Category: L. RACE

Maybe, just maybe

On By ethomasparhamIn L. RACE, R. PICKLEBALL, Z. MiscellaneousLeave a comment

This from today’s newspaper article on Black Pickleball possibilities :

You are welcome:’ A Black Charlotte pickleball club is creating inclusion and culture BY MYLES MANOR UPDATED JUNE 27, 2024 10:41 AM Kayla Brooks hosts Rally’s pick up & play pickle ball events monthly at Rally. Troyonna Adams, Zenith Creative Media A Charlotte-based pickleball organization is rethinking how Black people view the popular leisure activity. Black Pickleball & Co., founded by Kayla Brooks in 2023, aims to improve the socioeconomic mobility of Black communities by involving them in a sport that is growing in popularity. Brooks says pickleball provides opportunities for professionals to network with each other. “Societies function and people have opportunities based on loose ties,” she said. “It’s not necessarily your best friend, but you know a person enough, and they know you enough that if you need a professional service, you can ask them, and you have that connection from it [pickleball].” Pickleball, which was created in 1965, is considered the fastest-growing sport in the world, with about 13.6 million active players, according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association. However, only 7.3 percent of documented pickleball players in the United States are Black. Brooks was hesitant to begin playing pickleball herself because, when she was once invited to play, she told a friend, “Black people don’t play pickleball.” These days, Brooks is now directing initiatives to make Charlotte’s pickleball scene more welcoming to Black people. The group has hosted events and pickleball games at Rally and Lab City in Charlotte to engage a new demographic that was previously overlooked. “Part of bringing Black people into this space is not to assimilate to the culture,” Brooks told The Charlotte Observer. “I want them to feel community.” Black Pickleball & Co. hosts events for Charlotteans to connect and enjoy community not just play pickleball. Troyonna Adams Troyonna Adams, Zenith Creative Media REIMAGINING THE COUNTRY CLUB EXPERIENCE Now, Black Pickleball & Co. hosts matches at Rally every month, including a recent Juneteenth event held on June 19. Brooks says the partnership with Rally is a sign that the organization is heading in the right direction. “We aim to radically reimagine the country club experience for a new generation of activity-seekers, and a big part of that is opening up the racquet sport world to communities that have historically been excluded from it,” Rally co-founders Megan Charity and Barret Worthington said in a joint statement to the Observer. “We are honored to have been a launchpad for Kayla to build BPC into the huge success it is today. “We’ve been so inspired by the team and the community that Kayla has built around a genuine love of the game. They motivate us to work harder every day to make Rally the most inclusive and welcoming community possible.” BUILDING COMMUNITY COMES BEFORE PICKLEBALL Brooks hopes promoting Black participation in pickleball can create a space where people can feel comfortable with new experiences. “A lot of Black people miss their seat at the table simply because they don’t play these sports,” said Brooks about the history of Black people not participating in large numbers in sports like pickleball, golf and tennis. To date, more than 500 people have attended Black Pickleball & Co. pickleball events since last August, according to Brooks. “Everyone who comes to BPC is not Black. Everyone is not a millennial. Everyone who comes to BPC does not look or dress a certain way, and we’re very proud of that,” she said. Other pickleball organizations tend to focus on bringing together people who play pickleball, Brooks says. Black Pickleball & Co. focuses on community first and pickleball second. “A lot of people in Charlotte are looking for community, and I think that’s what makes us different from other pickleball organizations is that a lot of other groups are looking for people who like to play pickleball,” she said. “On the converse, we are just looking for people.” Black Pickleball & Co. is not just focused on Black people playing pickleball. It wants pickleball to be a catalyst for friendships, business relationships, and enrichment for participants. “Come in your bright colors, come with everything that you are, and you are welcome in this space,” said Brooks.

This taken from a 2019 blog entitled THE ENEMY AT THE GATE?

  1. How many kids like the Williams sisters didn’t have a father who made that effort? Minority kids, as well as poor kids can gain access to this game.  And it will erase the feeling that “…that game is too rich for me (or mine).”
  2. The issue bigger than pickleball, the USTA, or tennis, is the health of our youngsters. Public education should include embrace pickleball by lining school tennis courts for pickleball, and including it in the physical education curriculum.
  3. My guess is the links between pickleball and tennis and not only many new players, but some very talented players,will emerge.

“WHERE TEARDROPS FALL “

On By ethomasparhamIn L. RACE, Z. Miscellaneous1 Comment

******** Allow me one last personal experience.  I was given an award at athletic banquet at Barton College.  While I certainly appreciated this recognition, the moment that touched me was at the end.  After the banquet several people came by our tablet to speak.  I try to always be courteous to everyone.  After a few minutes I noticed a Black woman waiting patiently to the side.  I did not recognize her immediately.  After the others went their way we addressed each other.  I listened to her opening comment : “ Coach Parham , you probably don’t remember me.” 

 I quickly headed her off.  “ I can’t call your name but I can tell you that  you made an “A” in the tennis class you took from me.”

She looked puzzled—then spoke.  “Well yes you did  and I didn’t deserve it.  But  I am glad I can thank you and  tell you about that time.”  Other than athletes there were few “average” Black women attending the college.  She was struggling  with being in this strange environment, which became more difficult in a class of white kids, many of whom had some tennis background.  “My feelings of isolation had increased and I truly had about decided to quit college. The same day you called me aside after class.   You gave me some extra minutes of personal instruction on my tennis serve—about which I hadn’t a clue.  You told me to practice some at the lesser used and more private courts near the gym.   And you gave a bucket of tennis balls and a racket.  You also seemed to sense my unhappiness and gave me some encouragement as well as some kind words.   I came here tonite to tell you that I went back from that class and decided not to quit.”

She went on to tell me she had graduated and gone on to a full career and although tears were in our eyes , what was going through my head was how grateful I was that i’d had enough sense, early in my career to be kind  to this young woman.

Momentarily I told her not to feel she didn’t deserve an “A”in this strange class.  “Do you know why you deserved that grade?”

My syllabus stated the high priority I placed on attendance and effort  I arrived at work at 8am  each morning.   After our conversation I watched you at the courts near the gym, early in the morning, practicing your serve .

Your serve got pretty good.”

A PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR AMERICA

On By ethomasparhamIn E. SPORTS COMMENTARY, L. RACELeave a comment

A PIVOTAL MOMENT FOR AMERICA

The NCAA holds its annual convention in January. 

Good luck!   No one has a clue.

My hope is that the powers that be use this opportunity wisely.  One possibility I hope  will be considered.

And I have gathered support  that is  collected and compiled within the link below.  

There is no simple answer.  But big changes are a surety.  Hopefully  wise pivotal moment legislation.

First—the Short Version—

2024 will be a watershed moment for sports in America.  Ideally  the NCAA will set in motion changes that enhance the traditional joys and benefits of sports, but also a vocational pathway to reward talent and effort.

THE SECOND MOUNTAIN

The data below is a  pot-pour-ri  of related thoughts”

*  “ Well, he hands you a nickel, and he hands you a dime

And he asks you with a grin, if you’re havin’ a good time”

(MAGGIE’S FARM—Bob Dylan ) 

I grew up in small towns in North Carolina,  Yet in a state with a large black population I never had a close black friend.  Even through college.  In eastern NC.   Eastern NC had a lot of crops ( mostly tobacco, cotton. )  While those jobs are greatly diminished the workers are largely still there. And their children.   In no small part these were the first black students, most were athletes,  that I knew,  (* see appendix.)

So many are great people.  Adversity made strong people and tough athletes.   Still I wonder how many were missed. 

My reason for this article stems from my hope that the new NCAA rules will help even more have opportunities.   How ?  Now is crucial window of opportunity for higher education through athletics  to broaden current avenues and new ones.  How? This is what makes the January 2024 NCAA convention crucial for these youngsters.

HOW?  Not many of these kids are passionate about classical Greek literature.   But they know sports.  Is that wrong ?   

There are tons of vocations in sports already in place.  If we elevate the status  of sports done right,  can we grow a job market that many sports minded can pursue with logical success in the future.  

What’s wrong with a SPORTS major in Higher Education,  Many exist already and just need some publicity and dignity attached.  

 Next month I hope a lot of thought goes into helping this large and worthy population.   Find them, make rules to help them.  Make sports a vocation of real worth. 

*  TIME FOR A RAISE

  • Even after slavery was abolished the roadblocks were manifold.  Granted all poor people were limited but African-Americans were singled out. —-(From a George Will book) — At one time education was literally and legally impossible.  THERE IS NO TELLING HOW MANY INDIVIDUALS  married into wealth.  Illegal for Black men or women.  

BRAINSTORMING

  • Grants vs loan

One issue  is student debt.  Administrators, Athletics Directors, all coaches, should clarify whether the athlete’s  “package “ of money is defined (grant or loan ?). A lot of deception occurs  here.  And a lot of crippling,  unpayable  lifetime  debt.  A clear, stout rule in 2024 —-NCAA!

 *  Reading to education to scholarships, to degrees to jobs to family wealth ? 

How then. to professional sports salaries?

** Or when does childhood play evolve, or morph , into work,   to a profession.  Even a dangerous one?

*When does supply and demand  enter?

  • Is it worth less if it is fun ? Or that so  many aspire?
  • Can you limit market value?
  • Is higher education wise to entertain the public ?
  •   Insurance for the gifted ?
  • “…elite institutions have entered into an athletic arms race that has pulled them from their core educational missions.”
  • As Rahm Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama, once famously said, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”
  • Education and the Market mix ?
  • We are weeks away from TV college basketball.  Last year ( 2023) none of the players were supposedly paid;   The schools,  the networks,  coaches, trainers, vendors, refs all were paid.   What if Cinema didn’t pay the actors. Or Broadway?  Mr. Eastwood, “…all employees are paid minimum wage on this film.” 
  • No one has all the answers.  The country is mulling the sports world over.  Most think their opinion should rule,  But it is time to change some major rules,  

*SQUARE PEG INTO A ROUND HOLE?  

  • Look at the stands during Michigan football games,  or Kentucky men’s basketball crowd.  Then the field or court.  
  • WHO IS IN THE SKYBOX VS WHO IS ON THE FIELD ?

SUPPLY AND DEMAND  ?

When a former Duke basketball player ( Dick Divcenzo ) suggested college players should be paid,  he was deemed a radical. 

The old guard concluded “.. .Hell, he gets a scholarship”,  while administrators quietly deemed it unaffordable.  

2023-24.  THINGS HAVE CHANGED

LIKENESS, PORTALS, NCAA  PROBLEMS

Pay or Punt ?  PAY WHO? PAY HOW?  WHO PAYS? SEZ WHO?

*SQUARE PEG INTO A ROUND HOLE?  

SCENE:  A COURTROOM. JUDGE :  You get the legal maximum—twenty years.

CONVICTED :  But Judge, if you give me 20 years I’ll die 

in jail !

JUDGE:  Well—-do the best you can.

*****         A random library choice led me to THE SECOND MOUNTAIN  by David Brooks. The two main ideas seemed first,  a “mountain”  of self interest. .  The second  mountain’s orientation—selflessly help others !  Hmmm!

Published in 2019, the book hit an incidentally current chord with me.  

Many have said if you love your job you never have to work.  And I did  love coaching.  Retirement and physical limitations  led to “hobby writing”,  

Surprisingly blogs and books flowed.   I knew tennis—help the high school coaches and teams!  Save some college tennis scholarships for Americans ?  I’m all in.  Serious ideas?  Hell yes!

Save the Middle  East?  World peace is above my pay grade,  

But the same old problem nagged at me.

Most adults wonder what if they had chosen another profession.  I think at 8 or 9 I was coaching (sort of) and  always enjoyed the choice of this high calling.   

And what a time period to be in the athletic world, even at the small college level.  Title IX, steroids, weight training, academic standards, TV,  alignment.  By far the most volatile—Integration. Early 60’s teaching  in eastern North Carolina——lots of worry about drugs and Vietnam.  While worthy opponents,  I advised to watch drinking and driving as of major concern.  And Racism.

 *Reality 1965 : Jackie Robinson, et. al. vs sports history is now.  What kind of kids are these ?  Hey— these are good people.  They need help.  I voted for altruism.   Mostly simple advice  and experience rendering of a new world  ( the talk on the radiator,  finding a dentist,  your kids and reading).  “Your job is to advance your family one generation.  Your children should EXPECT to go to college!”

******** Allow me one last personal experience.  I was given an award at athletic banquet at Barton College.  While I certainly appreciated this recognition, the moment that touched me was at the end.  After the banquet several people came by our tablet to speak.  I try to always be courteous to everyone.  After a few minutes I noticed a Black woman waiting patiently to the side.  I did not recognize her immediately.  After the others went their way we addressed each other.  I listened to her opening comment : “ Coach Parham , you probably don’t remember me.” 

 I quickly headed her off.  “ I can’t call your name but I can tell you that  you made an “A” in the tennis class you took from me.”

She looked puzzled—then spoke.  “Well yes you did  and I didn’t deserve it.  But  I am glad I can thank you and  tell you about that time.”  Other than athletes there were few “average” Black women attending the college.  She was struggling  with being in this strange environment, which became more difficult in a class of white kids, many of whom had some tennis background.  “My feelings of isolation had increased and I truly had about decided to quit college. The same day you called me aside after class.   You gave me some extra minutes of personal instruction on my tennis serve—about which I hadn’t a clue.  You told me to practice some at the lesser used and more private courts near the gym.   And you gave a bucket of tennis balls and a racket.  You also seemed to sense my unhappiness and gave me some encouragement as well as some kind words.   I came here tonite to tell you that I went back from that class and decided no to quit.”

She went on to tell me she had graduated and gone on to a full career and although tears were in our eyes , what was going through my head was how grateful I was that i’d had enough sense, early in career to be kind  to this young woman.

Momentarily I told her not to feel she didn’t deserve an “A”in this strange class.  “Do you know why you deserved that grade?

My syllabus stated the high priority I placed on attendance and effort  I arrived at work at 8am  each morning.   After our conversation I watched you at the courts near the gym, early in the morning, practicing your serve .

Your serve got pretty good.”  ( From A LEVEL OF THINKING by Tom Parham ).

*********WHY TEACH AND/OR COACH   (  An earlier Blog )

You never know who you’re influencing when you coach.   The same was true for teaching in college.   Formal classroom or just talking to kids.

A basketball player named Damian Carter appeared in my doorway one day at Elon.   He said he rode up and down I-85 often and had planned to stop by many times.

He was in his forties, had been a pretty solid player at Atlantic Christian, having transferred from UNC-Wilmington.   At Wilmington he hadn’t played as much as he wanted.   The same was true at ACC later on, and he found his chances of pro ball weren’t going to materialize.   He was about to quit college though his grades were good.

I don’t remember the specific conversation with Damien, but it was one of fifty I’d had with basketball players.

It went like this:

  1. Are you the first from your family to go to college?   Often the answer was yes.
  2. You’re not going to make $100,000 playing pro ball, you understand?
  3. You can get your degree and get a very good job.   People are looking for athletic people with degrees.
  4. Your job is to elevate your family and its expectations one generation.   Put your money in compound interest, and expect your children to go to college.

I agreed with Damian that that was the gist of what I advised the “first kids.”   Damian smiled and added, “Coach, my two daughters have college degrees, and I’ve got a million bucks in the bank!”   Compound interest.

*Much has been written about the “Black athlete.” There is no question in my mind about the talent level of these athletes.

Coming from the South and being a minister’s son there was little question, early on about God. Certainly, in my mind, he was male, white, and looked a whole lot like Santa Claus. Surely too, he was lovable, kind, and simply good “supreme being.”

After watching sports in America the last forty years my guess about God’s nature is more Machiavelian.   After watching America make a religion out of sports, while at the same time mistreating the black population so badly, I picture God’s role differently. My guess iswe’ve put so much emphasis on sport he’s peeved. Think not? Watch where parents are at 11:00 am on Sunday’s if their child is in a soccer match. Hmm? Did God say “I’ll give these fanatics a dilemma!” He then put this glorious athletic talent in many of the Black population, and now he’s “up there” giggling at what America is doing with sports.

Please don’t get me wrong. The Black athletes have paid their dues in practice, injury, and sweat just like anyone. Probably more so.

Still -” “…they got the “A” bands .”

Integration caused a lot of headaches in the alignment of conferences, etc. Who plays and who you play, is important, and alignment turned things upside down.

I do believe Proposition 48 (the academic guidelines for collegiate eligibility) yielded a lot of good. I wonder about the S.A.T. and fairness, but it is a “hard” number.  Read DAYS OF GRACE by Arthur Ashe. 

My guess is the best barometer for academic success is the athlete’s class rank. With exceptions, most of those who could achieve class rank had enough ability to succeed.

******Malcom Gladwell says reading lovingly to every child is indispensable. Without this parental effort failure is imminent.

********Pat Conroy from MY READING LIFE: “…if anyone knows a more important profession than teaching i wish they would let me know what it is before I die.”  

**********A fellow coach once suggested, “…the NCAA should be limited to 10 rules, and if they add one they have to eliminate one.

************PORTALS AND POTHOLES (2022 )

*******Even the pros have a salary cap.

Was it Southern California that recruited twenty plus PORTAL footballers? Does that equate to that many legit freshmen who didn’t get that scholarship/ opportunity? How many times did this happen in all football programs combined? All sports? How many closed doors to the high school class of 2024?

For years football coaches have often recruited unhappy players from other teams. Or those who can legally transfer and play at a different school. The new NCAA “Portals Rule ” has jet streamed this strategy. One of the sad side effects of “Portals ” is that high school seniors are overlooked for older and seasoned upperclass college kids.

My guess is that this avenue will be adopted by  American college tennis. And it will undoubtedly involve international players who can now easily move to “greener pastures.” American high school aspirants will be moved down the prospects list, or be dismissed even quicker.

******** “…it’s time for cool. cool change.”

********** MAYBE NOT!

Money will dictate a ”Power 5” style membership.    Division III may still play without athletic grants.  Will the groupings in the middle be determined by the level  of financial limits each school chooses?

HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY?

PRESCIENT ?

1976 James Michener wrote SPORTS IN AMERICA. He made the statement then “…I might allow my child to play football, but I wouldn’t encourage him to play.”********

How many over matched youngsters get hurt in these games? One player said “…our coach would give OUR lives for the school!”**************

The consolidation of schools eliminated many of the smaller players.  African American footballers were added to the talent pool, along with weight programs, better diets, and better coaching, and in many instances steroids.  Tremendous contact ensued.

And while college and professional football are in the crosshairs of violence, perhaps high school footballers are even more vulnerable. And here is why: the weak and small and slow are eliminated at the college level.  But in many high schools small youngsters, who are very limited players, may face tremendous opponents that wouldn’t be admitted to college. These guys hitting the “canon fodder” can create catastrophe.

JR HIGH FOOTBALL DISPARITY— 125 lbs pre-puberty vs 250 pounder.

********** NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL 2023 ( 26 )

ON MARCH 23, 2023 BY ETHOMASPARHAMIN E. SPORTS COMMENTARYLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

“Senor, Senor–can you tell me where we’re heading, Lincoln County or Armaggdeon ?”  B. Dylan

—- “People get all caught up in the coaching and all that stuff. It’s Dudes ! You’ve got to have players, and these Dudes put in the work !” Kansas State Coach, Jerome Tang.

—Soon ? Concealed carry in the game?

—Coach Boeheim–on St. John’s hiring of Rick Pitino : “He has coached forty years. That is not a lot of trouble for that long.”

*  I took my wife , a Canadien,  to her  first college basketball game.  After the game she asked “ …is there a  gym somewhere full of  Black people watching white kids play.

***************

********CAN IT  WORK ?   (1960’S POSITION— (  ‘…you can’t legislate morality “” )

********* Oh yeah——-Ask these Women about 

TITLE IX

2019 on Athletics in the USA  

World Cup soccer competition began in 1930. The United States men have never won it. Soccer is more widely played world-wide than any sport.
Title IX was implemented in 1970. The World Cup for women began in 1991. Our women have won twice. No other country has a “Title IX”.   Sports and sociology go hand in hand.

************ON PROXIMITY

Vans, buses, and planes with loads of college kids are dangerous enough.  Add severe weather often experienced due north, to inexperienced, or young, or ambitious coaches and players, and a recipe for tragedy looms.

   ***********Ask Campbell University’s  coaches, who just “came in from the cold!”   They were in a league with teams in 11 different states!   How is that a reasonable conference?   Maybe it’s just me, but I loved the “southerness” of the Southern Conference.   No need to fly anywhere. Believe me, with no TV revenue, and travel out the wazoo, these programs and people take big blows.

***********Radical idea?–Carolina, State, Duke, Wake Forest, Appalachian, and East Carolina all play each other? ps-UNC Charlotte will be ready soon. Western Carolina Univ. No flying required, football or women’s volleyball.  Anybody.

******* Football has got to change the frequency of concussions.  Or lawyers will break anyone who charges to see the game.

********  Women’s and girl’s soccer must create rules and training  that drastically reduce anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injuries.

*********When annual college/university costs exceed $70,000 per year, what sense does a “liberal arts” degree make? 

******** Every time an Incorrigible is recruited, selected, hired, etc., a good kid will be eliminated, or cut, or not given a chance. Same for coaches, administrators, owners, all the way up and down

  ********** ON DRUGS :  If the top (pro sports) demands usage,  the news will flow to the bottom (even children’s sports).   Hopefully parents will guard their kids,  but some have turned a blind eye or even encouraged the madness.   Sanity is the only hope…

*********** “The mystery masked man was smart

He got himself a Tonto

‘Cause Tonto did the dirty work for free

But Tonto he was smarter

And one day said kemo sabe

Well, kiss my ass, I bought a boat

I’m going out to sea”

( IF I HAD A BOAT )  by Lyle Lovett )

ACKNOWLEDGING  ( Some new friends,  students , players, coaches, that taught me.  Thanks. 

I don’t remember any real relationship with Black persons until I began teaching and coaching in the fall of 1964.   That year Henry Logan became the first Black basketball player in our North State Conference.  As an assistant varsity basketball coach I helped recruit Clifton Earl Black and James Jones from nearby Pinetops, N.C. the next year.   Below I have listed some who followed.  Mostly students , I thought I was teaching THEM.  First athletes were all American males.  Then- young women, internationals of both genders, coaches and colleagues.

Atlantic Christian College changed the school name to Barton College  (1959-63 as a student, 1964-1985 as faculty ). 

NEW BULLDOGS AND FRIENDS:  Cliff Black, James Jones, Richard Battle, George Bell, Rafael and Tyra Boyd, Kathy Wall, Shelia Keel, Annie Mae Wooten, Damien Carter, Sarah Leonard , Lorraine Riley, Speedy Ganor, Tony Barriteau, Elfateh Eltom,  Sharhabil Humeida. Lorenzo Jones, Stan Lewter, William Bogues, Bobbie Edwards, James Leggett.

Elon ( !985-2004 )  John Bradsher, Tony Settles, Gino Mc Rea,  Frank and Mae Haith, Richard Evans , Dwayne Clark, Derrick Moore, Chris Smith, Harry Burroughs, William Massenburg,  Ann Lashley, Leo Barker, Grady Williams,  Mike Howell, Larry McClain, Steve Ferguson, Arketa Banks.   And my assistant coach Bryce Holmes. Helping administer Football was new to me,  The football players at Elon really helped me.  

RANDOM READING (NOTES )

On By ethomasparhamIn L. RACE, M. POLITICS, N. RELIGION, WAR, O. BOOKS, MOVIESLeave a comment

Below are notes taken from books read recently. A rough collection.

YUVAL HARARI’’S BOOKS

HIGH LIGHTS

  1. Sapiens
  2. Homo  Deus
  3. 21 Lessons  for the 21st Century

In a nutshell  #1 dealt with our past.  2.  Our future, and 3. The Present

SAPIENS;

We are the deadliest species in the annals of biology

PAGE 4 SUMMARY

13.5 years ago—BIG BANG

Sapiens show up  70k, 70k ago neanderthals  soon gone

Clue to Sapiens—gossip ability—led to communities, Law,religion,rules,communication.

Biology rules—hormones, genes, synapses

150 is ideal number for groups.

Page 360, parents in full retreat

From 1000 ad to 500 ad, not much happened.

500 million people in 1500 ad.  2014 there are 7 billion.

Happiness bulb born with, doesn’t change much.

Artificial Intelligence is the future.  Not religion, God, Nature etc.

2—HOMO DEUS—a brief history of tomorrow

**deals with future.  Mankind’s quest to upgrade humans to gods.

**mankind has almost and will conquer the  three remaining super problems: famine, plague, and war.  No need to work.  Task—find
“happiness.

**artificial intelligence—where to go from here.

**homo sapiens may be more like Neanderthals the future homo deus.

**homo deus is where mankind is headed.

21 LESSONS for the 21st century

Protecting ourselves—war, ecology

What to do with fake news, terrorism

How to prepare our children for the future

“When has history been fair”?

Current problems:  climate change, dying liberal democracy, a new world war? Fake news,  technology goes wrong, immigration, the meaning of life today,.

Technology giving us the power to “reshape and reengineer  humanity.

‘the reliance on the heart may prove to be the Achilles heel of liberal democracy.

Some folks are smarter than others.  Listen to algorithms.

BxCxD=AHH!  Biological knowledge multiplied by computing power multiplied by  data = ability to  hack humans c

***************

Some other good stuff:

THE BODY by Bill Bryson

*page 14 on skin color—sliver from cadaver, one millimeter thick from epidermis.  That’s all

*memory:  recall a deck of cards after 30 minutes.  Oriental girl 17 seconds?

*  teenagers in cars.   Another teenager in car?  Rate goes up 400x. page pp 63

* human brain shrunk size of  tennis ball

*  EXERCISE:  80% us men are overweight, 77% women.  35% are obese.

* FITBIT—tie to dog to up totals for job

* BIPEDS== YES BUT BACKS, KNEES. PELVIS—CHILDBIRTH.

*weight  for women in 1960 was 144 to 166. Men 166 to 196.

*  SITTING TO  MUCH.

*  I was your first wife!

* Asthma—good section pages 216-221.  SMOKING  FOLLOWS

*  HICCUPS—one guy had  them 67 years!

****************

OUTLIERS—The Story of Success/by Malcolm Gladwell

CANADIAN JR. HOCKEY ALL-STARS (born n Jan.  Why? The outlier?

10,000 hours.  Bill Gates and PC.   BEATLES—Pretty bad. Hamburg strip clubs . HAD TO PLAY 8 HOURS.  PRACTICE,.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING JEWISH.  JOE FLOM AND HOSTILE TAKEOVERS.  WHEN TIME CAME, TIME WAS IN.

–BORN IN DEPRESSION—TAKE NO CHANCES.

JEWS AND THE GARMENT INDUSTRY.  3RD GENERATION  WERE LAWYERS AND DRS.  THE CHILDREN OF THE BOOK.

A CULTURE OF HONOR.  SOUTHERNERS CALLED ASSHOLE WILL FIGHT YOU.

KOREAN CO-PILOTS AND NYC  AIRPORT CONTROL.LERS

NOT OUTLIERS AT ALL.  They are products of history and community, opportunity and legacy.  Their success is not exceptional or mysterious.

Due to advantages, inheritances, , luck, some earned,,come not, variables critical to making them who they are

*****************

MICHIO KAKU

HIGH POINT LECTURE WITH NIDO QUEBEIN—OUTSTANDING HOUR.

THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY

WILL FUTURE PIONEERS SEARCH SPACE FOR A NEW SAFE HOME AS THE AFRICANS DID, KNOWING THEIR GENERATION WOULD NOT BENEFIT, BUT OFFSPRING MAY?

—-NEAREST STAR TO US IS 4.2 LIGHT YEARS AWAY.

—-THREE WAVES OF SCIENCE MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, TECH.

—ADVANCED CIVILIZATIONS SEEM POSSIBLE

——-ADMIRAL ZENG OF CHINA, BOATS 5X TIME COLUMBUS.  NEXT EMPEROR BANNED SCIENCE.  LET TO POVERTY AND DOOMED ANY PROGRESS

—PRESERVING HUMANS  BY FREEZING NOT A  CRAZY IDEA?

—-ARE WE IN THE LAST GENERATION TO DIE— IMMORTALITY NEAR?

—-FARMER===EVERY CHILD MAKES YOU RICHER.  CITY==EVERY CHILD MAKES YOU POORER!

SCHIZOPHENICS.   EVERYONE TALKS TO SELF.  NO LEFT BRAIN TO PREFRONTAL CORTEX—-VOICES SEEM REAL.—

CLIMATE CHANGE—SEE ADDENDUM YUVAL HARARI’’S BOOKS

*************

HIGH LIGHTS

  1. Sapiens
  2. Homo  Deus
  3. 21 Lessons  for the 21st Century

In a nutshell  #1 dealt with our past.  2.  Our future, and 3. The Present

SAPIENS;

We are the deadliest species in the annals of biology

PAGE 4 SUMMARY

13.5 years ago—BIG BANG

Sapiens show up  70k, 70k ago neanderthals  soon gone

Clue to Sapiens—gossip abillity—led to communities, law,religion,rules,communication.

Biology rules—hormones, genes, synapses

150 is ideal number for groups.

Page 360, parents in full retreat

From 1000 ad to 500 ad, not much happened.

500 million people in 1500 ad.  2014 there are 7 billion.

Happiness bulb born with, doesn’t change much.

Artificial Intelligence is the future.  Not religion, God, Nature etc.

2—HOMO DEUS—a brief history of tomorrow

**deals with future.  Mankind’s quest to upgrade humans to gods.

**mankind has almost and will conquer the  three remaining super problems: famine, plague, and war.  No need to work.  Task—find
“happiness.

**artificial intelligence—where to go from here.

**homo sapiens may be more like Neanderthals the future homo deus.

**homo deus is where mankind is headed.

21 LESSONS for the 21st century

Protecting ourselves—war, ecology

What to do with fake news, terrorism

How to prepare our children for the future

“When has history been fair”?

Current problems:  climate change, dying liberal democracy, a new world war? Fake news,  technology goes wrong, immigration, the meaning of life today,.

Technology giving us the power to “reshape and reengineer  humanity.

‘the reliance on the heart may prove to be the Achilles heel of liberal democracy.

Some folks are smarter than others.  Listen to algorithms.

BxCxD=AHH!  Biological knowledge multiplied by computing power multiplied by  data = ability to  hack humans c

Page 2

Some other good stuff:

THE BODY by Bill Bryson

*page 14 on skin color—sliver from cadaver, one millimeter thick from epidermis.  That’s all

*memory:  recall a deck of cards after 30 minutes.  Oriental girl 17 seconds?

*  teenagers in cars.   Another teenager in car?  Rate goes up 400x. page pp 63

* human brain shrunk size of  tennis ball

*  EXERCISE:  80% us men are overweight, 77% women.  35% are obese.

* FITBIT—tie to dog to up totals for job

* BIPEDS== YES BUT BACKS, KNEES. PELVIS—CHILDBIRTH.

*weight  for women in 1960 was 144 to 166. Men 166 to 196.

*  SITTING TO  MUCH.

*  I was your first wife!

* Asthma—good section pages 216-221.  SMOKING  FOLLOWS

*  HICCUPS—one guy had  them 67 years!

*

OUTLIERS—The Story of Success/by Malcolm Gladwell

CANADIAN JR. HOCKEY ALL-STARS (born n Jan.  Why? The outlier?

10,000 hours.  Bill Gates and PC.   BEATLES—Pretty badl Hamburg strip clubs . HAD TO PLLAY 8 HOURS.  PRACTICE,.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING JEWISH.  JOE FLOM AND HOSTILE TAKEOVERS.  WHEN TIME CAME, TIME WAS IN.

–BORN IN DEPRESSION—TAKE NO CHANCES.

JEWS AND THE GARMENT INDUSTRY.  3RD GENERATION  WERE LAWYERS AND DRS.  THE CHILDREN OF THE BOOK.

A CULTURE OF HONOR.  SOUTHERNERS CALLED ASSHOLE WILL FIGHT YOU.

KOREAN CO-PILOTS AND NYC  AIRPORT CONTROL.LERS

NOT OUTLIERS AT ALL.  They are products of history and community, opportunity and legacy.  Their success is not exceptional or mysterious.

Due to advantages, inheritances, , luck, some earned,,come not, variables critical to making them who they are.

MICHIO KAKU

HIGH POINT LECTURE WITH NIDO QUEBEIN—OUTSTANDING HOUR.

THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY

WILL FUTURE PIONEERS SEARCH SPACE FOR A NEW SAFE HOME AS THE AFRICANS DID, KNOWING THEIR GENERATION WOULD NOT BENEFIT, BUT OFFSPRING MAY?

—-NEAREST STAR TO US IS 4.2 LIGHT YEARS AWAY.

—-THREE WAVES OF SCIENCE MECHANICAL, ELECTRICAL, TECH.

—ADVANCED CIVILIZATIONS SEEM POSSIBLE

——-ADMIRAL ZENG OF CHINA, BOATS 5X TIME COLUMBUS.  NEXT EMPEROR BANNED SCIENCE.  LET TO POVERTY AND DOOMED ANY PROGRESS

—PRESERVING HUMANS  BY FREEZING NOT A  CRAZY IDEA?

—-ARE WE IN THE LAST GENERATION TO DIE— IMMORTALITY NEAR?

—-FARMER===EVERY CHILD MAKES YOU RICHER.  CITY==EVERY CHILD MAKES YOU POORER!

SCHIZOPHENICS.   EVERYONE TALKS TO SELF.  NO LEFT BRAIN TO PREFRONTAL CORTEX—-VOICES SEEM REAL.—

CLIMATE CHANGE—SEE ADDENDUM

*************

NEW BOOK-“RANGE” by David Epstein

TIGER WOODS VS ROGER FEDERER OR 10,000 HOURS (MALCOLM GLADWELL AND “OUTLIERS (TIGER),  OR FED AND A DIVERSE BACKGROUND.

MERH CD’/ MERCEDES

AVERAGE AGE OF A FOUNDER IS 45

EVERYONE  NEEDS HABITS OF  MIND THAT ALLOW THEM TO DANCE ACROOS THE DISCIPLINES

NO TOOL IS OMNIPOTENT

TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE BROADLY REQUIRES BROAD KNOWLEDGE

OLYMPIANS AT 12-13 -RANGE

MUSICIANS —TRY AND CAN USE 3 OR MORE INSTRUMENTS

DAVE BRUBECK  (TAKE FIVE)  COULDN’T READ MUSIC

TO ACQIRE KNOWLEDGE SLOWLY HELPS YOU MAKE THE RIGHT MATCH

WINNERS NEVER QUIT  (YET TO HONOR OR GOOD SENSE (W. CHURCHCHILL)

YOUNG PEOPLE SHOULD TAKE RISKS

“SUNK COST FALLACY”  CUT AND RUN,  KNOW WHEN TO FOLD.  DEAD HORSE.

IN GOD WE TRUST.  ALL OTHERS BRING DATA.  NO DATA—REASON

THE GAME IS THE BEST TEACHER

BREAKTHROUGH AND FALLACY LOOK A LOT ALIKE  INITIALLY

“IT IS AN EXPERIMENT, AS ALL OF LIFE IS AN EXPERIMENT”  OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.

********

“The Biggest Bluff”  by Maria Konnikova

Author Konnikova is a professional psychologist who selects professional poker as a place to examine self, skill, luck and life.  Below are simply some conclusions she arrives at.  P.S.—She hired Eric Seidel, world champion of poker, as her coach:

And the biggest bluff of all? That skill can ever be enough. That’s the hope that allows us to move forward in those moments when luck is most stacked against us, the useful delusion that lets us push o rather than give up. We don’t know, we can’t ever know, if we’ll manage or not. But we must convince ourselves that we can. That, in the end, our skill will be enough to carry the day. Because it has to be.

Admitting to unknowing, accepting a lack of agency without resorting to gimmicks, and instead attempting to analyze the unknown as best we can with the tools of rationality: those are some of the most powerful steps we can take.

Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who wish to pretend to nonexistent knowledge and control and a Cosmos centered on human beings, will prefer superstition.

Nothing is all skill. Ever. I shy away from absolutes, but this one callout for my embrace. Because life is life, luck will always be a factor in anything we might do or undertake, but should chance go against us, all our skill can do is mitigate the damage.

I hope I can keep playing for a very, very long time. I don’t want to have to retire. This game is just too damn interesting. It’s such a beautiful game.

And it is. It really is.

*******************************

THE GOD DELUSION  by Richard Dawkins

The religion of one age is the literary entertainment of the next.

Ralph Waldo Emerson.  

If people wish to love a 7th century preacher more than their own families, that is  up to them, but nobody else  is obliged to take it seriously.

Behead those who say islam is a violent religion.

I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in  the name of conservatism.

We who love science must remember that the enemy of our enemies is our friend.

George W. Bush says God told him to invade Iraq ( a pity God didn’t vouchsafe the a revelation  that there were no weapons of mass destruction.)

One of the truly bad effect of religion is that it teaches  us that is a virtue to be satisfied with not understanding.

Politics has slain thousands, but religion has slain its tens of thousands.

Those who can make you believe in absurdities can also make you commit atrocities.

There is in every village a torch—the teacher

And an extinguisher—-the clergyman.“

That it will never come again

is what makes life so sweet.

 There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,  

than are dreamt in your “philosophy”.

What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.

The idea of a personal god is quite alien to me and seems even naive.   Einstein

Everybody gets absolutely frantic about it because you’re not allowed to say these things. Yet when you look at it rationally there is no reason why those ideas shouldn’t be as open to debate as any other, except that we have agreed somehow between us that they should’t be.

The priests of the different religious sects…..dread the advance of science as witches do the approach of daylight, and scowl on the fatal harbinger announcing the subdivision of the duperies on which they live.       Thomas Jefferson

*************

SEPTEMBER 2021—BOOK COMMENTS CONTINUED

“Fields of Blood” (Religion and the History of Violence ) by Karen Armstrong.

At first this book seemed too deep.  Indeed the detail and scholarship are thorough.  Looking again I saw this as an excellent text for religion majors.

Atlantic Christian College , my alma mater, changed its  name to Barton.  I never knew much about the namesake (Barton Stone) but found these on page 274  of Fields of Blood:

 “…Barton Stone railed against the aristocratic clergy who tried to force the erudite faith of Harvard on the people.

“Enlightenment philosophers had insisted that people must have the courage to throw off  their dependence on authority, use their natural reason to discover the truth, and think for themselves.”

“When Stone founded his own denomination, he called  it a ‘declaration of independence’:  bringing modern ideals of democracy equality, freedom of speech, and independence … (to  the populace).

Armstrong demonstrates again and again that the great spasms of cruelty and killing through history have had little or no religious overlay. In modern times Hitler, Stalin and Mao were all atheists, and the power behind the Holocaust, Armstrong says, was an ethnic rather than a religious hatred. An overemphasis on religion’s damage can blind people to the nonholy terrors that their states inflict. NYT REVIEW by  James Fallows—2014) 

 …the main hope for peace is to keep faith and statecraft separate.

****************

****ENLIGHTENMENT NOW  by Steven Pinker.  Sub- title is spot on (the case for reason, science, humanism, and progress).

This was a “stumble on” that  is very good.

Louie: CK “The foundations of capitalism are shattering…” REALLY?

“…maybe we need some time where we are wandering around with a donkey with pots clanging on the sides…”

Flight—-sat on runway 40 minutes. 

  ??? miracle of human flight—-sitting in a chair in the sky—New York to California in 5 hours is slow?  Used to take 30 years and many would die, with an arrow through your throat.  They’d put your hat on a stick and bury you and keep walking!

Page 9 on what educated Englishman  (1600) would believe…witches, werewolves, unicorns, base metal to gold, etc.  century later he believes none of these.

Thomas Jefferson:  light from me doesn’t diminish my flame.  Instruction is the same way…

“Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory”

Chris Rock:  “ this is the first society in history where the poor people are fat.”

“…global  citizen is 125 times more likely to die in an accident…” than a terrorist attack.  for Americans—3000 times!

“We have at our fingertips…all the works of genius prior to our time…”  plus that of our time.   Those before had neither,

Three main threats:  Overpopulation, Resource Depletion, and Pollution.

NASA:  Man is the lowest cost, 150 pound, non linear, all-purpose computer system, which can be mass produced by unskilled labor.

“…society advances funeral by funeral!”

God and reason:   “…faith, revelation, scripture, authority, tradition, and subjective appeal are not arguments at all.”  

Incompatible beliefs, how many gods?, different religions, different sources, which miracles?,  what  they demand. 

human errors, factual errors, plagiarism, scientific absurdness.

****************

*****CHERRY PICKING OTHERS (lOVE  AND THEFT—DYLAN)

FORGET THE ALAMO.  This book contends much of “Alamo lore” is Alamo myth!

Real reason?  Europeans were choosing cotton for clothing.  This part of Texas was ideal for cotton  farming—if you had slaves to do the work.  Mexico was anti-slavery.

************

AMERICAN HAPPINESS AND DISCONTENTS

the unruly torrent

(2008-2020)  by George Will

CTE—1966- bear bryant’s heaviest player weight 223 lbs.  2011 NFL had 320 players weighing 300.

two bad features—violence and committee meetings (huddles)

…not the rules but the fiction that football can be fixed and still resemble the game fans relish.”

louisville brought pros and strippers to the bball dorm 22 times in 2 years.  pitino—duh?  yet hired by Iona.

“Drugs drain sport admirable excellence, which elevates as well as competitors.”

Wills cites vague “einstein” stanza from DESOLATION ROW.   Final one clearer?

Yes, I received your letter yesterday, about the time the doorknob broke

When you asked me how I was doing, was that some kind of joke

All these people that you mention, yes, I know them, they’re quite lame

I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name

Right now, I can’t read too good, don’t send me no more letters no

Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row

“Do not speak unless you can improve on silence.”

ON VIETNAM

Easier to muddle through than to admit you were wrong

Westmoreland ( “never had general so effectively willed away the facts”)

Famous photo?   plain clothed Viet  Cong who had just cut the throat of a South Vietnamese  officer’s wife, six children, and  the officer’s Mother. 

NO WAR IS OVER UNTIL THE LAST VETERAN IS DEAD

Size of our universe

page 55 —ton of facts

If there were only 3 bees in America, the air would be more crowded  with bees than space is with stars.  

A dog was trained to emit a whimpering sound every time it heard the word HILARY.

“College:  The best seven years of my life!”

there is something to be said for exposing yourself to ideas other than your own.

Will—Chernow’s GRANT is great history writing.

More dying by lifestyle increasing!

**************8

ON EUTHANASIA—-Pages 354-355.

“I am doing everything I can to continue to live.  No one should have the right to prolong my death.”

People spoke jauntily of “the conquest of space.” Well.

The universe, 99.9 (and at least fifty-eight other nines) percent of which is already outside Earth’s atmosphere, is expanding (into we know not what) at forty-six miles per second per mega parsec.  (One megaparsec is approximately 3.26 million light years.) Astronomers are studying light that has taken perhaps 12 billion years to reach their instruments. This cooling cinder called Earth, spinning in the darkness at the back of beyond, is a minor speck of residue from the Big Bang, which lasted less than a billionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of a second 13.8 billion years ago.  The estimated number of stars—they come and go— is 100 followed by twenty-two zeros. The visible universe (which is hardly all of it) contains more than 150 billion galaxies, each with billions of stars. But if there were only three bees in America, the air would be core crowded with bees than space is with stars. The distances, and the violently unheavenly conditions in “the heavens”, tell us that our devices will roam our immediate cosmic neighborhood, but in spite of Apollo 11’s still-darling achievement, we are not really going anywhere.

EUTHANASIA (PAGES 354-355

Cederquist says the most common reason for requesting assistance in dying is not “intolerable physical suffering”. Rather, it is “existential suffering”, including loss of meaning,” as from the ability to relate to others. The prospect of being “unable to interact” can be as intolerable as physical suffering, and cannot be alleviated by hospice or other palliative care.

In some countries, doctors actively administer lethal injections. No U.S. jurisdiction allows doctors to go beyond writing prescriptions for lede-ending drugs to be self administered orally by persons retaining decisional capacity.

Almost 30 percent of Medicare expenditures are for patients in the last six months of life, and about 16 percent of patients die in, or soon after leaving, intensive care units. Financial reasons should be decisive in setting end-of-life policy, but Cederquist notes that reducing “expensive and inappropriate care”— costly and agonizing resistance to imminent death “is the lowest-tech thing we can do in medicine.”Hence the importance of “slow medicine geriatrics,” avoiding a “rush to those interventions that build on each other”and thereby enmesh doctors and patients in ethical conundrums.The American Medical Association remains opposed to physician assistance in dying; the California Medical Association has moved from opposition to neutrality. Litigation has been unsuccessful in seeking judicial affirmation of a high that California’s legislature should establish. Legislation to do this has been authored by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman, chair of the Democratic caucus.

There are reasons for wariness. An illness’s sox-month trajectory can be uncertain. A right to die can become a felt obligation, particularly among bewildered persons tangled in the toils of medical technologies, or persons with meager family resources. And as a reason for ending life, mental suffering itself calls into question the existence of the requisite decisional competence.

Today’s culture of casual death (see Planned Parenthood videos )should deepen worries about a slippery slope from physician-assisted dying a further diminution of life’s sanctity. Life, however, is inevitably lived on  multiple slippery slopes:Taxation could become confiscation, police could become instruments of oppression, public education could become indoctrination, etc. Everywhere and always, civilization depends on the drawing of intelligent distinctions.

Jennifer Glass, a Californian who died August 11, drew one. She said to her state legislators, “I’m doing everything I can to extend my life. No one should have the right to prolong my death”.

The Economist reports that in the seventeen years under Oregon’s pioneering 1997 law, just 1,327 people have received prescriptions for lethal medications—about seventy-four a year—and one third of those did not use them. Possessing the option was sufficient reassurance.

There is nobility is suffering bravely borne, but also in affirming at the end the distinctive human dignity of autonomous choice.Brittany Maynard, who chose to be with loved ones when she self-administered her lethal medications was asleep in five minutes and soon dead.

****************

Larry McMurtry on  North Carolina’s Triangle Rraleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill ) area :  “ This prosperous area is the homeland of the yuppie redneck, a Southerner with working class prejudices  and upper-middle- class money.

*****************

THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING  (A new history of everything )  by David Graeber and David Wen grow )

 This 2021, 600 plus page  history of humanity was too much for me.  Maybe a couple of excerpts will inspire more capable students:

THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING  David Graeber and David Wengrow

Since the financial crash of 2008, and the upheavals that followed, the question of inequality  – 

 and with it, the long-term history of inequality — have become major topics for debate. Something of a consensus has emerged among intellectuals and even, to some degree, the political classes that levels of social inequality have got out of hand, and that  most of the world’s problems result, in one way or another, from an ever-widening gulf between the haves and have nots. Pointing this out is in itself a challenge to global power structures; at the same time, though, it frames the issue in a way that people who benefit from those structures can still find ultimately reassuring, since it implies no meaningful solution to the problem would ever be possible.

In developing the scientific means to know our own past, we have exposed the mythical substructure of our “social science” — what once appeared unassailable axioms, the stable points around which our self-knowledge is organized, are scattering like mice. What is the purpose of all this new knowledge, it not to reshape our conceptions of who we are and what we might yet become? If not, in other words, to rediscover the meaning of our third basic freedom,: the freedom to create new and different forms of social reality?  

The “morning after” scene from ONE EYED JACKS:

Rio (Marlon Brando)——“… everything I  told you last night was a lie!  I rob banks for a  living”.

****************

THIS IS ASSISTED DYING  by Stefanie  Green

This is a very kind book.  

My Mother died at age 93.  Near the end my sister  and I were called in for a conference with her .   She patiently listened while he detailed the reasons that it wouldn’t be long!  When he finally finished  he asked her if she had any questions?

 She simply turned to my sister and me and with  a wry smile quoted a country song—-“so long, its been good to know you”!

Over the years I have compiled many of the final words spoken by my patients and think this list makes a fitting end for this book. DR.  GREEN

Thank you all for being here

I’m so ready

Take care of each other

Fire!

I did it my way

Goodbye, my sweet

Let’s get going already

I need this to happen

Thanks for your support

Here we go…..

Now, please

Take care of yourselves

I love you

Let ‘er rip!

Bless you

Thanks for the memories

My only regret was…(fell asleep)

I’m ready now

See ya, suckers!

I love you all

I’ll be watching you

See you on the other side

I’m so glad you’re here

Give it to me ….let’s go!

(looking at me) I love  you

*****************

*****************

BOOM TOWN by Garrison Keillor

Couple of comments on two Wobegon residents:

On VANITY—-One 75 year old  prided himself in being able to put his new briefs on while standing.  He got his big toe caught in the elastic waistband, tripped, and he cracked his skull on the bathtub.  Moral: Old folks should sit down to put your underwear on!

First love, Arlene, is dying.  She warns 1.  Not to say “she passed”, or  2.  Don’t call any service  a “celebration of life”.    `

Also Arlene. She confirmed that Reverend F. Houston Youngdahl did not acknowledge a superfart escapee, while performing last rites (  occurred when he bent over to pick up his dropped bible ).  Conclusion:  “When a man refuses to take ownership of his own farts, he loses moral authority”.

(FOREVER YOUNG?)

May you have eternal happiness

In the land you’re going to,

May everyone be loving

And always kind to you.

May you play a round of golf each day, and have a perfect score

May you live forevermore.

May you play Bingo every night

And always win the prize

And be reunited with your dog

And walk the golden shore.

*************

― Hannah Arendt, The Origins of TotalitarianismI

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.”

THE DEATH OF TRUTH–by Steven Brill ( 2024 )

This is about “Fake News”.

” Over the last two decades these two sets of algorithms have powered an information environment that has—among too many people in too many places–extingushed the idea of truth and created unprecedented opportunity for conspiiracy theorists, hucksters, demagogues, and dictators who thrive on distrust and division. “

HOMEY ( 77 )

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Bryce Holmes is professionally a chemist.  He works now for North Carolina A&T University, but his heart is on a tennis court.  Many small towns have special “tennis angels” who nurture youngsters in the game.  Lexington, N.C. had some angels and the town was one of the best “tennis towns” anywhere.  Bryce Holmes was the first black high school player at an integrated high school in North Carolina, and a good one.  I answered Bryce’s phone call one day at Elon.  He wanted to get into college coaching.  Shortened story finds Bryce helping us at Elon. He and I talked incessantly and about all kinds of things. Bryce not only was a natural coach but was and is a friend.  

But had his trepidations.  A fine college tennis player at Livingston College, he was to be inducted into their Athletics Hall of Fame.  Bryce had heard me speak a few times and wanted some advice.  “What in the world do I talk about?”  The cat was scared!

Not quickly sure what to advise Coach Holmes to speak about, the subject was dropped.  Pretty soon the subject of playing on the high school team came up again.  Bryce remembered during that period  coming home after school and finding a  rumpled paper bag on the porch. Opened he found tennis balls. All varieties of brands, colors, and ages, and wear.  “My dad gathered some old balls,”  Only Mr. Holmes denied the act.  No one could tell where they came from.  Next day, more  similar balls.   Only a neighbor has witnessed the donor this time.  

“Jake left the balls!”

Jake Braddley was the garbage man.  Everyone knew him.  Quiet, limited in some ways.  Certainly no tennis hero.

The neighbor said he asked Jake about his gifts.   Jake said he had heard about that young man wanting to make the team and Jake wanted to help.

I advised Bryce then. “Tell that at the banquet.  There won’t be a dry eye.”

Still coaching my buddy.

SEARCH WARRANTS

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“…you are right from your side and I’m right from mine.”   ONE TOO MANY MORNINGS by Dylan.

Both sides are amazing at arguing.  The problem is nothing changes or gets done.  BLACK LIVES MATTER say defund the police.   Really?

In Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book,  TALKING TO STRANGERS,  his chapter 11 (Case Study:  The Kansas City Experiments) describes the City’s  various attempts to lower the murder rate.  Much like many American municipalities.

Several plans,  or experiments, failed.  Two factors   were “coupled” that resulted in an approximate 50% success rate, compared to all others flat failing.  The police found the crimes were almost totally committed  in small, off the main drag streets.  The flaw with other experiments too often was the need for search warrants, to enter abodes.   Traffic stops did not require a search warrant.

Gladwell details the success of these methods in KC,  and  then in 300 other American police departments.

From  a  layman’s perspective:  It seems that the discovery of these police “successes” coincides with the pronounced rise of police/black conflicts.  So often sparked by the frequency of police arresting black drivers.

While the police would contend these techniques were a godsend to successful arrests,  were there police policies that created havoc among black citizens.   Are changes that both sides can make to make this an American “win/win”?

 

 

POX

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A statement by author Hal Crowther seems too accurate.  His contention being that if one  read CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY  they would not remain a racist.  Sadly he adds the corollary: “But most people who would save their souls with such a book will never read one.  Racism is a strict religion, and ignorance is its first commandment.”

INFECTION

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“In order to get rid of infection, you must cut the boil out.”  Coach Henry Trevathan.

In an earlier blog I used a controversial term, thugs.  (See “THUGS, blog 161 ).

I haven’t seen much to change my mind about higher education in America.  (Payment for admission,  basketball cheating,  “AAU agents”, etc.)   Put the term “spot” into academic language and it turns out ” giving admission  to an unqualified student”.  Guilty everyone.  Admit it.

Somebody turned college admission into a commodity.  See blog 352 Payment Due.

True confessions #2.   The government was the second driving factor in turning college basketball, then football, black.  The first factor was the ability of the black players.

Basketball in North Carolina is king.  Dean Smith is credited with bringing Charlie Scott to Carolina as the first black player in NC (1967).   In truth that happened earlier in the small colleges (NAIA and mostly  North State Conference members.  The first was Henry Logan of Western Carolina (1964).

Then Gene Littles at High Point, and Dwight Durante at Catawba college.  Those who witnessed those guys can tell you a new day dawned in basketball.

Among those also affected were the historically black colleges and universities  (“You guys are taking all of my players.” Clarence “Bighouse”Gaines of Winston Salem State.)

Among the many reactions to this change was the question of admissions.   When

the first hard S.A.T. restriction (700) caused us to study transcripts, I was amazed at the fact that almost all of the black kids scored from 530 to 630.  Uncanny to the point of making me wonder.

Years later the next major change required 800 SAT , core courses and class rank.

Another series of  angry howls, many from  the black community.  One exception was Arthur Ashe, who contended it was legal only if all standards were equal.  Ashe also believed if the standard was equal the black kids would achieve whatever reasonable standard was set.

Basketball coaches figured the system out quickly.  Our league members , again among the first  to integrate teams, were limited to 7 and 1/2 grants.  When the government

gave aid, some loan and some grant,  the coaches figured they could combine monies and triple their players, and enhance the team’s quality.   (Example:  Rather than giving a full grant to a non-qualified player,  they could have financial aid or the basic equal opportunity grant of about 2/3 of costs and top that off with pure scholarship aid.   Properly juggled this might yield fifteen players on full ride, rather than 7 or 8.

Watching this evolve was fascinating.  Most high schools divvied up sports with king football retaining white coaches, while admitting they had to give #2 basketball to the black folks.  Yet it did not take long for football coaches who knew they had to win to keep their jobs, to insert the youngsters so well suited for football.  Consequently, over a period of time, college football coaches employed similar formulas that added more and better players.

Is our world of higher education infected?  Is the boil athletics?   Should we not uphold the law of equality for admission. Would we not fill some slots with good kids rather than so many questionable ones.

Below is a comment from my first book,  PLAY IS WHERE LIFE IS:

WHY TEACH AND COACH?

You never know who you’re influencing when you coach.  The same was true for teaching in college, formal classroom or just talking to kids.

A basketball player named Damian Carter appeared in my doorway one day at Elon.  He said he rode up and down I-85 often and had planned to stop by many times.

He was in his forties, had been a pretty solid player at Atlantic Christian, having transferred from UNC-Wilmington.   At Wilmington he hadn’t played as much as he wanted.   The same was true at ACC later on, and he found his chances of pro ball weren’t going to materialize.  He was about to quit college though his grades were good.

I don’t remember the specific conversation with Damian, but it was one of fifty I’d had with basketball players.

It went like this:

    Are you the first from your family to go to college?  Often the answer was yes.

    You’re not going to make $100,000 playing pro ball, you understand?

    You can get your degree and get a very good job.  People are looking for athletic people with degrees.

    Your job is to elevate your family and its expectations one generation.  Put your money in compound interest, and expect your children to go to college.

I agreed with Damian that was the gist of what I advised the “first kids.”  Damian smiled and added, “Coach, my two daughters have college degrees, and I’ve got a million bucks in the bank!”  Compound interest.  End.  

Integration was major change.  I felt uncomfortable advising these new guys.  Until I realized I may be the only one trying to point them in the right direction.  Even now I know I haven’t walked in their shoes.

If I could gather all these grown men and women, most of who were “first generation” yet now expect their children to go to college, I would risk this advice:   You need to step up.  Granted our country did your people great injustices.  But there is no telling how many people used basketball and sports in general, to combine with federal scholarships, and “advance their families upward a generation!”  Often much more.

This scenario played out in thousands of American colleges and Universities.   Many today need the same support.   Many small schools were the ones who took these kids in.

The American public often doesn’t understand the vast differences among colleges.  Only a few of the major schools break even on athletics.  Also while some elite institutions can cause movie stars to helicopter, figuratively and literally and financially, through highly selective admission barriers, many schools are quite different.  Some admission guidelines allow you to put your suitcase in any dorm.  Many need kids went  to these schools who were and are struggling to have enough students to survive.  Then and now.

And they need your support.  Women too got tons of aid.  International athletes from all over the world got great opportunities over here.   Need me to tell them?  Okay, all you people need to pay back at whatever level you can.

Malcolm Gladwell makes an observation about college choice that I think applies particularly to athletes.  His suggestion is that those who enter whatever school, should not go where they are in the bottom third of the class.  Go to a school where you are academically in the top third and you will avoid pressures that seem to occur altogether too often, and are severely painful.  This applies socially also.

 

A friend advised me to never  tell my wife of poker winnings or losings .  “They all think that money comes out of their clothing allowance!”

The late Worden Allen told me of his first attempt at fund-raising at our small college in rural eastern North Carolina.  On his maiden trip the retiring minister/fund raiser,  Dr. Ware, suggested he would go along and show the rookie some techniques.  Dr. Ware was old and old school.  Always a black suit and narrow  tie.  Piercing eyes and a firm jaw.

Worden said he hardly noticed  Dr. Ware holding two new lead pencils in his hand on the first stop.  Dr. Ware said he knew the first prospect, a first generation graduate who was doing quite well.   As matter of fact he had provided a room in his own home so the very limited youngster could go to college.  “As we sat down to start our appeal we were told quickly that ‘…you guys might as well know I have no intention of giving the college any of my money!’ ”  Before the sound of this sentence quieted,  a new and louder sound erupted as Dr. Ware quickly reached across the  table and cracked the startled man between the eyes with the new #2 lead pencils.  “Do not tell me you are not giving to the college.  I housed you, lent you money to pay your bill, fed you food from our table!”

Silence and that stare.  And the checkbook came out.

On down highway 264 east to stop two.  “Take a left up there, Worden,  I know a guy over  in Ayden.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROOTS

On By ethomasparhamIn L. RACELeave a comment

It gets lonely in eastern North Carolina being a Democrat. Or liberal. Or even a “conservative Democrat” which is my own political self analysis.
Plus I’m running out of time to create world peace. Is it all controlled by the infamous hidden cartel? Does big oil prevent electric cars? Or 100mpg vehicles?
Or mass transit in our crowding cities? Why did one drug I require go from $300 a quarter to $4.oo? Is the fact that we pay so much of our total income into our final days of “unwanted life”,
controlled by those in the tube business? Why can the funeral people convince us to keep expenses and inconvenience from our loved ones, yet we must ask our families to disrupt their lives and finances to keep us drooling on ourselves for years. (“It is not he or she or them or it, that you belong to…” Dylan.)
Then, Americans always have the racial issue. It is the pox of our nation. From slave labor in tobacco and cotten fields, to the hatred of the welfare state. Lots of different kinds of hate floating around these days. Did entitlements ruin incentive? Was it looking after the poor and hungry, or buying their votes? Or was it good business for the those unseens that really control everything?
For John Lennon: IMAGINE THERE ARE NO RACE PROBLEMS.
Are racial problems good for some business? Does race get people elected? Does telling the truth get you fired? Does race sell newspapers, magazines, entertainment, novels?
No race problems, less police? Security? White flight good business for realtors? Sports? Hollywood ? Education.
This goes on and on. Need to study this possibility. But if some are fanning the flames of racism for profit, they truly are some evil people.

THE DIXIE CLASSIC

On By ethomasparhamIn L. RACELeave a comment

RACE
“WHY CAN’T I FREE YOUR DOUBTFUL MIND AND MELT YOUR COLD, COLD HEART? — Hank Williams.
I have always lived in North Carolina. I am a true son of the South. I take great pride in the South. A young man commented on a beautiful, full, “southern moon” to Oscar Wilde. Oscar replied “…Yes, but you should have seen it before the Civil War.” Southerners are unique people. Lots of characters. Some good, and some bad. Racism is a part of our heritage. One cannot be from the South and not feel its sting. Sadly too, we have learned it is not limited to our area of the nation.
Someone suggested that racism is the “pox of the nation”.
I lived in small towns in N.C. growing up. In my childhood and early adolescence, any confrontation with race or members of other races was never an issue. There were hardly any kinds of “different” people at all. Those that were around were sort of “invisible”.
Our family moved to a different town when I was 12. I was aware of the “N” Word, but paid little attention to its common use in both towns that I had lived in. My family prohibited its use in strict fashion. And I suppose that I was beginning to be aware of racial issues right along this stage in my life.
I certainly remember the stark embarrassment when that word was used in my presence, and in the presence of the black janitor at our school, a man that I, and others, were fond of.
That memory is clear and perhaps a pivotal moment in my thinking.
Southern Pines, N.C. was 15 miles from my hometown, and our nearest shot at nightlife. At age 14 and up I was among a group of teenagers who made this trip several nights a week. Beer was the goal and though I didn’t drink I piled in any car that made the trip. One night on the return trip someone in our car hurled a beer can at a person walking along the country road. Younger than the crowd, I was hesitant to complain. Yet I did. The response I got was “…Hey, preacher’s boy, did see how black that bastard was? They don’t count anyway.”
Sports meant the world to me. The next stunning racial impression was related to that world. The biggest sport in our state is basketball, then and now, and the Dixie Classic was the premier event of the sporting year. Later banned because of a gambling fix, at least I saw the one that most people consider the best ever. Michigan State and “Jumping Johnny” Green, Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati, and the Big Four schools, including beloved Wake Forest (then College). Lucky enough to be given a ticket, I watched in reverence as the great Oscar Robertson and Cincinnati took on the Deacons. And while no one has ever pulled for a team any more than I did for Wake, the evening crushed me. Though Oscar was among the best college basketball players ever, and went on similarly in the professional ranks, my school, its team, and the crowd collectively exhibited the most blatant racism I had ever witnessed. It stung me.
Next in line, my Father who WAS much more tolerant than the neighborhood felt professional and personal pain for his stand on race. And I’m sure my love and respect for him helped me screw up my courage and begin to take humble stands on the issue.