Archive for February, 2010
A Long, Long Way Indeed
Sunday, February 28th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Why Is This Racist? Really…
Sunday, February 28th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
So this guy, Don “Moose” Lewis, wants to start a basketball league for white guys because, among other reasons, white guys need a place to play that “traditional brand of basketball” that they know and enjoy. (That photo to the right is what the roster would look like.) It’s easy to scoff at Moose, and not just because of his nickname–because on the face of it this seems blatantly racist. But my thinking is that the issue is more complex than it first appears–and this is why I want some other people to weigh in on the matter.
Moose says “he’s filling market niche,” that there are plenty of (white) guys to don’t like the upscale tempo of basketball that is played professionally today and they should have a chance to complete in venues where they can earn a living. And there are lot of people who would (and should be allowed to) pay money to watch them play. Good point, Moose. Unfortunately for Moose, there are undoubtedly black and brown men (and women) who want to play “white ball” and so they’ll also have to have a chance to show their (white) skills in the slow lane, so to speak?
Maybe I could overlook this moose-sized oversight if Moose didn’t reveal his hand by saying the following:
“With players on other professional teams carrying guns, attacking fans in the stands, and going through the motions of playing the game, fundamentally sound [W]hite players are a vanishing species…Fans have spoken to the AABA asking to restore on court sanity to the game of basketball. Their pleas are our mission. Only players that are natural born United States citizens with both parents of Caucasian race are eligible to play in the league.”
First off, the name looks like ABBA, that notoriously white band from the 1970s. 
Bad sign. Second, his words sound more like the standard white racist stance on black and brown people and less like a businessman responding to a market need.
Nonetheless, I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and imagine that there are people out there who want to watch a slow style game that only native born white people know how to play. If so, then rock on to his bad self and let’s get to the tip off. Just don’t throw the ball too high…since the white brothers can’t….well, you know….jump. Here’s Moose explaining himself:
Question on Discrimination
Thursday, February 25th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
When Do We Do or Say Something?
Thursday, February 25th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Native Americans: Question Five
Thursday, February 25th, 2010Native Americans, Oil, Tribal Division, $$$
Thursday, February 25th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
This article will throw a new light on the issue of the socioeconomic conditions of Native Americans. Remember that there are nearly 600 federally recognized tribes within the borders of the United States. And at least one of them is getting rich off of liquid black gold. Mind you, as you can read in the article, it is not without negative consequences that always come with sudden infusions of money into any system. But it’s worth thinking about.
Of course, oil refineries ALWAYS bring pollution and this will be no different. Pollution will destroy natural resources and harm people’s health. Cost-benefit.
Native Americans: Question One
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Native Americans: Question Two
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Native Americans: Question Three
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Native Americans: Question Four
Wednesday, February 24th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Could You Compete With This Woman On A Level Playing Field?
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
This is a story that will humble most any listener. And frankly, I’d love to have every undergraduate business student in the U.S. listen to it–particularly those who assume that they’ll eventually land in six figure jobs with complimentary gold cards and regular frequent flier upgrades. (Not all do, of course, as most Penn State business majors are simply happy to get a job interview…I fully recognize that.) Nonetheless, many of them will make this kind of money, of course, and not necessarily because of their own abilities. Somebody has to fill those positions and, being staffed by mostly washrag talent from top to bottom, most companies simply reproduce what they know drawing on the vessels of empty vision and stale thinking that are available to them.
If that sounds judgmental and harsh, it is. But only because I just listened to this story and in my lifetime and travels I have met far too many people like Yvrose Jean Baptiste, the woman highlighted by NPR in this story. Had the creator/fate decided that her spirit should enter a body in a more developed nation, she’d very quickly have risen to the top and won any race or competition that required guts, determination, stamina, and outside-the-box creative thinking. This is a woman with an unmatched entrepreneurial spirit and a gutsy grit that would shame all but a few standouts on the path toward financial security here in the U.S. — people who are on THAT path only because they were born in a land a few hundred miles north of the land mass we call “Haiti.”
I hate to sound so damn uppity myself, especially because I’m pretty “wash rag” and mediocre in most of what I do, but listen to the story and then ask yourself: How would I get on in Haiti and what might Yvrose do if she had the opportunity walk through the world wearing my shoes?
Inequality Class: Comment
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Inequality Class: Question One
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Inequality Class: Question Two
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Inequality Class: Question Three
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Inequality Class: Question Four
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Another Reason Why Gay Marriage Matters
Thursday, February 18th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
I’m curious about what you all think of this. The problems of not recognizing same-sex marriage/unions are far ranging and leave deep wounds on many families….and “the children.”
LGBT Class: Question Six
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
LGBT Class – Question Five
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
LGBT Class – Question Four
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
LGBT Class – Question Three
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
LGBT Class – Question Two
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
LGBT Class – Question One
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010The XXX Bible? Who Would’ve Thought?
Monday, February 15th, 2010
posted by Sam Richards
Okay, so this is going to stretch some of you into places I am reasonably certain you’ve not yet ventured.
Imagine for a moment, that the religious texts with which you’re familiar were actually written by humans and inspired by Allah/God/G-d. Now consider what “inspired” actually means or what it could possibly refer to. When someone inspires me, for example, they don’t sit behind me and whisper editorial comments into my ear as I’m typing along. Rather, they provoke my imagination and my mind to consider things that I’ve yet to bring to bear on some particular issue. This means that in the end, when I hit save on a document or send on an email, regardless of how instrumental another person’s ideas or thoughts were to my own, the words in the document are mine and probably reflect more of what is happening in MY LIFE than the life of my muse.
Makes sense, right? So now apply this to any religious stories that you believe were inspired by Allah/God/G-d. (If you are a strict, [read: "literal"] interpreter of religious text, you can just jump ahead to the linked article.) One can only conclude that both the sacrosanct stories that give form to our religions AND the ways in which those stories have been interpreted have at least as much to do with mundane matters of daily living as they do with some great mysterious relationship between the writer and his or her otherworldly muse.
So this article points to some things that I’ve thought about (seriously!) but never had the time nor the inclination to research. It’s rather interesting and should provoke some challenging brain activity.
Read the article: “Adam’s Family Jewels”