost forgot there are also our human servants Mewreen and Meugh.”

“Mayhem, chicanery, flimflam, deception and perhaps even…murder. You know perfectly well what I’m talking about; not May Hem but mayhem, foul play,” continue PCM.

“There are no chickens here either,” said Lamont casually licking his paw.

“What? Who said anything about chickens?” exclaimed PCM.

“You did, “foul play’ you said plain as day. No chickens, turkeys, pigeons, parakeets, robins, or even lowly sparrows playing here, just we cats.”

“Obfuscation! You sneaky cat. You know full well what I mean by foul play and it has nothing to do with winged creatures. However, it has been reported to me by a winged creature flying by that there was blood on the floor of the great room at this location,” accused PCM.

“Was that the bird the flew into the window the other day? Perhaps he had his birdbrain scrambled,” answered Lamont.

“Listen up, this is serious business and I am here to find out what it is all about and I expect your cooperation, “snorted PCM. Do you deny there was blood on the floor in the great room here recently?

“Nope,” replied Lamont as Patch and Paw gasped from behind the respective doors.

“There was blood, you admit it,” said PCM.

“Of course,” replied Lamont. “This cat does not prevaricate.”

“Yeah right,” whispered Paw to Patch in the hiding places.

“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere, show me the blood,” said PCM expectantly.

“No can do,” said Lamont inspecting his toes nonchalantly.

“Do you refuse to show me this blood evidence Mr. Cranston,” demanded PCM.

“Nope,” said Lamont.

“You refuse to show me this evidence,” said PCM incredously.

“Nope. Nothing to show,” replied Lamont laconically while peering at his tale flicking to and fro.

“But you just admitted that there was blood and I demand to see it immediately,” demanded PCM standing on his toes.

“It’s gone.” Calmly replied Lamont, snatching an imaginary bug from the air.

“Gone? Where did it going Mr. Cranston. Tell me that and right now,” growled PCM.

“Sure,” said, Lamont. “The servants Meugh and Mewreen washed it away.

“Did you instruct them to do that?” asked PCM.

“Nope,” answered Lamont, “they just do things like that. They’re servants you know. They are supposed to keep things clean.

“Good grief your servants got rid of the evidence,” exclaimed PCM. That could be a crime itself.

“No crime that I know of,” replied Lamont licking his paw and cleaning his ear with it. “Just servants doing servant things.”

“Well, can you tell me where this blood was,” inquired PCM?

“Sure.” Said Lamont.

“Show me,” demanded PCM.

“This way to the great room,” replied Lamont and he spun around and headed to the great room. “This way, just follow me.”

“As I recall there was a little blood left of Meugh’s recliner. Then there was more smeared in front of the couch and at the end of the couch. Then there was a bit more on the other side of the room by that left bench,” explained Lamont waving a paw in the various locations.

“And now it is all gone,” inquired PCM?

“Asked and answered,” replied Lamont. At this point both Patch and Paw wandered into the great room to see what was going on.

“Now think carefully,” inquired PCM eyeing each cat with a penetrating stare. “Do any of you know how that blood got on the floor here? Think very carefully before you answer.”

Lamont, Paw and Patch all looked at the floor and at each other then the floor again then each other once more then replied in unison, “Nope!”

“Oh Bast,” exclaimed PCM. “I’m leaving now but don’t for a minute think this investigation is over.”

“Investigate away,” said Lamont ushered the detective/lawyer to the door. “Have a nice day.” Then he watched the muttering PCM walked dejectedly down the steps to the walk.

“I wonder if he’ll be back,” asked Paw?

“Who knows. Not all mysteries get solved,” said Lamont with a small smile on his face and twitched a whisker or two. “Let’s tussle.”

And we that the three cats of mystery pounced upon each other careful to keep the claws pulled in so as not to hurt each other, or draw any blood.

Who knows what happened here? Only the Shadow knows.