Between Iraq and a Hard Place

One of the most dangerous jobs American soldiers face in Iraq is going house to house in search of weapons. The weapons are confiscated and often destroyed. This begs the question...what about the Iraqi's freedom to bear arms?

One of our sacred rights as American citizens guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution is the right of the citizenry to arm themselves against potential tyranny. Isn't it hypocritical not to allow one of the bedrock rights of our consititution to the Iraqis? After all I thought guns don't kill people...people kill people...right? That's what the NRA says. So why are we taking guns away from the Sunnis and Shias? It's the people pulling the triggers not the guns themselves.

Dick Cheney (quite an expert marksman himself) said before the war that Iraq was made up of a large, stable, educated and "talented" middle class. Shrub said democracy in Iraq would provide stability for the entire region. Yet we don't allow them a major component of our American democratic framework. Do we not trust the "talented" people of Iraq?

Or is possible that guns actually do kill people? The U.S. military understands this better than anyone. Stopping the dangerous proliferation of guns has become a key priority for the Army in Iraq. Shouldn't the NRA take note? Maybe gun violence actually has a correlation to gun availability. The United States experiences more gun violence than any other first world nation on the planet. The U.S. also has the greatest amount of firearms circulated among the population than any other first world nation on the planet. Coincidence?

There will be 54 gun shows in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex this year. That's more than one gun show a weekend. You want to grow a church in Texas...place a "Gun Show Here" billboard pointing to your church and you can't keep the people out. Guns at Wal*Mart? Are you kidding me? Let's learn what the Army has learned and think about all these guns floating around our nation.

Routine Jackson

As you can tell, I haven't had a lot of time to post blogs lately. My schedule has solidified into the following routine...

6:00 am - get up and get ready

7:10 am - report to work and read the news on the internet until 7:30

7:30 am - 3:45 pm - Stomping out ignorance with a bunch of knucklehead high schoolers.

4:15 pm - Arrive at the brickhouse and tiptoe as not to wake Jackson from nap. Take out the trash, recycle, read mail, kill stupid texas fire ants, and vegg for about 10 minutes.

5:00 pm - eat dinner and entertain Jackson

5:30-6:30 pm - hurredly do some chores around the house sometimes with Jackson strapped to chest.

6:30 pm - Jackson bathtime and wind down for his bedtime

7:00 pm - Attempt to put Jackson down to bed...sometimes successful sometimes...not so much.

7:30 pm-9:00 pm - get stuff ready for work the next day...ironing, making lunch that sorta thing. Maybe catch a show I videotaped since I rarely get to see shows as they air.

9:00 pm (yes 9 o'clock if lucky and Jackson cooperates) - crash on my bed utterly exhausted

Midnight - Jackson wants to eat and be changed

4:00 am - Jackson wants to eat and be changed.

6:00 am - it all starts again.

But oh the greatness of being a teacher. This next week is Spring Break. I am not going to the beach and I am not going to the slopes. I am going to sleep.

Chalk it up!

One of the important debates of our time revolves around an issue of singular importance...Chalk or Dry Erase Marker?

I have to admit...I'm a chalk guy. Despite my proclivity for technological innovation I prefer the old stick of chalk to the dry erase marker. Yes, the dry erase marker allows you to write in different colors (although you can get different colors of chalk). However, you always have to worry about popping the cap on and off. They also have to be replaced often. Plus my handwriting suffers with the dry erase marker because of the lack of traction on the board. Also, your hands become marked up in red, blue, green and all the colors of the dry erase rainbow by the end of the day.

The greatest gripe against chalk used to be the chalk dust. But the new dustless chalk is quite good at keeping things dust free. I rarely have to worry about the chalk getting on my clothes and never have to worry about it marking my hands. I can just pick it up and start writing without having to think about where to put the cap and making sure to put the cap back on when finished. Plus chalk gives me a traction on the board that makes using it much easier...much less slippage.

So I have resisted the urge to replace my chalkboards with white dry-erase boards. I used dry-erase markers for a whole year at Highland Park so I think I gave them a fair shot. In one of the great intellectual discourses of our time I think I have to kick it old school and side with the chalk...as long as its dustless of course.

I also may be unduly swayed by that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where Professor Jones is in the classroom writing the word "neolithic" in chalk...not dry erase marker (didn't exist in 1933). He wrote the word in chalk and in all caps and I think of that scene everytime I write neolithic on the board at the beginning of the school year.

Acquiring Beauty

I find it fascinating how certain appreciations do not reveal themselves at first glance. There is a beauty that must reveal itself one layer at a time. The time of its revealing may depend on many factors such as your current frame of mind, your recent and past experiences, your current station in life and your overall evolution as a thinking human being.

There have been many instances where I did not appreciate some work of art the first time I approached it. Often I have discovered new meanings in familiar objects. I did not appreciate John Coltrane's "Naima" until one day it enveloped me in epiphanies of new understanding. The same was true for Albert Camus' "The Rebel" and "Spirit" by Willie Nelson, the works of Miro and a host of other works of art.

A tree appears differently in morning than it does at night, or in winter than summer or in rain than drought. The point is to keep looking at the tree to gain new and different appreciations.

Freakonomically Speaking

I am reading my second straight book on economics. This is strange since usually the idea of reading a book on economics would have sent my eyes rolling back into my head. Sure I've taught economics in the past and took many economics related courses as a Political Science (sometimes referred to as Policial Economy)/History major. But all the charts and graphs always bored me. But these two books have enlightened me to the practical applications of economics in both thought and deed.

The first is the wildly successful Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. There really isn't a unifying theme to Freakonomics. The authors even admit this. But I found unifying ideas in these principles discussed throughout the book.

1.) Conventional wisdom is usually wrong. Sometimes you must look at things from an uncoventional manner to find the true story. Sometimes you must ask unconventional questions to discover the truth about everyday subjects. Conventional wisdom is lazy. Freakonomic thinking is challenging. This explains why very few actually challenge conventional wisdom.

2.) Incentives are the prime motivator for most human behavior. You want to know why people do the things they do? You want to alter negative behavior and encourage constructive behavior? Examine the incentives.

3.) Economics should be more than numbers and graphs. It should help explain human behavior and perhaps offer ideas on how to improve our lot in life. Freakonomics is fascinating and offers interesting insight into American life.

The second book on my reading list with an economic premise is "Banker to the Poor" by 2006 Nobel Prize winning economist Muhammad Yunus. This book deals with the success of the microcredit movement in Bangladesh. It has fascinating insights in to how to approach poverty in a pragmatic and successful way. I'll post more on it later.

So to me, to think freakonomically means to think in new and innovative ways. To examine issues from a different point of view and sometimes that means boiling things down to their essence. Simplicity in perspective is often an elegant and enlightening pathway to understanding.

American Trainwrecks

America loves a good train wreck and the past few weeks we've seen a perfect storm of train wrecks. Astronauts wearing diapers, the death of Anna Nicole Smith and Britney shaving her head...ridiculous stories that have found their way on the front page of major newspapers and the lead slot on local newscasts. It's embarassing that our nation is so fixated on these trivialities. Maybe we need a dose of these stories to keep ourselves from being completely overwhelmed by the bad news coming from Iraq, Sudan and other places around the world.

One last thing. Anna Nicole Smith was no Marilyn Monroe. She was a sleazy gold-digging pillpopping two-bit stripper who got lucky in finding a millionaire sugardaddy knocking on death's door. Nothing More. Let's move on America.

One Year Blogiversary

Today is the one year anniversary of this incarnation of Dave's Internet Lounge. The initial Lounge opened September of 2001 on a website host that looks primitive by today's standards. In 2003 the geocities version came online and is actually still up although seldom maintained. This version of the Internet Lounge was my first official foray into the world of blogging. I can no longer blog at work due to some fascist filtering programs so I don't blog as much as I would like. Nor do I attach as many links due to the fact that my home computer is still on dial-up and only gets about 46 kbps. But I still average a post about every other day or so...which is quite an accomplishment with a little baby in your arms. This post is the 199th post in a year. So thanks to all two of my loyal readers. I hope I haven't ticked you off too much. Please comment and let me know you're out there!

Cell Phone Rant

I believe it is high time that cell phone etiquette be introduced into the state's public school curriculum. The availibility of the celluar mobile phone made a statospheric leap in the early 21st century due to lowered prices and attractive long distance plans. The leap was so rapid that our culture experienced and I believe is still experiencing cultural and technological lag when it comes to cell phone use. Fortunately more and more states are placing restrictions on the use of mobile phones while driving. But more etiquette instruction is needed...

1.) Cell phones should be turned completely off in the movie theater. Even when someone is not actually talking on the phone...the light enamating from the cell phone screen is an annoying distraction from the movie screen.

2.) Cell phones should never be used while driving.

3.) Cell phones should be turned off in restauraunts.

4.) Cell phones should be turned completely off in schools and churches.

5.) Make an attempt not to be gabbing on the phone while shopping at the grocery store. People on the phone do not pay attention and often hold up aisles or run into people. Stop in an out of the way place and make or take your call in a stationary fashion.

There are exceptions, of course, in all these cases. However most Americans have no idea how to use a cell phone appropriately. You do not have to be in constant contact with your friends and family while you're driving or shopping. Disconnect from the grid occassionally and enjoy some solitude. Heaven knows how people lived without cell phones prior to 1995.

photo: Jackson mimicing his mother on the phone...told you he's smart!

Read to Feed

So far my 2007 reading list is off to an excellent start. The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin started off the year and I just completed David Mitchell's Black Swan Green. I'm almost finished with Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner and have been engrossed from page one. I will review each book as I go along but so far 2007 is off to a good reading start.

When do you read you might ask now that I have a baby to look after? I read while he is feeding. My job is to burp and change the diaper midway through the feeding session. We like to keep the television off during the late night feeding sessions to encourage sleep after he's finished. So I read between burps and changes.

I'll post a review of both the Songlines and Black Swan Green soon...but I recommend both highly. Both are more than just a read...they are "add to your life perspective" reads. Super super stuff. I'll also post my final 2006 reading list soon as well. Turn off the television and open up a book! And if you've read something great...post a comment and let us know.

Epic Reunions

Now for some epic news: David Lee Roth is back with Van Halen and they will be touring this summer. Only downside...bassist Michael Anthony has been kicked out in favor of Eddie's fifteen-year old son Wolfgang. They'll still blow the roof off of any dump they play.

More superepic news: The Police who reunited for last Sunday's Grammys are going on tour. And they're coming to Dallas. You don't have to turn on the red light any more.

Word on the street is that Genesis may be getting back together as well. Is this the Land of Confusion or what?

Now with all this good news about monster 80's bands reuniting there is one piece of disturbing news. There are reports that Wham! is getting back together. I guess you have to take the bad with the good. If they truly want to torture the inmates at Gitmo and the Supermaxes then they should force the cons to listen to Wham! 24/7. That'll ruin 'em.

Freakonomic Snowboarding

One time Kim, her parents and I were traveling up a mountain gondola in Keystone, Colorado with a snowboarder who was riding along from the single line to fill out our five person gondola car. He looked the typical teenage shredder and was plugged in with the ubiqitous white iPod headphones. My father-in-law Tom engaged him in small talk by asking what music he was listening to. The boarder pulled out his plugs and said he was actually listening to a podcast of a book on tape...Freakonomics (which I'm reading at the time of this blog by the way). Talk about image busting...shouldn't judge a man by their outward gear. You'd expect a rider to be listening to hardcore punk/hop ski music. Instead he was listening to a New York Times bestseller about the impact of economics on society's decision making.

Anyway I put together a playlist last week of good ski music if I ever wanted to iPod down the mountain. I prefer to stay plug free on the mountain so I can enjoy the sounds of the mountain and actually talk with those I'm skiing with. But if I need some musical encouragement here's my initial ski playlist...

Monkey Wrench - Foo Fighters

I'll Stick Around - Foo Fighters

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand

E-Pro - Beck

Song 2 - Blur

Girlfriend - Matthew Sweet

Crackity Jones - The Pixies

Debaser - The Pixies

Hash Pipe - Weezer

Don't Let Go - Weezer

Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes

The Saint - Orbital

Revolution - The Beatles

Live and Let Die - Guns 'n Roses

Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet

Are You Gonna Go My Way - Lenny Kravitz

Vertigo - U2

Pistolero - Juno Reactor

El Matador - Los Fabulosos Cadillacs

Super Bowl Thoughts

Last Super Bowl thoughts...The game was sloppy due to rain and Peyton Manning did not deserve the MVP...the co-running backs did more to win. This game is becoming all about Manning. He had a mediocre game...there are others on the Colts that deserve more ink. The Bears defense can't be faulted for having to play almost the entire game because of their inept offense.

The commercials were bland. Not too many stick out the next day. My favorite...Lettermen and Oprah's promo for the Late Show...totally unexpected and totally funny. Super Bowl commercials have jumped the shark and are no longer a big deal. They try too hard. The Coke/Grand Theft Auto commercial was cool. Snicker's kissing mechanics was funny...but it didn't make me want to eat a snickers bar. The K-Fed commerical would have been funnier if they hadn't released online weeks in advance. And there's no way Jay-Z beats Don Shula in a virtual football game.

Half time show...disappointing. Prince started things okay with "Let Go Crazy." But he sang three cover songs...Rollin' on the River, All Along the Watchtower and The Best of You. Why was he covering a Foo Fighters song? Prince has enough of his own material he doesn't need to rip others off on the biggest stage on television. Now the Foo Fighters would have put on a killer show. I'm just glad he wasn't electrocuted in the rain by playing an electric guitar. Still, the show was better than the Britney Spears, InSync, Aerosmith show a few years ago and anything's better than that preening twit Justin Timberlake.

I had fun watching the game with my son Jackson for the first time. He wasn't really paying attention though...he's a Chiefs fan.

No Fun League

The NFL (No Fun League) has demanded that an Indianapolis church cancel a superbowl party because it violates copyright infringement restrictions. Click HERE to read the story from CNN. The church backed down on charging people admission and using the actual words "Super Bowl." But that wasn't enough for the poverty stricken NFL. The church was planning on showing the game via a LCD projector on a large screen. The NFL states the law only permits public showings of the super bowl on tv sets smaller than 55 inches. The church ended up cancelling the party because those restrictions would make viewing the game difficult for the large number of people they were expecting.

The hypocritical thing is that the NFL allows bars and sports themed resturaunts to be exempt from the 55 inch rule and allows them to charge admission. So the only public gathering place to watch the super bowl with your family, according to the NFL, is at an alcholic establishment where kids are verboten anyway. I am a football fan and I've seen the NFL and the beer industry get cozier and cozier for years. But now they are actually antogonizing and attacking those cultural and religious institutions that possess an opposing moral code. The NFL officials found out about the party by viewing the church's website. They were proactively searching for religious offenders.

The NFL's greed would be bad enough...but that they are selectively greedy at the expense of religious organizations is inexcusable. If the NFL continues this policy then Christians should stand up everywhere and voice their concern. If the NFL foolishly ignores such concerns then Christians everywhere should be duty bound to boycott this organization that attacks the Church in such a callous and blunt manner.

iPicks

So I received some iTunes gift cards for Christmas. I had about $30 to spend...that's about 30 songs. You talk about a dilemma...what songs do you select out of the thousands of songs out there? What a great problem to have. ITunes gift cards are fantastic. So here's what I selected including some guilty pleasures I'm almost embarassed to admit I like...but hey...I like what I like.

The entire album "Hastings Street" by Brazzaville

Five unreleased and rarity songs by Weezer including...

"Susanne"
"I Swear It's True"
"Worry Rock"
"Jamie"
"Velouria"

"The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News
"The Tide is High" by Blondie
"Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand
"Do You Wanna" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
"Unbelievable" by EMF
"Mercy" by Sarah McLachlan (a song my wife wanted)
"Ordinary Miracle" by Sarah McLachlan (another pick by my wife)
"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" by Jet
"Mouth (The Stingray Mix)" by Bush
"Blue" by The Jayhawks
"Since I Don't Have You" by Guns 'n Roses

Things learned so far...

I had read a lot about child care during Kimberly's pregnancy. I had also taken a childcare class along with the labor class and the breastfeeding class. But learning is doing and I'm learning a lot. Some things I've picked up in the last week and a half...

* Always have a diaper cloth ready.
* You will do laundry everyday.
* Five minutes after you've changed a diaper they will christen the new one for you.
* They will spray you if you don't have a diaper cloth placed in the right location while changing diapers.
* They will change clothes at least four times a day.
* They are in charge.
* There are such things as milkaholics.
* They are the coolest thing to ever happen to you.

A Dynamite Christmas

I received the DVD of Napoleon Dynamite as an early Christmas gift over Thanksgiving. With Christmas Break starting Wednesday I was finally able to find time to pop it in and watch this great movie. A lot of people are entertained by this movie because it seems so bizarrely weird. But I enjoy it because it is so true to life in high school. I think a lot of people forget the oddballs and socially challenged people they went to school with. If you were one of those oddballs then that's another reason you might find it great. I see Napoleon Dynamites every day walking down the halls of Kaufman High School. I like this movie because although it is strangely goofy it ends on a heartwarming note. And it is an uncannily accurate depiction of the weirdness of high school.

Ironically enough during Homecoming Week at KHS we had a 'dress as your favorite movie character day.' There were a lot of Napoleons and Debs that day. What was ironic was the fact that most of the people who dressed up as Napoleon or Deb were from the elite crowd...people who pick on and mock the real Napoleons on a daily basis. The elites are so self-absorbed they can't even see themselves as the jocks, Summers and Tricias of the movie...people to despise for their snobbery, egotism and bullying. I fight for the Napoleons. I fight for the Pedros and Debs. That's one of the reason I teach.

Well, we'll be pretty busy the next two or three days and I may not have a chance to log back on before Christmas. So have a Merry Christmas and see you around the next snowman.

DOGma or CATastrophe?

Often when I see a profile of someone I see them asked the question "Dog or cat?" I guess whether you are a dog person or a cat person is supposed to provide some deep insight into your psyche.

Now I have nothing against dogs. I like dogs. But from a socio-political view, dogs represent fascism. Think about it...dogs are dogmatically (pun intended) loyal, never questioning and are easily trained. They'll do anything to please their master. They'll make fools of themselves for a dry biscuit. They have no dignity. From one standpoint these qualities are what make dogs endearing...man's best friend. And yes, I like happy dogs as the next person. But they happily conform to making their master happy at the expense of their own individual dignity.

But cats represent individual freedom. They kowtow to no one. They are not so easily trained or conditioned. They are selective about their food. They have a mind of their own. They know where to use the restroom without being trained. They show love and affection on their terms. They play when they want. And any cat owner can tell you that dignity is very important for a cat. Plus, they are not nearly as high maintennance as dogs. They can live on their own for days and they don't keep you up at night with incessant barking. They represent critical thought and individual freedom. I guess that's why more than twice as many people own cats than dogs in the United States.

But you notice...who's more slavishly vocal about their pets...dog owners. The typical bellocosity of fascism. So when you read that next survey be wary of the pet chosen.

The Last Look

Well, here it is. The last sonogram of our baby boy until D-Day (delivery day). The bags are packed (mostly). The nursery is finished (hopefully). We've completed child-birth classes, child-care classes and nursing classes. We have certificates to prove it! Now we wait. The target is just two weeks away...December 30th. The substitute lesson plans are ready. The car seat is in place. The clothes organized and the diapers ready. The iPod playlists to help lure the baby asleep are done (one jazz and one classical) and the iPod plugged into the bassinet's Mp3 jack. The name is chosen...although it's a closely guarded secret until the big day. Let the madness begin!

Season Wrap-up

Thoughts on the college football season...both the regular season that's wrapped and the bowl season that charging full steam ahead...

Wow! The Oklahoma Sooners win the Big XII Championship! Who would have thought after all the crap thrown their way. Stupid quarterbacks, corrupt officials, heartbreaking injuries and still the Sooners win the conference. A texas longhorn fan friend of mine at work told me that Thanksgiving weekend was the apocalypse for ut supporters. First ut loses to A&M...but worse yet, that loss send OU to the title game.

It was great to see the OU-Nebraska rivalry renewed. Growing up in Kansas City with all those displaced Husker fans that was the big game of the year for me. I didn't even know a texas fan until college. So all the trashtalking in football was with those cornfed bruisers from the north. Plus, OU-NU was a conference game and often determined a trip to the Orange Bowl. OU-texas was just a bitter non-conference game. So a strange year ended up great...even if the Sooners lose in the Fiesta (highly unlikely to the smurf turf crew of Boise State)...this year will be very satisfying for Sooner fans. This was the first year that the conference championship game seemed a reward for OU. Usually it's just another hurdle to a title with little upside. This year it was all gravy.

Yes, the BCS is a flawed system...but the title game is the right matchup. Florida deserves a shot at Ohio State. Michigan may very well be the second best team in the nation...but they had their shot at the Buckeyes and lost. Sure it was a heroic loss on the road by only three points. But it was a shot. Now it's someone else's turn.Of course my son is due to arrive right at the height of all this bowl madness so I may not be paying much attention this year. If I'm lucky I'll get the VCR set in time...but expected babies puts everything in perspective.

The Loss of a Visionary

I was saddened to hear of the loss of AFL/NFL visionary Lamar Hunt last night. Hunt, the owner of my favorite team the Kansas City Chiefs, was one of the most humble and gentle-spirited entreprenuers America has seen in the last century. He was a shrewd businessman but he was known to treat others with respect and made decisions based off their merits and not on ego. Lamar Hunt's automated signature appeared on my paychecks when I worked at his World's of Fun amusement park in Kansas City for three summers during my high school years. I used to say to my high school peers you may make a little more money working for McDonalds but I work for Lamar Hunt. He will be missed.