NCAA Treats SEC with Kid Gloves-Again!

Johnny Party Boy

The NCAA is an embarrassment to its member institutions and their student athletes. Its enforcement of the bylaws has become a joke. The Johnny Manziel decision yesterday is just one in a long line of blunders and inconsistencies.

This troubled organization suspended Heisman Trophy winner, Texas A+M quarterback, Johnny Manziel, for one half of the team's first game against a four-touchdown underdog, Rice.  Johnny was suspended for violating NCAA rule 12.5.2.1 which says a player "cannot permit their names or likenesses to be used for commercial purposes." Although there is ample evidence that Johnny's 4000+ autographs were "used for commercial purposes," the NCAA had no paper trail to prove that Johnny received money for autographs. However, he was still guilty of breaking the rule -- the autographs were indeed used for commercial purposes. The NCAA says he is only partially guilty because he denies having received compensation. Is being partially guilty similar to being partially pregnant?

Perhaps "Johnny Football" can use that 30 minute suspension to sign more autographs.

Face it, everyone knows he was guilty, and the NCAA invited him into the confessional and asked him to confess. He and his family lawyered up and refused to confess and the NCAA said: "Johnny you have sinned and your penance is missing thirty minutes of a 'walk-over' game. Go thy way, my son,  and sin no more."

What makes such a resolution so disturbing is that it is not consistent with other cases. Dallas Cowboy receiver, Dez Bryant, was suspended a full season because he lied about having dinner with Deion Sanders. (The dinner itself was not a violation.) Terelle Pryor, Oakland Raiders quarterback, was suspended 5 games for trading memorabilia for tattoos. A.J. Green, a wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals, was suspended for four games for selling his Independence Bowl jersey for cash.

But in a perverse way, the NCAA is consistent. They are chary of leveling meaningful suspensions against high profile quarterbacks from the South Eastern Conference. Although Cam Newton's father offered to have his son play for Mississippi in exchange for a considerable amount of money, the NCAA cleared Cam to play for the Auburn Tigers. Cam also became a Heisman trophy winner.

Apparently, the NCAA is quite willing to give a free pass to high-profile football players from the SEC. I have to wonder what would have happened if instead of Johnny Manziel, the player had been Terrance Owens, the quarterback of the Toledo Rockets. A half game suspension? Get real. The NCAA would throw him under the bus and sanction the University of Toledo as well.

So why is the NCAA reluctant to hand out a meaningful suspension to a high profile football player from the SEC? It is my opinion that the the NCAA fears the SEC may bolt and become its own governing body. If that happens, other leagues might follow suit and the NCAA would unravel. It is in their best interest to keep the SEC happy. 

The Testament of Mary

   

Those who, with a patriarchal perspective,  refer to the biblical Mary of Nazareth as the "Co-Redemptrix" and view her in terms of Renaissance iconography will probably find Colm Toibin's portrayal of  Jesus' mother as something approaching blasphemy.

Those who view Mary as a young Jewish girl who gave birth to a boy child who would eventually propose a new world-view will find The Testament of Mary to be a thought-provoking and disturbing portrayal of a confused old woman reflecting back on her son, his strange behavior, his death, and her feelings of guilt. 

The Gospels  refer to Mary by name on only 17 occasions and 12 of those are in the Gospel of Luke. In addition, the Gospels of Mark and John together refer to "Jesus' mother" three times, but not by name. In addition there are various references to Mary Magdalene, and Mary, sister of Lazarus. In the light of so few New Testament references, many are perplexed by the the central role the  patriarchal Roman Catholic Church has given Mariology. Unfortunately for this long-held position of the Church fathers, their portrayal of Mary as the subservient, submissive woman does not resonate with this generation of women who have proven themselves to be equal partners with their male friends and spouses. 

In this fictional account, Mary in her old age is living in Ephesus in a home provided by her son's disciples. Often Mary considers  this arrangement to be incarceration. "They" are watching and do not want her talking to others. In addition, these disciples are trying to convince her to support various theories they are proposing, e.g. her son being the "Son of God.."; the story of the "virgin birth".  She cannot agree, much to their consternation.

Doctrinal issues aside, the story is that of a mother who loses her first-born son at an early age to a humiliating, torturous execution. . She is confused and worried as he begins a public life with a rag-tag group of  followers whom she considers to be dangerous, unbalanced radicals. He ignores her pleas to distance himself from his followers and go into hiding to escape the notice of the authorities and the  almost certain consequences.

The Gospels tell us that upon Jesus' arrest the disciples disappeared into the woodwork, and Peter denied any association with Jesus. Mary, however. observes her son's ordeal by hiding within the mob that was following his journey to crucifixion, but she too flees near the end to keep from being discovered. And this, the abandonment of her son in his final hour, haunts her existence, especially in old age.

Although The Testament of Mary is a work of fiction, like all good fiction, it provokes the reader to reread the Gospels and speculate on all those details the Evangelists were not able to provide. If this book succeeds in making us more careful, and critical, readers of the Gospels, it serves everyone's best interests. 

Notes:
1) Colm Toibin is an Irish writer and this book was among those considered for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. 
2) In keeping with the fictional nature of this work, I purposely did not use capital letters for pronouns referring to Jesus. 

What a GOP Congress Does on Vacation

The US Congress, at the beginning of August, took another vacation; this time for two months. Some may wonder how one can take a vacation from doing nothing. If one has been grossly unproductive, what happens when she/he goes on vacation? Although they did nothing in Washington, they surprisingly become quite active on their two-month-long vacation.

While on vacation, GOP congress people:
1. pay homage to the NRA in exchange for money
2. ask ALEC (Koch Brothers) to write new legislation to eliminate unions, make it more difficult for citizens to vote, and privatize the functions of government.
3. play golf at exclusive country clubs with their favorite lobbyists.
4. go on  "fact-finding " missions to resorts in the south of France.
5. fly to Alaska to sit on Sarah Palin's front porch and enjoy a view of Russia.
6. travel to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to participate in a wolf hunt.
7. search for those elusive "death panels."
8. take their families to Hawaii to investigate President Obama's birth certificate.
9. visit a large agri-business and offer to increase their government subsidies.
10. become certified as "gynoticians" -- politicians who decide they are more qualified than women and their doctors to make healthcare decisions.

While on vacation. the GOPers do not:
1. go hunting with Dick Cheney. (After all, they do have an instinct for self preservation.)
2. explain why they want to deny affordable health care to 40 million Americans.
3  dine at restaurants that serve halal food.
4. visit areas where they may encounter the "other 47%" of Americans.
5. explain why they allow banks to use our federally insured savings on risky investments.
6. convince us that miscarriages are a crime.
7. make clear to us why they are so offended that a black family is living in the White House.
8. campaign at a gay/lesbian pride parade -- those people will try to seduce a God-fearing homophobe. 
9. admit that they have undocumented immigrants caring for their children and manicuring their lawns.
10.  watch or listen to PBS. It rattles their brains if forced to consider two sides of an issue. Rush Limbaugh understands them and does not confuse them with the facts.

And, just for the record, these are some of the issues the GOP- House refused to take action on before they left for their two-month vacation. And, they have indicated they will probably not take action on any of them before the November elections.

1. Immigration reform
2. The Violence Against Women Re-authorization
3. American Jobs Act
4. Veterans Job Corps Act
5. Tax cuts for working families
6. The Farm Bill
7. Wind Tax Credits
8. Ending the so-called "Sequestration" debacle

On the other hand, they cast votes 41 times to repeal the Affordable Healthcare Act, although the votes were meaningless.

I hope they enjoy their two-month vacation because we are paying dearly for it.

Cardinal Dolan: Off the Hook?

Political Anima

Catholic Cemetery

Chances are that unless you live in Milwaukee or read the Catholic press, you were not aware that a federal judge, Rudolph Randa, let Cardinal Dolan, former archbishop of Milwaukee, off the hook for moving $57 million dollars into a cemetery fund in order to protect the church's assets. Specifically, Dolan moved the money to prevent 575 plaintiffs in sexual abuse cases from accessing that money. Apparently, in Dolan's view, the church's money was more important than clergy sex abuse victims. On the other hand, according to reports, the Archbishop had paid cash to some abusive priests on the condition they leave the priesthood.

Archbishop Dolan has since become Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Arcbishop of New York and head of the U.S. Catholic Bishops.

Later, after the Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed for bankruptcy, it invoked the concept of  "religious liberty" in order to keep the transferred money from being available to the Church's creditors. Citing the Catholic belief in the resurrection of the body, Judge Randa agreed to protect the cemetery funds. Decaying bodies trump living humans.

Given this decision,  I expect the Catholic Church to become even more aggressive in claiming a "Catholic Exemption" from rules they don't like by appealing to "religious liberty." U.S Catholic bishops have been attempting "to exempt themselves from 'secular' obligations like non-discrimination or giving employees access to contraceptives." (Kilgore, 8,1,'13) One would think that a religion based on the Gospels would promote non-discrimination and the freedom of employees to follow the dictates of their own consciences; but, like all monolithic monarchies, the preservation of power and authority takes precedence.

Although the Church's money appears to be protected in the cemetery fund at present, the abuse victims are questioning whether Judge Randa, a Catholic, may have a vested interest in the cemetery business.

Others are simply perplexed by Judge Randa's decision and its justification. "Judge Randa's decision was so indefensible in so many ways that we suspected there was reason to investigate any involvement he might have with the cemeteries," said Marci Hamilton, a First Amendment scholar who is representing the creditors' committee on the issue.

If, after all is said and done, the Church is able to hang onto its precious money and stiff its creditors, it will have lost the battle in the eyes of the many who simply ask, "What would Jesus have done in a situation like this?"

Archangels: Rise of the Jesuits

In the Vatican Museum, Helena Visconte and her young son discover the dead body of a Jesuit priest who is the victim of ligature strangulation and mutilation. Her husband, Michael, a member of the "Specialists" police unit, is asked by the Jesuits to find the killer.

In the course of his investigation, Michael discovers more than he wants to know about the Vatican and its financial connections, but most importantly he learns  the victim was a very successful hedge fund manager for the Vatican.

The problem for Michael and the reader is: who can be trusted?  As a reader, I continually suspected the wrong character(s).

Perhaps the real interest of this book is that, although it is fiction, having seen so many Vatican financial debacles, one is tempted to confuse fact and fiction. In addition the reader is left to wonder about the author's portrayal of the Jesuit community and the closed society that is the Vatican. Interesting, but peculiar.

Janet Tavakoli, who is a renowned financial expert, has created two characters, Michael and his wife, whom readers will want to encounter in a sequel.  Looking forward to more Vatican shenanigans.

“There is an old saying: In America everything is allowed, except that which is forbidden. In Germany everything is forbidden, except that which is allowed. In Italy everything is allowed, especially that which is forbidden. But in the Vatican, everything is forbidden, even that which is allowed.” (A quote of one of the Jesuit characters.)

Major League Baseball, Really?

Monday, August 5, 2013, Major League Baseball suspended thirteen players for using PEDs (performance-enhancing drugs, probably HGH - Human Growth Hormone). Twelve of the players agreed to a 50 game suspension. Alex Rodriguez is appealing his penalty of a 211 day suspension. Prior to this, Milwaukee Brewers's Ryan Braun agreed to a 65 day suspension. At this time, MLB has 13 players who have admitted cheating.

Yesterday and again today, I am hearing baseball players, managers, front office personnel, league officials, and some sports writers and commentators trying to put a positive spin on this by saying: "This is a great day for major league baseball. We caught the cheaters and with these suspensions players will not dare use PEDs in the future."

That is bull excrement! It was not a good day for baseball. Thirteen players admitted to cheating and they will all be playing next season, or if their teams make it to the playoffs, they will be participating. What is so "great" about that?

In fact, we heard similar garbage back in the days when McGuire, Sosa, Clemens, and Bonds were charged with using steroids. In fact we were hearing baseball's talking heads pointing to Alex Rodriquez as an example of the new baseball player who was doing it the right way. Oops! It was bad for baseball then and it still is now.

Another fact which no one mentions is that MLB did not catch these guys cheating. Players and team management did not call out the cheats. They were caught by the press and a disgruntled employee of Biogenesis. All MLB did was to say how shocked they were and hand out penalties when all of this evidence was dropped on their desk. If it had been up to MLB, these guys would not have been caught.

And that raises another good question: how many more players are using HGH? Only those doing business with Bosch's Biogenesis company were caught. I find it difficult to believe that his establishment is the only one pushing PEDs. If there are other players with other sources, what are the chances MLB will catch them?

Not one of the thirteen suspended players tested positive on a MLB drug test. Apparently the test is only useful for baseball's propaganda purposes. Obviously the players have figured out a way of beating the test. How many players who use PEDs will be playing in the playoffs and the World Series?

As a fan I will never be able to believe a baseball player who speaks of "those of us who do it the right way."

Yesterday was not a "great day for baseball."

And then there is the National Football League which does not even bother to test for HGH. Are we to believe that those giants who can lift a mobile home and run like a cheetah have done it "the right way"?

GOP's Putinesque Attack on Democracy

"Smells Familiar"

They refer to the Constitution when it suits their purposes, but the current Republican politicians (and that includes the Republican justices on the Supreme Court) are attempting to dismantle our democracy. And make no mistake about it; theirs is an all-out, extremely well financed assault. They are attacking in local and national media outlets, city governments, state legislatures and courts, federal agencies, the House of Representatives, the US Senate and federal courts.

As our country was being created, the founding fathers were careful to protect a minority from being steamrolled by the majority, but back then they did not foresee a corporate-financed minority party attempting to abuse those precautions. Quite frankly they probably could not imagine future Americans attempting to curtail the basic tenets of democracy. True, the founding fathers made compromises to create a new independent,democratic United States, but in the first sentence of the Constitution, they laid out lofty principles to guide us through the years ahead. Unfortunately, most current Republicans have ignored that first, most important sentence. They get the part about providing "for the common defense," but few remember the very next phrase, "promote the general Welfare." As  my good friend, Buck, has said: "When they read that phrase, they interpret 'general Welfare' to mean General Electric and General Motors."

The most obvious Republican attacks on democracy are their blatant attempts to suppress the vote. One would think that the more people who participate in the voting process, the better the democracy. Apparently the GOP has decided that as a minority party representing some specific vested interests, they cannot win if democracy is all inclusive. In a moment of honesty, Mitt Romney admitted as much when in the 2012 election he made his famous 47% remark.

In that 2012 presidential election, Republican governors and legislatures tried to cut down the number of days set aside for early voting, reduce the number of Saturdays and Sundays available in order to keep people working two jobs or long hours from voting, require IDs that poor and elderly citizens do not have. and intimidate Latino voters.

And there is no question that these maneuvers were designed to skew the election in the GOP's favor. In Pennsylvania, the Republican House Majority leader, Mike Turzai,  admitted that the voter ID "is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania...."

And then SCOTUS chief justice John Roberts and and his fellow Republicans on the court threw out Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, "which subjected the voting laws in states and jurisdictions with a history of discrimination to Justice Department scrutiny..."(Dionne). Republican politicians in these states were giddy with the possibilities that this decision offered them.

Shortly thereafter, the most egregious attack on voter rights occurred in North Carolina where the Republicans are passing a laundry list of voter suppression measures that Vladimir Putin would be proud of.

In addition to prohibiting the use of student IDs as a recognized form of identification -- an attempt to keep college students from voting, they have added the following:

• The end of pre-registration for 16 & 17 year olds
• A ban on paid voter registration drives
• Elimination of same day voter registration
• A provision allowing voters to be challenged by any registered voter of the county in which they vote rather than just their precinct
• A week sliced off Early Voting
• Elimination of straight party ticket voting
• A provision making the state’s presidential primary date a function of the primary date in South Carolina
• A provision calling for a study (rather than a mandate) of electronic candidate filing
• An increase in the maximum campaign contribution to $5,000 (the limit will continue to increase every two years with the Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• A provision weakening disclosure requirements for "independent expenditure” committees
• Authorization of vigilante poll observers, lots of them, with expanded range of interference
• An expansion of the scope of who may examine registration records and challenge voters
• A repeal of out-of-precinct voting
• A repeal of the current mandate for high-school registration drives
• Elimination of flexibility in opening early voting sites at different hours within a county
• A provision making it more difficult to add satellite polling sites for the elderly or voters with disabilities
• New limits on who can assist a voter adjudicated to be incompetent by court
• The repeal of three public financing programs
• The repeal of disclosure requirements under “candidate specific communications.”

Not only are such laws an affront to our democratic principles, it smacks of racism. These voter restrictions remind one of what segregationist Southern lawmakers did in the past, and now the Roberts' Supreme Court has given current Republican lawmakers the go-ahead.

It's not just a matter of voting rights. The GOP positions on a variety of issues follows the same anti-democratic path: immigration issues, student loans, the corporatization of the media, and breaching the separation of church and state.

It is no surprise that many throughout the world disregard our calls for democracy and equal rights. We have a major political party doing their best to restrict democracy and limit equal rights here at home.