Athletes an embarrassment to rest of city

By now, we have all heard way too much about the Duke University Lacrosse players accused of raping a stripper during a house party. And now this:

The Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. - Top Tampa Devil Rays Bay prospect and Durham Bulls standout Delmon Young was suspended indefinitely by the International League on Thursday, a day after throwing a bat that hit a replacement umpire in the chest.
"The Devil Rays' organization supports the decision," said Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay's team's executive vice president of baseball operations.

Young, 20, brother of Detroit star Dmitri Young, was ejected in the first inning following a called third strike in the Bulls' Triple-A game at Pawtucket, R.I.

When Young took his time leaving the batter's box, the umpire tossed him. Young then flipped his bat underhand, and it sailed end over end, striking the umpire. The umpire, whose name was not released, did not appear injured and remained in the game.

C'mon all you Durham athletes. Get it together. Learn some good sportsmanship and respect for your fellow citizens. Durham, NC, is known for a lot of great things. Don't overshadow them with your disgraceful behavior.

By the way, did I mention that in August, I'll be moving to the fine town of Durham? So I have a special investment in a positive public image of Duke University and the surrounding town.

Jose, can you see?

Urban Box Office, a New York-based record label and marketing company, is recording the United States' national anthem in Spanish as part of an album called "Somos Americanos" or "We are Americans." You can read more about it here.

Many people are really upset about this, and I just don't get it. America is the country of immigrants, and although English is the national language, I don't see why anyone who feels patriotic toward the U.S., whether they're from Mexico, Poland, Botswana, or Mars, shouldn't be able to sing the national anthem in their native language. There's no such thing as "American" culture really, because we're such a melting pot, and immigrants who become citizens are required to know the national anthem in English anyway. People don't give up everything they are when they become a citizen, they still retain and celebrate their heritage and culture. So why not open our minds and learn something about the artistic touch given to our national anthem from another culture? Heck, translate it into any of the hundreds of languages spoken by citizens of the United States. Add a funky beat, mix in some inspiring words that actually mean something to people (Do Mexicans really care so much about our WASPy war with England? They historically had their own problems with the Spanish, and most Mexicans are a mix of Native American, European, and possibly even African blood anyway). People emmigrate to the States because they have more economic and educational opportunities, more religious freedom, and/or because their families are already here. They're not looking to take over the country, they just want to make a living for themselves.

Some people might argue that it's wrong to change the national anthem, to add words or infuse artistic flair. Might I remind those people that it's just a song, not a church hymn or prayer. No one will get struck down for changing a song that was written in the 1700s and doesn't even apply to many of this country's citizens who don't have the same history with Imperialist England.

Happy Belated Earth Day, y'all!

Looks like environmentalism is becoming the latest fad--this month's issue of Vanity Fair magazine is the special Green Issue, with articles about the famous environmentalists we all know and love, as well as other tips and information about the environmental movement. Ironically, the magazine is printed on the usual glossy magazine stock, which probably contains little to no post-consumer (aka recycled) paper. Eh well, they do what they can, right? I mean, that photo of George Clooney in cargo pants has to look high quality, right? In any case, the magazine features Chicago's very own Ruler of the Universe...ahem...Mayor Richard Daley, who has been a leader in creating a greener city. Chicago's City Hall building was the first in the country to have a green roof, which includes rooftop gardens and other energy-saving building materials that keeps the building cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Prior to the green roof installation, the AC ran at 100% capacity all the time; with the green roof, the AC only has to run at 80% capacity because the roof helps keep the building cooler.
Obviously, you have to go buy the magazine to read all the articles (couldn't they have put all of this issue online, which reduces the paper waste of having to buy a thick magazine?!) But check out the preview here.

Say what you will about Utah...

...but they are surprisingly progressive when it comes to environmental issues. Kennecott Utah Copper Corp., a mining company, has supposedly converted to environmentalism and is planning an environmentally conscious megasuburb near Salt Lake City that will be twice the size of San Francisco when it's completed in 50 years. The true sustainability of this megasuburb remains to be seen, but in the meantime, it's creating some buzz and will perhaps encourage other mining companies to turn from their evil ways and give something back to the earth. Read more about the megasuburb here.

DeLay follow up

I have decided to join the masses and obsess about the whole DeLay-mission from God thing, mostly because my head is just spinning from trying to figure out how this guy thinks that he's God's messenger. This article from Washington Post highlight's DeLay's next mission to bring the United States together under a fundamentalist Christian agenda. To quote from the article, "...the Rev. Rick Scarborough, introduced DeLay to a Christian conference just last week, saying, "This is a man, I believe, God has appointed . . . to represent righteousness in government."
Besides the obvious fact that DeLay is the very opposite of righteousness, I'd like to point out that he is BFF with Jack Abramoff, who was just sentenced to 6 years in prison and whose downfall is just the first in a long line of dominoes destined to fall in the coming years. Abramoff is an "Orthodox Jew" which really is a joke because probably most Orthodox Jews could argue that his religious conviction is all a front, contrived to gain support from the religious right. So if DeLay wants this to be a fundamentalist Christian country, where does his buddy Abramoff (and all other Jews in this country) fit into the political, law, and business structures of this country? Or shall we all just convert now?
To quote DeLay, "People hate the messenger. That's why they killed Christ." I don't even know what to do with that.

That's a HUGE bunny

Is this thing real? Holy crap.
Monster Rabbit Devours English Veggie Plot

Hot News Day

A few more things that might be below the radar:
Mass. Bill Requires Health Coverage

Agencies Not Protecting Privacy Rights, GAO Says

Hope Flows Anew for Troubled Klamath

Maybe he doesn't know about that infamous video

One down, how many more to go?

Tom DeLay is leaving politics. Well, at least he's resigning from his duties and not running for re-election. But he has so many connections in Washington that I would guess he will find other ways to get his grimy little hands into some more trouble.
He said he was in public service (a policitian as public servant?! Hah! Not these days!) to do God's work and bring Christianity to government. But he's leaving because his buddies are getting busted and the polls show he would have a very challenging re-election campaign. So does he think God really approved of the money laundering and the pandering and the work done on behalf of lobbyists to degrade the environment, reduce medical benefits for the poor, take resources away from those who need it most, and line the pockets of the ever-richer corporations to the detriment of individuals and small businesses? Just like athletes and musicians, politicians are very quick to praise God and Jesus when they're successful. Funny how God and Jesus don't seem to be nearby when scandal or misfortune hits, eh? I'm not against having faith and saying a little prayer once in a while if it helps people feel better and maintain confidence as they pursue their work. I'm just saying, was God on the side of those choosing to break laws or get involved with shady business deals or keep resources from the people who really need them? Most regular people who are in some way religious try to live up to the moral standards taught in church or synagogue or other places of worship or religious observance. It's the bad eggs who preach moral and religious superiority, yet blatantly harm others behind the scenes, who try to set the standard. Because all the best things in life are free, but money sure buys a whole lot more.

FYI for Women

I've been complaining lately that despite my years of training, with weights, cardio, and yoga, and my general improvement in fitness, I just can't break my threshold in speed and endurance when it comes to running. I've been blaming it on the boobs. I know many of my sister athletes have similar woes, especially we Jewish girls with hearty Eastern European blood. I think there's hope for us though, as evidenced by this article in Discover magazine. Breasts that can fill a D-cup bra can weigh 15 to 23 pounds. Try strapping that much sand to your chest, then running a few miles.

Maybe the next generation of sports bras will help not just 20- and 30-something women who are entering the athletic community after discovering the gym in college, but also girls in junior high and high school whose adolescent body issues (embarrassment over blossoming early and avoiding gym class) prevent them from feeling empowered through sports and general athletic activities. Think of how this could reduce obesity problems in kids and reduce cancer rates in adults.

A photo in life

I remember when the lightbulb went off, about a year ago. I was riding the CTA Green Line from Hyde Park to the Loop. I looked out the window as we approached the Indiana stop, when lo and behold, there it was.
During the summer before my junior year of high school, I took a mural art class. The plan was to have finished a mural by the end of the summer that would be hung in the wing where the school radio and closed-circuit television stations were produced. Since none of us had ever attempted such a task, our teacher brought us to the Elliott Donnelley Youth Center on the South Side of the city. I don't remember what the inside looked like; we spent a lot of time in the community art garden, an oasis among the dilapidated buildings. I took lots of photographs of the mural on the wall--the style reminded me of that of Thomas Hart Benton, an artist about whom I was writing a biography for this class, who painted flowing scenes on large canvases. I also photographed the sculptures from different angles, and with other students leaning against them or examining them. One cone-shaped sculpture was painted bright yellow with red dots. A stone gazebo was inlaid with polished stones and shining tiles. There were also large painted tiles and other things too, which I didn't photograph and can't remember. That was 1996. For 9 years, those photographs have been floating around in my drawers, mixed in with other photos from parties and such, hiding behind books. Until I looked out the train window, I had no recollection of where that mural and sculpture garden were located. (Until I moved to the city of Chicago, I had no idea there was anything else besides Michigan Ave. and Clark-and-Belmont.)
And when I saw the mural on that youth center wall, it was the weirdest thing, like spending 9 years looking at a photo of a person you met once, then walking past them on the street, looking exactly like the photo. It was like finding a long-lost friend. Only this friend's facade had faded. The mural seems to be in pretty good shape, at least from a distance. But the bright yellow cone-shaped sculpture is faded to a gritty pale tan, and the stone gazebo looks tired and worn. But it's all still there, just like I remembered it in the photo. Perhaps one day this summer, I'll stop onto the center, photos in hand, and offer to help out with something.
If you want to see a photo of the Elliott Donnelley Community Art Garden, go here
The mural on the taller building on the right is the one I have so many photographs of. You can see the yellow cone-shaped sculpture just in front of it, and the stone gazebo is in the middle, right in front of the train rail.
If you want to see what the area looked like before the restoration, go here

Why rockers rock (and not just because of their music)

I heart Guster. Their music is great, they're nice Jewish boys who sing about latkes during Chanukah, and they're also environmental activists. While on their Campus Consciousness tour, they will drive a van that runs on B20, a 20 percent biodiesel blend. According to the news article on Environmental News Network today, this "Campus Consciousness Tour, www.campusconsciousness.org, aims to educate, inspire, and activate students, and above all, leave a positive impact on each community and college/university that the tour reaches, according to the band." The tour is sponsored by Reverb, an organization that is a project of the non-profit organization ARIA Foundation (Artistic Resources In Action). If you want more information about the tour or anything else mentioned here, click on the above link to the ENN news article, which has more info and links to the websites of the other organizations above.

Crunchy Cons

No, I'm not talking about the negative aspects of being an environmentalist (because really there aren't any). I'm talking about political conservatives who are embracing the environmental movement along with their liberal cohorts. Clean air and water, natural resource conservation, and wildlife protection aren't issues that only affect political liberals. When the environment suffers, we all suffer. More people on both sides of the aisle are stepping up to join conversations about conservation and to take action to clean up our land, air, and water. Check out this article on Environmental News Network as evidence that the environmental movement is growing everywhere, whether we want access to more organic food, to save the arctic seals, or to just reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Speaking of oil, there's an article in the April issue of Discover magazine about the growing success of the the plant in Carthage, Missouri that turns the Butterball plant offal and other refuse like rubber tires and plastic into bio-oil, which can be used as-is or combined with some other oil to make gasoline. Sadly, Discover strikes again--since I'm a subscriber, I get the issues long before they hit the news stand or the online files, but in the meantime, read Discover's first article from May 2003 about the plant. I may be a vegetarian (and looking at the pile of dead turkey parts only reinforces it) but I would use the oil from this plant for everything possible. Hey, I don't have to eat it, it just has to power my car and electricity (with little or no pollution).

Roe v. Wade, Red v. Blue, Men v. Women

I find it a bit interesting that right around the time that South Dakota Governor Michael Rounds signed into law a bill banning abortion in his state, tourism ads began airing on television boasting of all the wonderful things to do in South Dakota. But this issue has brought up another interesting point. The general grief people have with outlawing abortion is that women should have the right to decide what to do with their own bodies, and it's no business of anyone's besides hers and her doctor's. I agree. But what about the fetus' father? Does he have a right to decide whether or not to have the baby? Some men are now speaking out, saying that they have been unfairly duped into paying child support for a child they didn't want. Do they have an equal say in this matter? I'm still undecided. But I will say this: There are ways to prevent a pregnancy, such as the many forms of over-the-counter and prescription contraceptives, as well as just plain not having sex. I understand that accidents happen, but if a guy is that adamant about not having children, put on a damn condom, even if the woman claims to be on birth control. Eighteen years of child support is a big price to pay for not using common sense. Maybe these guys have a case, maybe they don't. But they better base it on something besides their own regret if they want to gain any ground on the matter.

The Wet Blanket

At first I was hesitant to post this article up here because it's so long and so accusatory, and I don't want to seem preachy. Well, not too preachy, anyway. But it has haunted me since Monday, and so I post it here. The article is critical of Republicans in politics, and although some Democrats are just as guilty, the issue goes beyond party politics. The problem is corruption, which must be eliminated no matter where it comes from. So regardless of your political affiliation, please read this and understand that something needs to be done.

Saving Our Democracy

The Boys Club

Yesterday, the Republican candidates for the Illinois gubernatorial race came together for an NPR radio debate. Whomever wins this primary election will face Illinois Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich. Although I do care about the outcome of this race because I want the state government to be run successfully, I'm not too worried. It's generally believed that in Illinois, Republicans and Democrats are all really about the same, because they must appeal to the mostly moderate voters in Illinois. Anyway, after the debate last night, Judy Baar Topinka (the only female candidate) left and the 4 or 5 other candidates stuck around to answer questions during a press conference. Not sure why Topinka left--the news clip on WGN News (click on GOP radio debate to watch the clip) this morning didn't mention her reasons for leaving--but during the press conference, the other candidates spent the whole time criticizing Topinka and her platform. At one point, candidate Jim Oberweis (yes, of Oberweis Dairy) crooned, "Come back, Judy dearest. Come back and play with the boys." She did, and she held her own as the other candidates criticized her to her face.

Since the news clip was less than 2 minutes long and they didn't really say much else, I will refrain from making any assumptions about what else happened. But when I saw Oberweis crooning, I cringed. It seemed incredibly condescending, and whether Topinka will be a good governor (if elected) is beside the point. I just wondered 1. whether the male candidates would have done the same thing if Topinka were a man and 2. If Topinka WERE a man, whether s/he would have left after the radio debate or stuck around with the other candidates to continue the debate at the press conference. Just an interesting character study, is all.

When it all falls down

On this blog, I usually try to avoid writing about what everyone else is talking about and instead look for the stories that may be under the radar. However, there is one really mainstream topic about which I would post here, if only I understood it. Chicago city politics fascinates me. Right now, it's slowly crumbling, as evidenced by City Clerk James Laski's resignation. Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass writes about city politics all the time, which has really piqued my interest in the whole thing (though it could also be the journalist in me). Kass has been writing about city politics for a great number of years, and although he's obviously biased against Mayor Daley, he knows a lot about what happens behind closed doors and can explain it better than probably anyone else out there.

Chicago is nicknamed the Windy City not because of the weather (although yeh, it's windy) but because of the politics. The history of the city and the scandals that are slowly being exposed tell a lot about the way this city is run and how complicated it all is. I encourage everyone to look into it. If I have a lighbulb moment, I'll post it here. Happy learning!

Musical lamentation

In the past month, I have acquired somewhere in the area of a few dozen new albums, an amount of music so daunting that I haven't even tried to listen to most of it yet. My iPod and I are going to have to have a serious reconnection. During this time, I have also gotten my coworkers hooked on the workday addiction that is Yahoo Launchcast, shared my music collection with some other willing participants, and sampled yet another online music service that looks cooler than Launchcast, has none of the annoying commercials of Launchcast, plays way random music, and allows users to create more than one station.

With all this exposure to new music, I must lament the impending end of an era known as No Doubt. In 1996 I went to a Mighty Mighty Bosstones/No Doubt concert at the World Music theater, and I still hold to this day that it was the best concert I have ever been to. Although Gwen Stefani usually gets most of the attention, No Doubt was definitely more than just the strong female vocalist. The drums always carried a stong beat that stood out, complemented by the bass line and guitar riffs. No Doubt was a band that was strong because each of the members was equally strong. But now, dear friends, I feel the time has come. I feared it was nearing with the release of Gwen's independent high-school pop album (which isn't bad, but it's certainly a departure from the band's unique sound and rockin' albums). And now that she's pregnant, she and husband Gavin Rossdale are going to make their pretty little nest and have their pretty little baby and the only music produced by either of these musicians will be the lullabies and preschool songs about baby animals. Two of the other band members have families as well, and so they will probably go their separate ways, then show up on some VH1 reunion show in 10 years. I guess everyone has to grow up sometime, huh?

Mood elevator

Taking a break from the serious stuff to bring you something sure to make you smile, no matter how bad your day is. Feel free to laugh out loud, even if your co-workers think you're loony. Cats always look like they either hate the world or they were caught in the act of doing something silly (which, despite all efforts, they couldn't stop themselves from doing, as if they were temporarily possessed.) It's really quite hilarious.
www.stuffonmycat.com

The only thing better than this is Planet's Funniest Animals on Animal Planet.

And you thought DMV lines were long

Laurie Goering, foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, has her job cut out for her in South Africa. Her latest report exposes the horrendous bureaucracy of South Africa's Home Affairs Department. Take a printout of this article with you anytime you go to the DMV. It will remind you to appreciate the mere 3 hour wait. At least you know you'll walk out of there with a correct ID card or driver's license in hand, which is more than most South Africans can say.

Interesting Southern culture

I thought this story was truly fascinating: Descendants of slaves help transcribe the Bible into the language of their ancestors
We Northerners tend to think of the South as just one big backwards Red State, but there is some truly fascinating culture that doesn't make it into the news usually. One of my friends told me about her family's Southern roots and what it was like for them to be Southern Jews. Ancestors of slaves are embracing their familys' roots and the traditions they passed on. The book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil features voodoo beliefs and rituals that are still practiced today as Santeria and other Caribbean religions. I'm sure there's more out there, too, but I haven't spent really any time in the South to learn more about the things you don't hear about in the Midwest.