Gender Equality in Pro Tennis?

As is only just and fair, women deserve equal pay for equal work


The question is: should women receive the same pay as men when they do not have to work as much as their male counterparts? And if they are paid the same for less work does that not demean women by suggesting that they are unable to put forth the same amount of effort as their male colleagues?


The issue pertains to professional women's tennis. At the four major tennis tournaments, the women are paid the same as the  men, but the women play "the-best-of-three set" matches while the men are required to play the "the-the-best-of-five-set" matches. The difference is significant on many levels. First of all, there is the issue of the time and energy required to play a "best-of-five-set" match, many of which can last up to five or more hours.If Serena Williams wins two sets, perhaps in an hour and fifteen minutes , she is in the locker room taking a relaxing shower. On the other hand, if Raphael Nadal wins two sets, he faces the prospect of playing three more sets before going to the showers with a loss. If,  in this scenario, Serena wins and Rafa loses, he has entertained tennis fans much longer  than Serena, but receives less compensation. Not exactly equal!


And then there is the question: would the woman who wins two sets be the winner if the match were a "best-of-five"?


No one I know would suggest that professional women tennis players should receive less compensation, but many would question why they do not play "the-best-of-five-sets" in the majors since they receive the same money as the men. Since there is no question that the women are more than capable of playing "the-best-of five-set" matches, one has to wonder why the tennis powers are so reluctant to adopt total equality.

GOP Working for Failure

Mitch McConnell & Michele Bachmann

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the leader of the Senate Republicans, has said that his party's job is to make sure that the President of the United States fails. Since then, Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party congresswoman from Minnesota, has adopted the same stance. 


Is this what our Founding Fathers had in mind? In their wildest dreams could they have ever imagined that a leading senator and a congresswoman running to become the Republican candidate for president would want the President of the United States, and therefore our country,  to fail in the cause of their own political ambitions?


Most Americans presume that when a senator or representative places his/her hand on the Bible and  takes the oath of office, she or he is committed to the "general welfare" of our country as stipulated in the in the Constitution of the United States of America. Apparently, for some Republican politicians, political gain is more important than the welfare of our country. 


Is it any wonder then that some Republicans brought the country to the edge of defaulting on its debt?


Whether one likes him or not, Barack Obama is the President of our country. If he fails, the country fails. When George W. Bush failed and did so repeatedly, our country suffered and still is suffering as a result. One would think it inconceivable that an official of our government who has taken an oath to "promote the general Welfare" (1st paragraph of the Constitution) would work for the failure of the President and the country. What is even more amazing is that McConnell and Bachmann voice this aloud.

Cablevision vs. Tennis Channel

In the middle of the 2011 US Open Tennis Tournament,  cable television companies across the country, including Buckeye Cablesystem in northwest Ohio, are not broadcasting the Tennis Channel.


In the real world most of us inhabit, it makes no sense for cable companies and the Tennis Channel to eliminate one of their largest audiences on Labor Day weekend. However, if you inhabit the world of corporate greed, it makes perfect sense. According to the New York Times (9/5/11) the Tennis Channel and the National Cable Television Cooperative have a new contract which requires Cablevision to place Tennis Channel on a broad, basic subscriber package. Prior to this Cable companies were offering Tennis Channel on a more expensive level of service, for example, part of a sports package. The Tennis Channel wants broader availability; cable operators want to continue charging extra fees. The result: subscribers who paid extra to view the Tennis Channel are not being served! Great example of "Corporate Think."


All of which goes to the heart of cablevision's "all-or-nothing" marketing. For years subscribers have pleaded with Congress to require cable operators to allow customers to choose and then pay for the channels they actually want. Why do customers have to pay for channels they never watch and never wanted? Personally, I could do without SPROUT, MTV, OXYGEN, GOD TV, and a hundred other channels I will never watch.


If viewers had the freedom to pick and choose what they wanted, this present fiasco with Tennis Channel and N.C.T.C.  would not exist. I would purchase  the Tennis Channel and my neighbor would purchase the Bullfighting Channel.

Sandy's Sazerac Recipe

Sazerac

Apparently there are many variations of the classic New Orleans drink, but the basics are similar. I am sharing Sandy's recipe because a number of friends have requested it after enjoying it before one of her Louisiana dinners. This recipe makes four drinks which can be prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator.   


Sandy's Sazerac: one batch - 4 drinks of 3oz. each


8 oz. of Buffalo Trace Whiskey*
6 tsps. of sugar
1 tsp. of Peychauds Bitters
1 tsp. of Angostura Bitters
4 oz. of water


Mix the above items making sure the sugar dissolves. Taste at this point. Add more sugar if you prefer a sweeter taste. This mixture can be prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator until one is ready to serve. Stir mixture again before pouring into the glass.


When serving, pour a little Pernod (or Abasinthe) into a glass, swish around to coat the interior of the glass and pour off the excess or pour into a second glass. Martini glasses work well since they are easily coated.


Pour 3 - 4 ounces into a glass and top off with a lemon twist.


*Rye whiskey may be substituted, and in certain locales, a specific "Sazerac Rye" is available.

PGA Tournament: Boring!

Based on the first three days of the PGA Golf Championship being played at the Atlantic Athletic Club, I would suggest that the PGA should refund the money of the fans, the sponsors,  the television networks, and the television advertisers because this tournament is downright BORING!


Give me a break! Anytime in 2011 one has Jim Furyk, Scott VerPlank, and Steve Stricker "fighting it out" with a bunch of guys who haven't made the cut in forever, one is dealing with a "Ho-Hum" event. I trust that some entrepreneurial individual is selling "PGA Pillows" to the fans who cannot stay awake to watch golfers "play safe" in the hope that the golf gods will reward them.


When Tiger Woods' 20 some sand bunkers and assorted water balls along with Rory McIllroy's shot off a gnarly tree root are the highlights of the first three days, one knows immediately that the rest of the play has not been exciting or interesting. However, the most confusing aspect is that it appears the PGA,  with the bizarre sand in the traps and an impossible par-four eighteenth hole, wanted it this way.


The bottom line, I presume, is that they wanted some good ole time golf -- BORING GOLF!


Of course the final round on Sunday could prove me wrong. I hope so, but I doubt it. Which of those contending golfers (Phil Mikelson excluded) is willing to take a serious risk and jeopardize their "safe" money?


In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I am in a golf pool based on the PGA and that I am currently in last place for this tournament with a score of "-30."  Perhaps that is a factor in my current condition of golf ennui.

GOP Likes Big Brother Looking Over Our Shoulders

Big Brother In Action

Although the Republican Party spends so much time campaigning on the issue of keeping Big Bad Government out of our lives, they frequently support legislation that fosters government intervention in our private lives. The list of such legislation is quite long, ranging from the so-called Patriot Act to legislation about abortion and homosexuality.


The most recent attack on our privacy is a bill passed by the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee. This bill would require ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to retain subscriber records for government surveillance.And, as with the Patriot Act, they label the legislation after a desirable outcome rather than a description of what it does. In this case, using their "the-end-justifies-the-means" philosophy, they tell us that the legislation will help law enforcement track down pedophiles. Perhaps it will, just as executing all convicted felons would reduce crime, but that is the reason our founding fathers had the foresight to limit the powers of government.


"The bill is mislabeled," Rep. John Conyers (D-MI), a senior member of the panel told CNET. "This is not protecting children from Internet pornography. It's creating a database for everybody in this country for a lot of other purposes." (Eric Dolan, The Raw Story, July 28, 2011)


Obviously the bill should be called "The Internet Data Retention Act."


"The data retention mandate in this bill would treat every Internet user like a criminal and threaten the online privacy and free speech rights of every American, as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have recognized," Senior Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said. (cf. Dolan, above)


It is time American voters  realize that many Republicans do not really believe in their own  Libertarian rhetoric. They seem all too comfortable with allowing Big Brother to look over our shoulders.

Woody Hayes in Bronze

Sculpture of Woody Hayes

College Football in general and  OSU football in particular seems to inspire fans to use their artistic skills to express themselves in praise of the game they love. You may recall the elaborate lego recreation of the "Horshoe" (www.mocpages.com) by engineer, Paul Janssen.


The Most recent example is Andy Sacksteder of Fostoria, Ohio, an avid Ohio State fan and a part-time sculptor. He has created a life-size sculpture of the legendary OSU coach, Woody Hayes. His work has been publicized in Northwest Ohio in the Toledo Blade and WTOL TV, but I am posting it here for those members of the Buckeye Nation scattered across the country and around the world.


One can view photos of this sculpture and other examples of Andy's work by going to: andystacksteder.com

Right-wing Domestic Terrorism is a Hot Potato

Anders Breivik (Andrew Berwick)

The tragic attacks on the government of Norway reminded many of us of Timothy McViegh's attack on the Oklahoma City Federal Government Building. The accused terrorist, Anders Breivik, is a right-wing fundamentalist who has written "An European Declaration of Independence" advising Christians to use violence to drive Muslims from Europe by giving advice on building bombs, making poisons, and honing their marksmanship with video games.


Just as in the case of McViegh, if Breivik is found guilty,  it will be a case of a home-grown, right-wing, terrorist who attacked his fellow citizens. In addition, the Norway case seems to add another layer; fundamentalist Christians versus Muslims.


Neither Norway nor the US should be surprised that domestic terrorism is a real threat to the safety of the citizenry. A former Homeland Security terrorism analyst, Daryl Johnson, was the main author of the April 7, 2009 report: "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,"  This document warned us that home-grown terrorists are a grave threat to our security. Unfortunately, once this document was leaked,  the political right went into a fearful rage thinking that law enforcement might consider all conservatives as possible domestic terrorists. (An interesting example of stereotypical thinking.) Following the conservative criticism, the unit that investigated non-Islamic domestic terrorism was reduced from six analysts to just one. As a result, according to Johnson, "We are more vulnerable." (SPCLC Report, Summer 2011).


We, as a country, must face the fact that we have fellow citizens who are racist, xenophobic, anti-Muslim, fundamentalist Christians who think that Government of and by the people is their enemy and are willing to use violence to attack it. We should not, therefore, institute draconian measures to deprive these people of their rights, but we should devote as much of our vigilance to safeguard against them as we do foreign terrorists.


As for conservative Americans, one would hope that they too want to prevent home-grown terrorists from killing innocent Americans.

Eric Cantor: A Profile in Self-interested Cowardice

Our generation, the generation which understood the lessons of the Great Depression (deprivation and sacrifice) and World War II (courage and sacrifice for the common good), understood what John F. Kennedy described in Profiles in Courage, an account of eight American politicians who were able to place the good of the country above their own political self-interests.


Today, unfortunately, it is difficult to find courageous politicians like Daniel Webster or Sam Houston. On the other hand, we have a group who could be featured in Profiles in Cowardice. The leading contender for a prominent chapter would, of course, be Eric Cantor, the Virginia Republican who wears a constant sneer and views compromise with derision. In his quest for power, he is willing to risk the full faith and credit of the United States. If  our country does not raise the debt limit and defaults, we have Mr. Cantor to thank. He is more interested in his power struggle with Speaker John Boehner and preventing tax increases for his wealthy friends than he is the "general Welfare" of our country as stipulated in the Constitution.


According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Mr. Cantor chose a revealing quote to accompany his senior prep-school photo: "I want what I want when I want it." (cf. Dana Milbank, Washington Post Writers Group). That quote reflects the same self-interested attitude of those politicians who, along with Eric Cantor, deserve a chapter in Profiles in Cowardice.

Another Example of Catholic Bishops' Misogamy

Catholic Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo has issued an edict that Catholic schools and parishes can no longer raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, an organization that supports breast cancer research and  breast cancer education. His reason for this bizarre action: the Susan G. Komen Fund "might" someday in the future fund stem cell research. The Bishop admits that Komen does not donate funds to stem cell research but fears that they may in the future. By  extending the Bishop's logic, Catholics should stop raising funds for the American Cancer Society, the Heart Association, the Kidney Foundation, the Prostrate Cancer Research Fund and every other organization that "might some day in the future" donate funds to stem cell research.

But no, the Catholic Bishop of Toledo specifically identifies the Susan G. Komen Fund as the one fund Catholics should not support. This is the one fund that deals directly with breast cancer, which is primarily a women's issue. It does not take a genius to recognize that the same bishop who is also "investigating" Catholic nuns is choosing to single out a fund dedicated to women's health.

And then Catholic Bishops like Blair (Toledo), Schnurr (Cincinnati), and Olmsted (Phoenix) wonder why we view them as misogynists.

One has to wonder:  under what rock did the Vatican find these guys?