Choosing the Wrong Side

Trey Smith

For you sports fans out there -- some of you non-sports fans even may know of this story -- there has been a tremendous amount of news coverage about the player on the Miami Dolphins professional football team who was allegedly being bullied by one or more teammates. The main protagonist is said to be Richie Incognito and, to the surprise of many, his teammates side with him far more than the alleged victim.

While a lot of people find this lack of empathy amazing, I would say it is par for the course. If the allegations of bullying are true and none of the players on the Dolphins tried to intercede on behalf of the victim, this would represent a moral failure on THEIR part. Since they certainly don't want to be viewed as moral failures, it stands to reason that they will say that no bullying occurred.

We see this same type of dynamic in many cases of incest. The mother will side with the male perpetrator (father, step-father, boyfriend, etc.) to deny the existence of sexual abuse because, if the mother were to acknowledge that the abuse did occur and she did nothing to try to stop it, society will view her as poorly as the monster who actually committed the crime! So, from both a legal and social perspective, it is in her best interests -- not the child's -- to say that nothing untoward was going on.

That's what I see happening with the members of the Miami Dolphins. They don't want to be blamed for looking the other way.

If You Foot the Bill, We Will Pocket the Profits

Trey Smith

Like many Americans, I grew up loving sports. As a youth, I played baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey and, of course, football. I wasn't very adept at any of these sports, but I still dreamed of hitting the big home run or catching the winning touchdown pass. These days I watch ESPN almost every day to catch up on the scores, highlights and background stories, though I rarely watch games from start to finish. I am still a sports nut, but the realization of the typically unfair economic arrangements between privately-held teams and taxpayers has soured my love for most professional sports.

Writing in The Atlantic, Gregg Easterbrook tells why people like me aren't half as enthused as we use to be.

Last year was a busy one for public giveaways to the National Football League. In Virginia, Republican Governor Bob McDonnell, who styles himself as a budget-slashing conservative crusader, took $4 million from taxpayers’ pockets and handed the money to the Washington Redskins, for the team to upgrade a workout facility. Hoping to avoid scrutiny, McDonnell approved the gift while the state legislature was out of session. The Redskins’ owner, Dan Snyder, has a net worth estimated by Forbes at $1 billion. But even billionaires like to receive expensive gifts.

Taxpayers in Hamilton County, Ohio, which includes Cincinnati, were hit with a bill for $26 million in debt service for the stadiums where the NFL’s Bengals and Major League Baseball’s Reds play, plus another $7 million to cover the direct operating costs for the Bengals’ field. Pro-sports subsidies exceeded the $23.6 million that the county cut from health-and-human-services spending in the current two-year budget (and represent a sizable chunk of the $119 million cut from Hamilton County schools). Press materials distributed by the Bengals declare that the team gives back about $1 million annually to Ohio community groups. Sound generous? That’s about 4 percent of the public subsidy the Bengals receive annually from Ohio taxpayers.

In Minnesota, the Vikings wanted a new stadium, and were vaguely threatening to decamp to another state if they didn’t get it. The Minnesota legislature, facing a $1.1 billion budget deficit, extracted $506 million from taxpayers as a gift to the team, covering roughly half the cost of the new facility. Some legislators argued that the Vikings should reveal their finances: privately held, the team is not required to disclose operating data, despite the public subsidies it receives. In the end, the Minnesota legislature folded, giving away public money without the Vikings’ disclosing information in return. The team’s principal owner, Zygmunt Wilf, had a 2011 net worth estimated at $322 million; with the new stadium deal, the Vikings’ value rose about $200 million, by Forbes’s estimate, further enriching Wilf and his family. They will make a token annual payment of $13 million to use the stadium, keeping the lion’s share of all NFL ticket, concession, parking, and, most important, television revenues.

After approving the $506 million handout, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton said, “I’m not one to defend the economics of professional sports … Any deal you make in that world doesn’t make sense from the way the rest of us look at it.” Even by the standards of political pandering, Dayton’s irresponsibility was breathtaking.

In California, the City of Santa Clara broke ground on a $1.3 billion stadium for the 49ers. Officially, the deal includes $116 million in public funding, with private capital making up the rest. At least, that’s the way the deal was announced. A new government entity, the Santa Clara Stadium Authority, is borrowing $950 million, largely from a consortium led by Goldman Sachs, to provide the majority of the “private” financing. Who are the board members of the Santa Clara Stadium Authority? The members of the Santa Clara City Council. In effect, the city of Santa Clara is providing most of the “private” funding. Should something go wrong, taxpayers will likely take the hit.

I am only sharing a small portion of his article. He offers plenty of other examples of this same scheme at work. In community after community, taxpayers are forced to bear many of the costs WITHOUT benefiting from most or any of the profits! Conservatives like to decry the evils of socialism, but seem to have no problem whatsoever with this form of inverted socialism! The many take on the risks and the few reap the rewards.

What is most galling about this blueprint is highlighted in the second paragraph above. The Ohio county mentioned cut money from the budget of health-and-human-services and gave it to professional sports teams!! That is absolutely i-n-s-a-n-e! Talk about screwed up priorities!!!

Golf Writer Channels Laozi

Trey Smith

Kyle Porter writes about the game of golf for CBS Sports. In a recent column, he wrote about the difficulties of being Tiger Woods or Rory McIlroy. Everything these two world renowned golfers do is scrutinized to the max. Every word or deed is over analyzed and written about ad nauseam. Unlike you or me, neither bloke can go to the corner store or local pub and not be mobbed by autograph seekers and gawkers. Yes, both have more money than most of us could ever dream of, but the tradeoff is that they live their lives in a fish bowl.

At one point, Porter made a comment that could just as easily have been pulled from the Daodejing or the Zhuangzi. He wrote,

I value the normalcy that comes with being anonymous.

In several passages of the Daodejing, Laozi makes much the same point. The sage is not a celebrity; he/she is an anonymous person of virtue. The sage doesn't seek to call attention to themselves; the sage leads a simple life that, as expressed in Verse 49, is confusing to the world. The sage avoids extremes and excesses (Verse 29). In a manner of speaking, the sage IS a sage because the sage is anonymous and being anonymous lends itself well to leading a life of simplicity, humility, virtuousness...and normalcy.

What Were They Thinking?

Trey Smith

On September 7, 2013 Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said to the 125th session of the International Olympic Committee, the following:

Some may have concerns about Fukushima. Let me assure you, the situation is under control. It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo.

This will surely be remembered as one of the great lies of modern times. In Japan some people call it the “Abesolute Lie”. Believing it, the IOC decided to bring the 2020 Olympics to Tokyo.

Japanese government spokespersons defend Abe’s statement by saying that radiation levels in the Pacific Ocean have not yet exceeded safety standards.

This recalls the old story of the man who jumped off a ten-story building and, as he passed each story, could be heard saying, “So far, so good”.

We are talking, remember, about the Pacific Ocean – the greatest body of water on earth, and for all we know, in the universe. Tokyo Electric Power Company – TEPCO – has been pouring water through its melted-down reactor at Fukushima and into the ocean for two and a half years, and so far the Pacific Ocean has been able to dilute that down to below the safety standard. So far so good. But there is no prospect in sight of turning off the water.
~ from Some Facts You Should Know About Fukushima by Takashi Hirose ~

When I heard that the IOC awarded the 2020 Olympics to Japan, my first thought was: What were they thinking? Japan is home to the worst nuclear accident in history and the IOC wants to invite the world to go there? That seems to me like a recipe for disaster.

Imagine the IOC voting to hold the summer Olympics in New Orleans just after the Hurricane Katrina or the Gulf oil debacle. That would have been a crazy decision too.

Hey, as long as the IOC is making irrational choices, why not pick Damascus or Baghdad for the 2024 Olympics. I'm sure people would be safe there!

If I Was Roger Clemons, I'd Be Mad As Hell

Trey Smith

There is no longer any doubt that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied to Congress. Likewise, there is no doubt that his lie runs afoul of federal law. And, of course, there is no doubt that in terms of its implications for oversight, constitutional precepts and privacy for millions of Americans, his lies were far more serious than those which have gotten other people prosecuted for perjury. The question now is whether his brazen dishonesty will become a political issue – or whether it will simply disappear into the ether.

As evidenced by President Obama this week attempting to promote Clapper to head an “independent” NSA reform panel, the White House clearly believes it will be the latter. But a set of new polls out today suggests such a calculation may be wrong.
~ from Huge Majority Wants Clapper Prosecuted for Perjury by David Sirota ~

Roger Clemons was sure to be a first ballot major league baseball Hall of Famer...until he became suspected of using of using PEDs (performing enhancing drugs) to gain an edge on his competition. Now he -- like greats Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa -- may never be enshrined in the hall.

Clemons was suspected of lying before Congress and this suspicion led to perjury charges being brought against him. He was ultimately acquitted of the charges, though in the eyes of many (me included), his records and legacy remain tarnished.

Compare these two situations.  Clemons was suspected of lying to Congress about his personal actions, ones that didn't directly affect anyone else in a direct way.  Clapper, on the other hand, has been caught lying to Congress -- he has all but admitted to it.  His lie impacts millions of Americans.

Yet it was Clemons, not Clapper, who was taken to court and had his reputation sullied.  If suspected lying about taking PEDs is a chargeable offense, shouldn't admitted lying to Congress about the invasion of the privacy of millions of innocent Americans be so too?

Money, Money, Money

Trey Smith

While this draft was not talent-heavy, it contained a great lesson. This draft ended once and for all the argument about staying for one more year of school -- proven by Matt Barkley.

Barkley didn't just drop. He fell off a cliff only to be hit in the head by an Acme anvil. Like many others, Barkley was told if he stayed in school, he still would be a high first-round pick. He went in the fourth.

Had Barkley declared after his junior season, he likely would have been a top-five pick. A shoulder injury and slump during his senior season destroyed his stock.

The NFL's rookie wage scale dictates that Barkley will earn approximately a four-year contract worth about $2.5 million for its duration, with a $500,000 signing bonus. A top-10 pick, which he would have been in the 2012 draft, earns about $10 million guaranteed. At least.
~ from Barkley's Big Accomplishment? Ending the Stay-in-School Argument by Mike Freeman ~

No, this post is not going to be an analysis of the recent National Football League (NFL) draft! While I certainly understand the financial point that Freeman makes here, he acts as if money is the ONLY criteria. Though I haven't followed all the storylines of this particular athlete, he may have had other reasons for staying in school.

It is probably not likely, but maybe Barkley wanted to continue his college education. You know, that's why a lot of people go to college in the first place! Sure, a pro football career can be very lucrative, but once that career is over and done with, it is good to have a college degree to fall back on.

Maybe Barkley simply wanted to finish out the college experience. Besides the educational component, there is the social angle. It could be that he wanted one more year of being a "kid" before taking on the responsibility of being a full-time grownup (though many college students, depending on their situations, have to "grow up" very quickly).

And maybe Barkley thought he needed one more year to mature. There are enough stories of young men and women athletes who, when showered with instant money, status and fame at a young age, basically implode. They simply lack the maturity to handle it well or at all. Maybe Barkley didn't think HE was ready to handle it last year.

Yes, money is important, but it shouldn't be the sole consideration in life. As The Beatles sang, money can't buy you love. Or happiness. Or self-respect.

Such a Soft Landing

Trey Smith

You want to know one huge difference between the wealthy elite and the rest of us? It concerns the nature of how we are separated from jobs. We peons in the proletariat are lucky to get our last paycheck and are then told not to let door hit us on the backside on the way out, while the elite often are showered with the kinds of compensation and benefits we peons can only dream of.

In a post from a few days ago, I mentioned the firing of the Rutgers University basketball coach for his rampantly abusive behavior. The school had known about his behavior for months and the firing came about ONLY after journalists began looking into the situation. Because he had allowed the coach to keep his job when he first learned of the abusive behavior, many in the university and community at large called for the dismissal of Athletic Director Tim Pernetti as well. The chorus grew louder day by day.

Owing to the bad publicity Rutgers is receiving re this situation, Pernetti was "allowed" to resign, but as part of the agreement, he was able to negotiate a very soft landing for himself!

Former Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti is getting $1.2 million in salary, plus an iPad, car allowance and more than two years of health insurance coverage under a settlement agreement.

The Associated Press obtained details of the settlement Monday through an open records request with Rutgers. The Star-Ledger had previously reported some details.

Pernetti resigned last week after a video was made public showing former men's basketball coach Mike Rice shoving players and berating them with anti-gay slurs. Pernetti suspended Rice last December. The coach was fired last week.

Under his agreement, Pernetti is to be paid his base salary of $453,000 per year through June 2014 and a one-time payment of $679,500 in the next month. He gets the money even if he takes another job.

He also gets his $12,000 per year car allowance through June 2014 and health insurance and pension payments through October 2015.

Pernetti also gets to keep his Rutgers-issued iPad and laptop computer.

What a deal! It might sound a bit extravagant, but it is par for the course for the elite. How often do we read about a CEO for a company that has laid off hundreds or thousands of workers and/or has run the corporation into the ground? Despite being a poor manager, these folks are showered with money, stock options, benefits and all sorts of allowances. They certainly don't go hungry!

Even more galling is that few are unemployed for long. Regardless of how bad their track record is, someone is more than willing to give them a second, third, fourth or tenth chance.

Compare that experience to the rest of us. I was fired from a job once. I wasn't given the opportunity to resign. No, I was summarily fired. I received the wages owed me and not a penny more. I wasn't allowed to keep anything owned by my employer, not even a pencil. Not only did I not receive an extension of ANY benefits, but the agency fought me on my unemployment claim. And I never was able to work in that field again -- no second chances for me!

Break a Leg

Trey Smith

What is it that someone might say to a thespian as they approach their opening performance in a new play? Break a leg. I don't know the origin of that phrase, but I do know that it's not something that is said to athletes! Breaking one's leg in a sporting event almost always means that you won't be participating in that sport for a good long time.

On Sunday, in a nationally televised college basketball game, a guard from the University of Louisville broke his leg during the game. The break resulted in a compound fracture which featured his bone sticking out of his leg. According to those who saw the events unfold -- I wasn't watching -- it was a gruesome sight that caused a few of the other players to vomit.

When I read about this incident later, I figured that the university and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) would cover the medical costs. That seemed to me like a no-brainer, but that may not be the case at all. According to David Sirota, it is not uncommon at all for the student-athletes and his/her family to get stuck with the bill!

On its face, that is absolutely outrageous. As Sirota points out, "NCAA basketball is a $780 million-a year business that makes 1 percenters out of NCAA executives, coaches, athletic directors and college administrators," but it doesn't necessarily cover the medical costs of the players injured generating that staggering amount.

I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised. That's how our system works. The workers are expected to generate most all of the actual capital without actually sharing in the mammoth profits created.

Come On, Just Admit It

Trey Smith

Politicians don't enjoy the greatest of stature with the general public anymore. Just take a look at polls that show the disapproval rate for Congress is near all-time lows. When a candidate hits the campaign trail, you can rest assured that one-half or more of what they say is nothing more than rhetorical pandering. Even when backed into a corner, the savvy politico will refuse to acknowledge the giant elephant in the room.

But it's not just politicians these days. By the way they talk, you would think professional athletes are running for public office too! Many of their press conferences put that of politicians to shame.

Like with most other professional sports, the National Football League (NFL) has a ballyhooed period in which free agents can sign with any team that will have them. The NFL's free agent signing period got underway yesterday and so the wheeling and dealing has commenced. For the star players of the league, it really is nothing more than a high priced auction. More often than not, the star signs with the highest bidder.

It's one thing when the highest bidder is a team with a winning tradition, but as it so often happens, the highest bidders are the lousy teams, the ones who have little hope of having a successful coming season. It doesn't seem to matter how awful the team actually is; you would NEVER guess it by the glorious press conferences held to announce the signing of the star.

Almost to a man, the star steadfastly refuses to admit the obvious. He (or she) will talk about the coach, the ownership and the management as being a good "fit." He will say that he has arrived to turn the franchise around. He will address one million different talking points without once saying what everybody knows: He signed with this team because they offered the most lucrative contract terms!

Why is it so difficult to admit that you signed this multimillion dollar contract because it afforded your family with the greatest long-term financial security? You know this is true and so do your legion of fans. Of course, we all know the answer to that question. You don't want to come off as the greedy bastard you are (just as politicians don't want to come off as the greedy and power-hungry louts they are).  ;-)

Real Life Tao - A Fool's Errand

Trey Smith

While I sometimes mention sports on this blog, I rarely reference golf. It's not that I dislike golf, but I wouldn't list it as one of my top five favorite sports. But I am writing about it because of a remarkable quote from the swing coach of Michael Thompson, who won this past week's PGA tournament. Here's what Susie Meyers had to say about her client's golf game.

Trying to get consistency is like going after a fool's errand. It doesn't happen in life. If you try to be consistent you live in a frustrating world. Take everything for what it is and let it be, and at the end of the day, hopefully you can say you did the best you could. We don't try to be consistent at all.

A very Taoist-like perspective, I would say.

The problem is not that consistency is a bad thing; it's more the trying part. Trying involves active thinking. It's about trying to get your body to meet the expectations of the mind. It's the opposite of wu wei -- going with the flow of the present situation.

Meyers isn't saying that Thompson doesn't practice, but it's obvious to me that she wants her protege to get to the point in which his golf swing becomes second nature. He does it without actively thinking about what he's doing. Sometimes he will hit the ball fluidly and beautifully. Sometimes he won't. But instead of grousing about what he might have gone wrong, he merely will address the next shot based on what is and NOT what could have been.

Me thinks that's a great philosophy for life, in general.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.

Huainanzi - Entry 94

Trey Smith

To wish to be a partner of evolution and respond to the times by means of the transformations of a single generation is like wearing cloth in winter and leather in summer. You cannot make a hundred shots with the same aim; you cannot go through a whole year with one set of clothing. Your aim must conform to high and low; your clothing must be suited to cold and heat.
~ a passage from The Book of Leadership and Strategy by Thomas Cleary ~

Though I will never be confused for a basketball prodigy, there was one aspect of the game that I was very proficient at: free throw shooting. I often could stand there and hit 20, 30, 40 or even 50 shots in a row without a miss.

One of the tricks to shooting free throws successfully is to develop a routine. Each time you step to the line, you repeat the routine with the idea that, by blocking out distractions and concentrating instead on your routinized approach, you will meet with success time and time again.

It's a good theory and one that proves successful...most of the time. There are times, however, that you follow the routine devoutly and yet the ball clangs off the rim and does not fall through.

There could be many reasons for this. Maybe your hands were more sweaty than you realized. Maybe the basket is slightly off center. Maybe you went through your routine a fraction slower or faster than usual. Like I said, it could be any one of numerous reasons.

If you keep repeating your same approach and yet you keep missing the basket, the flexible person -- not routinized me, of course -- would recalibrate the routine to net better results!

To read the introduction to this ongoing series, go here.

Utter Futility

Trey Smith

In something you don't see every day, a mid-major college basketball team -- Northern Illinois University -- scored a total of 4 points in the first half and a whopping 25 points for the whole game. They made only 1 field goal in 31 attempts in that disastrous first half. Talk about utter futility!

Their leading scorer for the game registered 7 points. That's almost unheard of!

But I can relate. When I was a freshman in college, I played intramural basketball for one of the worst teams in the history of intramural basketball. In our 10-game season, our record was 0 wins and 10 losses. We never came anywhere close to winning a game.

At one point in our ill-fated season, we played the team that eventually won the league title. I was our team's leading scorer with 6 points. Actually, that's not completely accurate. The truth of the matter is that for that game I was my team's ONLY scorer. We lost by a score of something like 65-6.

We couldn't shoot. We couldn't pass. We couldn't rebound and we couldn't dribble. We were as terrible as terrible gets. But, you know what? We didn't care. We KNEW that we weren't athletes. We KNEW we would be hard-pressed to win ANY game we played.

We did it for the fun and the camaraderie. After each game, we would laugh and laugh at our own futility. We would razz each other about all the bone-headed plays we had messed up.

Mind you, we weren't trying to lose -- we played to win. It's just that we really had no hope of winning.

For me, it served as a great life lesson. Whether a person has any hope of winning or succeeding in any given situation in life isn't all that important. Regardless of the situation, you put your best foot forward. If you win or succeed, great. If not, you smile about it and keep moving forward.

Laozi As a Redbird

Trey Smith

If you read Laozi's various descriptions of the sage in the Tao Te Ching, it is of a person who is compassionate, just, humble and makes everyone around them a better person. It sounds like a mythical character, doesn't it?

While each of us has imperfections, some people are able to rise above them. In my mind's eye, the world lost one of those special individuals a week ago. Though known here in the States primarily as a Hall of Fame baseball player for the St. Louis Cardinals, Stan Musial was a great human being. As has been stated by many people -- including those at his memorial -- no one who ever knew the man had an ill word to say about him. He was a man who loved and was loved by so many.

What greater thing could be said about a person.

Imaginary Lover

Trey Smith

There has been a bizarre story this week involving college football player Manti Te'o of the University of Notre Dame. Teo, who finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting, supposedly triumphed this football season after his grandmother and girlfriend died on the same day in September. The story itself took on mythic proportions and, like most myths, part of it turns out not to be true.

While his grandmother did die as reported, his girlfriend never existed in the first place!! As of right now, it appears that the girlfriend was a hoax perpetrated by people other than Manti Te'o.

This last part sounds weird. If it's a hoax, how could Teo not be part of it? And this is where the story gets really strange and it certainly illustrates a divide between generations. Teo considered this woman his girlfriend despite the fact he had never met "her" in person! His only contact with "her" was via text messages, emails and phone calls.

When I was in college in the late 70s, I engaged in a long distance relationship. My girlfriend, Maryse, attended Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, and I attended Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. We were separated by more than 500 miles. We communicated by letter and phone.

But there is a BIG difference between the relationship of Maryse and me and Teo and his "girlfriend". Maryse and I had kissed before! We spent our Christmas and Spring Breaks together. And we had begun our relationship IN PERSON the summer before school.

Teo had never gazed into this "girl's" eyes or held "her" hand. He had never been in the same room with "her". Heck, they had never been in the same zip code together!

In all honesty, I simply don't understand how someone could consider someone else the "love of his life" IF he had never actually met her! It sounds to me more like this imaginary lover was a myth objectified in Teo's mind. When you don't interact in an intimate way with another person, it is easy to make them anything you want them to be. The person becomes an idealized caricature of a bona fide human being.

That being said, I realize that my ideas on this subject are shaped, in large part, from my standing in the older generation. Maybe the times have changed and I just don't get it. Maybe so, but it is hard for me to imagine that this elaborate hoax could have been perpetrated to the extent that it was IF Teo had met this person face-to-face and had spent considerable time WITH "her".

Words Can Hurt

Trey Smith

You know, people can be very passionate about a lot of things...like their favorite professional sports team. Not that it makes much difference in the overall scheme of things, but some folks invest all their hopes and dreams in their team. So, when the season doesn't go well, they take it as something akin to a personal affront.

If you live in New York City and you bleed Jets green, this has been a difficult year for you. Your team has been awful and your star quarterback is one of the main reasons. Like many fans, you may have been pleading with the coaches to bench him and play the 2nd or 3rd stringer.

That's all well and good -- You have the right to your opinion. Yet, having this opinion does not give you the right to threaten to kill the quarterback in a hail of bullets!! It's just a game, for crying out loud.

While this particular fan went WAY OVER the line, it's not uncommon to hear people in the US use words and phraseology that is chock full of violent terminology. Who hasn't said in their everyday lingo something like:

• I'll take a stab at it.
• That just blows me away.
• He shoots from the hip all the time.
• It's a great idea.  We should give it a shot.
• It's time to bring out the big guns.
• I'm locked and loaded and ready for (whatever).
• Bob, You're so funny.  You just kill/slay me.
• It was an easy argument to win -- like shooting ducks in a barrel.
• Traffic was murder today.
• I'm looking for the biggest bang for the buck.
• She's a real straight shooter.
• In order to change their opinion, we're going to need a lot more ammunition.
• That guy always is gunning for trouble.

For those readers who hail from outside the US, is your language filled with violent phraseology like this? 

In The Blink of an Eye

Trey Smith

When people talk about their hallowed right to bear arms, one of the first rationales proffered is that a gun offers a person protection from evildoers bent on doing them harm. Take away my guns, they bellow, and they make it sound like they are sitting ducks with bullseyes affixed to their backs.

Another rationale put forth is that the ability to own firearms will serve to dissuade an overzealous or tyrannical government. Yes, that's right! A group of inebriated rednecks can easily get a nation with the sophisticated firepower of the US to back down in the face of shotguns and, maybe, a few AK 47s.

Others will say that the right to bear arms is necessary to shoot defenseless animals or just because owning guns is fun. What you never hear such folks talk about is that the pervasiveness of guns often means the deaths of innocent people in the blink of an eye.

When a person becomes enraged AND a gun is handy, very bad things often occur. This is not to suggest that enraged individuals cannot and do not kill people with other weapons or their bare hands; it's more that a gun can be utilized so easily and quickly before the enraged person has a chance to calm down and think.

Yesterday morning Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher found himself in such a situation. He and his live-in girlfriend were engaged in a loud argument. At some point, Belcher's anger crossed over into rage. With a lack of apparent forethought, Belcher shot his girlfriend several times in front of his own mother. The girlfriend was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Moments after committing this heinous deed, it appears Belcher came to his senses. He realized that he had just murdered the mother of his 3 month old daughter. So, Belcher drove to the Chiefs' practice facility and, after thanking the team's general manager and head coach for believing in him, he put the gun to his head and ended his own life.

Every time I hear of a situation like this -- you can read about them almost every day of the week -- I'm left to wonder: What if guns in this country weren't so pervasive? What if a gun had not been so handy? Would Belcher and his girlfriend still be alive?

Real Life Tao - Step by Step

Trey Smith

My wife is not the biggest sports fan in the world. Oh, she enjoys taking in a minor league baseball game every now and then, but she generally cringes when I watch some sort of sporting event on TV. She likes to say that sports doesn't add much to the human experience.

While I certainly will agree that sports -- particularly pro sports -- get quite overblown in our society, sports can teach many valuable life lessons...if you are of a mind to look for them. One of these lessons is never to take things for granted.

My alma mater -- Pittsburg State University -- won the NCAA Division II National Championship in football last year. For the first 5 weeks of the season this year, Pitt State remained ranked number one with a 5 - 0 record.

I'm sure many Gorilla (our team mascot) supporters had visions in their heads of a second straight championship. Why not? Our college team was undefeated and ranked in the top ten of many statistical categories.

On October 13, we took on our arch rivals, the NW Missouri State Bobcats. With 12 minutes to go in the third quarter, we were pitching a 14 - 0 shutout. It was all downhill from there! We ended up losing by the score of 31 - 21.

The next week during our homecoming we were pummeled 63 - 14 by Missouri Western University. After we won an uninspiring game against a lesser opponent, we lost again at home this weekend to Lindenwood University 44 - 33 (the game wasn't as close as the score indicates).

In the span of 4 weeks, we went from the top of the mountain to about halfway down. Because of these three losses in a month's time, we won't repeat as National Champions because Pitt State won't even make the playoffs!

So, what does all this have to do with Real Life Tao? In Verse 64 of the Tao Te Ching is one of its most famous lines: "A journey of a thousand miles starts under one's feet/begins with the first step." (It depends on the translator.)

If read superficially, this line would seem to indicate that we must plan our actions before we undertake them. We can't get to where we wish to go without making that first step meaningful.

On deeper reflection, however, EVERY step is a first step. The only step that truly matters is the next one we take. The only step we are aware of is the step we take now. Previous steps have come and gone. We can't change or alter them. Future steps have not transpired and circumstances may change our path.

When we take things for granted, we become too engrossed in the past and too hopeful of the future. Instead of paying attention to the now, we allow our fanciful imagination to run amok. And so, it's not surprising at all that, with our attention divided, our next step becomes a misstep and an endeavor that we THOUGHT would prove successful turns out to be anything but.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.

Derivations on a Theme -- Hand Ball

Trey Smith

I have written quite a few posts in the past year in which I bemoan the lack of principles exhibited by the two mainstream political parties in the US. When the opposition party holds sway, the other jumps up and down like an angry 2 year old about this or that policy, yet when the opposition party grasps the reins of power, they end up embracing many of the same policies with glee. It can be a maddening spectacle for those of us who watch from the sidelines as the parties contort themselves -- all dependent on which one takes the lead role.

But we should know that this ongoing phenomena isn't reserved solely for the political scene. Political intrigue merely reflects how most of us live our lives on a day-to-day basis. DagoodS makes this point abundantly clear in a recent post at Thoughts from a Sandwich. In his post, he is not talking about political races; it's about refereeing children's soccer matches.

But these parents are not interested in being informed. These parents are not there to learn the laws of the game. The last thing these parents want is game instruction. They want their child’s team to win. Win, win, win! And any call (or lack of call) by the referee standing in the way of winning is the equivalent of a deadly insult.

I know this because I watch what happens when their own players commit the same actions and the parents are strangely quiet. Ball hits an opposing player’s hand? “Hand ball! Hand ball!” Ball hits own teams’ hand? Not even crickets chirping.

Last week I was refereeing and the red team’s player collided with the blue team’s player — the red player ended up on the ground. Behind me I heard, “Foul, ref! He just knocked our kid to the GROUND and you aren’t going to call anything?” (There wasn’t any foul.) About two minutes later, a red player tripped a blue player and the blue player ended up on the ground. The center (correctly) whistled for a tripping foul. The exact same parent yells, “Just because they end up on the ground, doesn’t mean there was a foul!” I wanted to laugh out loud — they didn’t even realize their own contradictory statements.

In my mind, this overall issue relates to this blog because the Taoist sages frequently discussed the matter of distinctions. They warn us repeatedly that, when the ego is involved, we tend to distinguish the aspects of life in an unfair way. We want to penalize or constrict those we oppose, while providing wide berth to ourselves or those we favor. In other words, if you commit some offense, it is wrong as wrong can be and you should be sanctioned. If I commit the same offense, I can ALWAYS provide a justification, so no sanctions should be applied.

Since we all behave this way in our everyday lives, is it any wonder that this same behavior is carried forth into the political realm?

Tarnished Pot

Trey Smith

As of earlier this month, exiled LSU cornerback/kick returner Tyrann Mathieu was back in classes in Baton Rouge, paying his own way, and every indication from coach Les Miles was that his former star would have a "very legitimate chance" of returning to the team next year. That chance now seems significantly less legitimate after Mathieu was arrested along with three former teammates Thursday afternoon for possession of marijuana.
~ from Tyrann Mathieu, Jordan Jefferson Among Four Ex-LSU Players Booked on Marijuana Charges by Matt Hinton ~

We see these kinds of headlines frequently. The star athlete -- often a person of color -- has their reputation tarnished because they got caught smoking pot. We're not talking child porn here. We're not talking about violence towards anyone. We not talking about stealing or robbery. No, their reputation gets dragged through the mud because they were in possession of the wacky weed.

Upon entering Mathieu's apartment, officers reported "a strong odor of marijuana" and this led to the arrests. Three of the "suspects" are age 22, while Mathieu is a mere 20.

Imagine if this scene had played out so that, instead of a strong odor of marijuana, the officers had smelled tobacco in the form of cigarette or cigar smoke. No one would have thought a thing about it and it is very unlikely anyone would have been arrested.

What if the odor coming from the apartment was that of recently baked chocolate chip cookies and the officers had found the occupants gorging on them? While eating cookies nonstop is not good for a person's blood sugar and if it is habitual can lead to obesity and many corresponding health issues, we can be almost certain that such information wouldn't have merited a mention in the police report. It is highly unlikely -- even in Louisiana -- that any arrests would have been made for reckless eating!

What if the odor coming from the apartment was that of beer? Since Mathieu is underage, this might still have led to one or more arrests. However, if Mathieu was not present and the three 22 year olds were just sitting there sharing a beer, this again would not have led to national headlines.

No, it's only a story because of the marijuana, a substance that is no better or worse than tobacco or alcohol. It is a story only because of our outdated drug laws.

Now Mathieu -- who has been touted as a star college athlete and potential professional star as well -- is being looked down on for engaging in an activity that is not atypical in the least for a sizable segment of the population. His "character" is in question because he was hanging out with his buds and smoking a little weed.

Afternoon Matinee: Speech From "Brian's Song"