Obama vs. Syria: Blocs in Congress

In President Obama's current campaign to get Congress to approve of his use of military force against the Syrian government on the pretext that they are engaged in chemical warfare, I discern various blocs within the Senate and House of Representatives that have their own peculiar motivations regarding how they would vote.  Here's how I see it...

OBAMA & MILITARY ACTION: PRO
Democrats: (1) More conservative, pro-military Democrats who traditionally vote for these types of resolutions and have vested political interests in funding the military-industrial complex, either because their states and districts contain military bases or ports or various companies are there that do contract work for the military.

Democrats: (2) More liberal democrats who are siding with the president because, well, they're Democrats and Obama's a Democrat...were Romney in there as president saying the same thing this group would probably oppose him.

Republicans: (1) War hawks like Senators McCain and Graham, who never saw an opportunity for war they didn't want us to jump into, support Obama on this...while criticizing him for delaying action and limiting it...as well as those GOP members of Congress who, like the Democrats, have military bases/ports and/or contract companies in their states/districts.

Republicans: (2) Establishment leaders who are consistent in supporting the national defense establishment and the military.

OBAMA & MILITARY ACTION: CON
Democrats & Pro-Democrat Independents:  Those who are traditionally skeptical about the value of military intervention and would oppose this proposed action regardless who was president.

Republicans: (1) Politicians who would support a Republican president like Bush but will flip-flop just because Obama's in there and they want to oppose him on EVERYTHING.

Republicans: (2) Chiefly within the tea party bloc, these only want military action if it specifically and narrowly is warranted for ONLY the national interests of the United States.  This includes those with a libertarian philosophy like Senator Rand.

Republicans: (3) Establishment pro-war politicians who are afraid of tea party opposition in their own party's primary elections.

From Both Parties: (1) Those who think that there isn't enough clear information to warrant military intervention.

From Both Parties: (2) Those who think that we're supporting the wrong side and that the rebels are infiltrated with Al-Qaeda, our true enemy.

*****
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Anger at Departed Football Coaches

In the football realm, sometimes fans can get more than a little hot under the collar when their team's head coach leaves them for "greener pastures", especially when the result seems to be the collapse of their own team.  Yet the reality doesn't always conform to this formula.  Nick Saban did ruin the Miami Dolphins following his two-year stint there after he insisted on and  received essentially complete managerial control over the team's personnel and operations and then suddenly abandoned his commitment to them to accept wealth and fame at the University of Alabama.  Dolphins fans, including me, felt betrayed and angry at him for his actions...although truth be told, I have greater axes to grind about injustices in my life than with this sort of vicarious grievance.  On the other hand, Saban had angered LSU fans just a couple of years earlier when he left them to coach for the Dolphins.  But there are a couple of important differences with LSU: he had brought them a national championship during his tenure there and he left the team essentially intact and strong...and they won two more championships under his successor Les Miles after he left.  But now I hear that LSU fans are angry because he left Miami to work for their divisional rival Alabama.  Well, Florida coach Steve Spurrier, who brought the school unprecedented gridiron success during his 12-year coaching era, has continued to enjoy enduring good feelings in the community not only after he left the Gators to try NFL coaching, but even after he got a job coaching OUR divisional rival South Carolina.  That's all good and fine, but what I don't get is the animosity around Gainesville directed at former coach Urban Meyer.

All Urban Meyer did during his six-year run at UF was to win TWO national championships and give the school a very strong edge in recruitment nationwide over others.  Toward the end of his time here, he had some undisclosed personal health issues that interfered with his final season.  After leaving Florida, Meyer evidently was able enough to handle those personal issues and, after a brief time as a competent television sports analyst, was ready to take on the Ohio State head coaching position when it became available (because of scandal that sacked the previous coach).  Last year was his first season and he was very successful, taking his team to a 12-0 record in the face of probation that eliminated them from national championship consideration or a bowl game appearance.  I never heard anyone talk about how we're hoping that Urban does well in his new job and how we appreciate what he accomplished at Florida.  But I'll go ahead and say it, anyway.  I am glad that Urban Meyer is prospering in his new role at Ohio State.  I wish him success there, but since his school has such a powderpuff schedule this year and they could be rivals in the BCS determination as to who gets to eventually play for the national championship, I'm rooting for his team to unexpectedly lose at least a couple of games for the sake of improving Florida's very real prospects this year.  Nothing personal, Urban, but football is football: I'm rooting against Spurrier's team, too...

Broncos-Ravens Mark 2013 NFL Regular Season Debut

As I retreat from having to deal with the looming "limited" war with Syria and the strange, unsettling political alliances being forged between left and right to oppose (or support) it, I find myself this afternoon with an easy topic about which to write: tonight begins the regular season in the National Football League!  We're getting a head start on the weekend action on Thursday, and with a great pairing: the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens against the Denver Broncos, a team and franchise that has rattled me a bit during the last couple of years.

Baltimore has lost several starters due to retirement, including their standout linebacker Ray Lewis.  But they seem to be on the right track with their lineup, and it makes me wonder why other franchises flounder around for years, seeming to be in a perpetual rebuilding process from one disappointing season to the next (I'm thinking chiefly about the Miami Dolphins, but there are plenty of other examples).  I tend to root for the Ravens, largely in gratitude for the fact that in 2007, when the lowly Dolphins were 0-14 with two weeks to go to a winless season, they had the presence of mind to play each other with Baltimore bowing in defeat...to my enduring gratitude.  Of course, the same team was a major thorn in Miami's side the following year when they beat them twice, including Miami's improbable first and only playoff game that year.  Still, I have a warm spot in my heart for Baltimore.  I can't say the same about Denver...

Being a Gator fan in the 1990's when Peyton Manning was the quarterback for conference divisional rival Tennessee, I got sick of Manning getting all of the accolades in spite of the fact that he never could beat us.  But he was good, real GOOD...and I might have gone over to his side had he not joined up with a team in the NFL that true Dolphins fans despise: the Colts.  Still, he moved on to Denver, and as a Dolphin fan I have no trouble with that franchise.  What I DO have a problem with is how they used Tim Tebow to reestablish a winning tradition during the 2011 season...and then unceremoniously dumped him immediately afterward in favor of King Peyton.  Then they swaggered around acting like they might as well just cancel the 2012 season and crown themselves champion!  What really happened was different, though: the Broncos under Manning were good enough to win their division again and make the playoffs (as Tebow did with them the previous season).  But a funny thing happened on their way to Super Bowl glory: "my" Baltimore Ravens tripped them up!

I won't be able to watch much of tonight's game as I have to go to work...but I know who I'm supporting: Baltimore!

And sure...I'll tune in from time to time on the "other" channels to see how we're sinking into war once again as the war drums intensify like some impending Jumanji game...

Obama Push for Syria Strike

The push to give President Obama the political backing he wants to attack Syria for its alleged use of chemical weapons on its own people during its civil war is now going on full swing.  I haven't been ignoring this important issue, but have been hesitant to write about it for a couple of reasons.  One, I don't know all the facts; in a situation like this I'm left depending on the words of those in authority who have access to information, much of it classified, that I am not privy to.  This is similar to the time leading up to George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq more than ten years ago, when as it turned out that the needed information was indeed there...it just wasn't true!  Two, although arguments have been made that not striking Syria will discredit U.S. efforts to dissuade Iran from developing nuclear weapon capability and will embolden terrorists who would then see us as weak, I could counter-argue that by attacking Syria we would be strengthening terrorists within that country's borders who would then become our de facto allies (and later attack us).  No, I don't see Syria as directly threatening us, and in this I am astonished (and more than a little disturbed) to find myself siding with far-right tea party politicians, the most notorious of them being Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. That in itself is enough to make me want to turn my head from this issue and think of something else (like football or the weather)...

College Football 2013 Season Begins

The first weekend in the college football season has passed, with the usual assortment of mainly lopsided matchups topped off with a few meaningful contests.  And a couple of those games pitting major schools against small ones turned meaningful, too, when they resulted in upsets.  Here's my take on the games that interested me.

Ohio State won their mismatch 40-20 while Oregon ran the score up on their itsy-bitsy opponent 66-3...so naturally the latter passed the former in the polls without either really being tested on a major level. The Florida Gators were a rare team in the Southeastern Conference in that they scheduled a relatively minor school, Toledo, for their opener.  They prevailed yawningly (but soundly) 24-6.  Because Florida's game plan doesn't exactly light up the stadium (or the TV) with passing fireworks, though, the poll voters tend to punish them.  So despite their win, they dropped in the polls from #10 to #12, even staying behind divisional rival Georgia, a loser in an exciting season opener against Clemson.  Alabama, although challenged for much of their game by Virginia Tech, ended it by pulling away and making the score look like a rout.  Florida State, Miami, and Louisville all were impressive in their openers, while LSU won a high-scoring game against TCU.

People can go on all they want to about how great a quarterback that prima donna diva Johnny Manziel (of Texas A&M) is, but I can't see how he is better than ANY of the following: Clemson's Tajh Boyd, Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, or Florida State's freshman sensation Jameis Winston...all putting on impressive performances in their respective season openers.  I can't see how any of these schools' fans would ever wish they had Johnny Headcase instead of the stars they are blessed with...

My Florida Gators will be playing down in south Florida against Miami next week.  I expect them to grind out a win in that game as well, but I wouldn't expect them to be heavily featured on ESPN for spectacular highlights, though...

My favorite games to watch were the opener between North Dakota State and Kansas State and Georgia vs. Clemson.  Kansas State found themselves upset as the Bison came from ten points behind in the second half and consumed most of the fourth quarter in a masterful drive that both put them finally ahead and gave the Wildcats little time to come back.  As for Georgia-Clemson, I was intrigued by Clemson's home opening tradition of busing their team around the stadium to its entrance at the top of a hill...and then rushing en masse onto the field.  The only problem with this traditional pregame ritual was that it was so hot and humid at that time that everyone, including the coaches, were sweating buckets before the game even began!

Tebow Released, Needs Goal Adjustment

Tim Tebow, after the last exhibition game of the preseason, was released by the New England Patriots and can now be a free agent.  He thanked that franchise for giving him an opportunity there and still claims to be relentless about becoming an NFL quarterback.  I don't think Tebow is quite mentally in the place he needs to be in order to fulfill that stated lifelong dream to be an NFL quarterback.  In the first place, the former Florida Gator Heisman Trophy winner has already BEEN an NFL quarterback, leading his team to the playoffs (and a playoff victory) back in 2011.  It's like me saying that I want to be a marathon runner and, having successfully finished a marathon, feeling at least that bit of personal satisfaction at having accomplished this.  Tim Tebow doesn't seem to look at it this way at all, though...and that is one of the problems I think that causes other teams in the league to want to avoid taking any chance in picking him up.  As far as he is concerned, he has a one-track mind on the subject: become a regular starting quarterback for a team...and any deviation from that isn't acceptable AT ALL to him.  Given his obvious glaring shortcomings at reading defenses and passing accurately, I would have thought this gifted athlete, who is much more than a competent rusher on offense, would be more realistic with his goals and broaden them to become a regular starting PLAYER in the NFL...or even a nonstarter who is frequently used.  That would give other teams the flexibility that they would like to have to insert him into different offensive schemes and allow him to be the asset to them that he is quite capable of being.  But maybe it's going to take Mr. Tebow hitting rock bottom as the prospects for NFL this season completely dry up before he swallows what is clearly an enormous pride about himself and adjusts his goals. He has certainly already had ample opportunity to improve upon his quarterbacking skills over the last three years and with expert instruction, but to little avail...

This may be an shining, if bitter, example of what Clint Eastwood's Harry Callahan character repeatedly said in the movie Magnum Force: "A man's GOT to know his own limitations". We all have our own particular limitations, don't we, and we aren't suffering from a negative or defeatist self-image if we simply recognize them and work around them.  Tim Tebow, as I have stated a few days ago, is an asset to the NFL.  He has a great, clean image as a role model, he is a positive encourager for others, he generates interest and excitement for the game, he rises up to pressure in close games as a clutch performer, and he is one heck of a runner.  If he were only to recognize where he IS good at and sell himself on that, I think he'd be doing a lot a better...

Follow-Up on Nova

The Delphinus nova discovered a few days ago has dwindled down in magnitude to the point where it can no longer be seen by the naked eye...at least by MY naked eye here within the city.  On a number of nights when it was brighter I walked outside to view it, only to be confronted by a sky filled with clouds.  Only one night was there a clear sky, but unfortunately I was then in too much of a hurry to get somewhere to stop and take an unhurried look.  The nova never did get to be very bright against the backdrop of stars and at its brightest would have appeared as a faint connecting star between the already-faint tiny constellations of Sagitta and Delphinus.  Still, I regret having missed out on seeing it.  I suppose, if I want to, I can take out my binoculars in the next night or two and compare my observations of the section it's in with a detailed star map, but I'm not all that enthusiastic about finding a point that doesn't fit on a map and then automatically proclaiming it to be that nova...

Slow Down, You Talk Too Fast

I'm sitting in this Starbucks, see, huddled off in a back corner, wondering whether I'm beginning to go senile at this relatively young age of (nearly) 57.  It started on my drive down here when, literally out of the blue, it began to ran.  Sure, there were some puffy clouds to be seen around, but nothing to indicate any impending precipitation.  Still, it looked as if my original idea of sitting in the wide-open outdoors to drink my coffee and study (including writing this blog article) would be for naught.  And the prospects for finding a seat ANYWHERE inside this Starbucks likewise dimmed with the freshly falling rain, as it is a popular hangout in this part of town and is usually filled to capacity on Sunday afternoons.  I nevertheless pulled into the parking lot: who knows, I might find a spot anyway.  And as I said, I did...in an obscure corner of the java joint.

So anyway, I'm sitting here, writing out some foreign language sentences for practice, which is something I do as a daily routine.  The rest of the place is packed with customers, some of whom are studying by themselves (or pretending to do so) and some of whom are engaging in sociable conversations.  As I sit here studying OTHER languages, an eerie feeling begins to creep up on me: everyone else around me is speaking English, but at the fast rate that they are speaking, their words are almost incomprehensible to me...almost as if they were speaking an exotic tongue.

I've long had a block when it came to picking up and understanding normal conversation when I hear it in other languages...even those languages that I have studied and can comprehend when it is spoken in a more formal setting on radio and TV news broadcasts.  It's almost as if, regardless of whatever language they are speaking, the talkers are in a completely different gear of communication from anything else.  And now, today, the same troubling feeling started coming to me as others were SPEAKING ENGLISH so fast in conversation that I could scarcely make out their words.  Then a universal principle hit me...

It seems that in nervous social conversation, people regardless of their culture or language tend to talk at a breakneck pace, almost seemingly necessitating a psychic link among themselves from them to understand what each other are saying.  The speed of speech can get very, very fast...to the point sometimes that a native language can sound foreign.  That's a little scary for me...

Then again, there is possibly a more mundane, reasonable interpretation for all this.  When people are conversing in person, a great portion of the communication that is going on between them is unspoken but rather revealed through facial expressions, gestures, and body language.  As a matter of fact, I wonder sometimes if these aren't the main elements in the communication and not the actual words.  In any event, when I'm sitting there with my back to others, I'm not picking up on these integral elements of the interactions between these people and, quite possibly, this may make their spoken language less clear as a result...    

My August 2013 Running Report

In August I continued increasing my running mileage, amassing a total of 132.6 miles.  The longest run was for 10 miles, and I ran on 30 out of the month's 31 days. Back in May I wouldn't have thought this possible, what with the plantar fasciitis in my right foot causing pain in the heel and arch.  But I have been careful to wear snug-fitting shoes with thick soles, and have faithfully done daily stretching exercises to help alleviate the problem.  The result has been that this condition no longer limits me with my running.  Still, I am right now a bit overweight and as such am not running as well as I could were I to weigh, more optimally, about 15-20 pounds less. 

I still intend to run a couple of half-marathon races here in Gainesville this fall, the first to take place on September 28.  I deeply wish that the weather will have cooled down a bit by that time.  This must be the most unpleasantly hot and humid summer I've experienced in recent memory...

Standing, Codependency, and Personal Responsibility

I've recently had two situations cropping up in the workplace (where I work is immaterial to this discussion) when questions of mandated overtime and off/day staffing came into play.  In one instance, I (and others) were told to stay late a couple of hours overtime one morning...something that annoyed me when it happened but in the long run was beneficial due to the extra money coming in to me.  A co-worker also having to put in the extra time decided that we should see a union steward the next day because a different crew on another shift was unjustly being deprived of the overtime that they had signed up for (unlike us).  I ignored this proposal, because I didn't feel that I was the aggrieved party.  Maybe I was a little annoyed at the overtime, but it's hard to feel the "victim" in a situation when people are essentially throwing money at me.  No, the potentially aggrieved party were the other workers who had sought out the overtime and didn't get it.  They were the ones with "standing" in this circumstance, not me.  Simply informing them what happened was enough...they could then decide for themselves what, if anything, to do about it if they wished.

Similarly, the duty schedule for this weekend's Labor Day holiday was posted a few days ago.  One co-worker was incorrectly scheduled in for two days while I got both of my desired days off.  Once again, someone else had "standing" to address the problem with management, not me.  She didn't, though, and I thus have a long weekend coming up.

In order to avoid codependent behavior, I have to take different situations concerning others and determine, if a possible injustice has occurred, how much it actually negatively affects me...or whether someone else adversely affected wants me to take responsibility to fixing "their" problem for them.  A codependent personality will habitually take on the burden of fixing others' problems for them, instead of expecting them to speak for themselves, as they should...

Standing is an important legal concept in our system of justice.  Appeals are often thrown out of court by judges because the party filing them doesn't have a direct relationship to the cases involved.  Standing is established when a party to a case can demonstrate how it legitimately affects them.  But standing is a more universal principle that ultimately demands that we individually demonstrate responsibility for handling our own affairs without passively always expecting others to take them up for us...

Tim Tebow an Asset to NFL Football

In spite of the fact that I am a long-time Gainesville resident and root for my University of Florida Gators team, I am not exactly what you might call a fan of Tim Tebow...at least not to the extent that many others are.  Not that I have anything personally against the man, you see.  As far as I can tell, there aren't enough people in professional football with the kind of character and positive attitude that he consistently displays, and often under very stressful circumstances.  And I agree with the bigshot highly-played professional media sports analysts who point out his deficiencies in the quarterback position. Slowness in reading opposing defenses on the field and often wild inaccuracy in passing are probably Tebow's two main, glaring faults.  I've heard some critics also say that his footing and arm motions aren't up to par with other quarterbacks in the National Football League.  Maybe that's all true, but I do know one thing about him that others seem determined to overlook: Tim Tebow is a winner.

Football is a team sport and involves players combining their own particular skills in concert with each other to achieve victory.  Tim Tebow is an exhorter and somehow gets his teammates on the field together playing with fervency and a belief that they will prevail.  In 2011, the only year he was allowed to consistently start as quarterback, he led his Denver Broncos from their division's cellar to its championship...and then defeated defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs.  Then a few weeks later he was summarily traded away to the Jets, who subsequently squandered their investment and then let him go.  Now he's with New England and he may or may not make the final team roster at the end of the exhibition season.  His passing statistics have never been good, but he is a clutch player who takes charge in close games and pulls out improbable win after win.  He is more a throwback to the old days of football that allowed for more of a diversity in talents. I remember the 1969 Minnesota Vikings who had as quarterback an incredibly erratic passer in Joe Capp: all they did that year was go to the Super Bowl!  But Tebow has an added threat to defenses that his critics sell him short on: he is a strong, punishing runner who reminds me of the Miami Dolphin great Larry Csonka. 

I remember one game last year when Tebow, while playing for the Jets at home, was sent in for a play and burst through the opposing defense, gaining a swath of yardage and putting his team on the verge of a touchdown.  Right after the play, he was on fire with enthusiasm, pumping up and exciting the entire stadium in the process. Then he was promptly removed to the sidelines, starting QB Mark Sanchez came back in, and the drive completely fizzled out...not to mention the enthusiasm of the stadium fans.   

That's not how you handle an asset like Tim Tebow.

Not a "Rookie" Mistake

In the last exhibition game that they played, which was against the cross-town rival New York Giants, the New York Jets were still struggling with their quarterback lineup.  Not exactly inspiring the greatest confidence in the world, their quarterback for the past few years, Mark Sanchez, had a good enough preseason for coach Rex Ryan to announce him as the starter for this upcoming regular season.  Rookie Geno Smith, who many had touted as being the better quarterback, didn't do so well and was regulated to backup.  Sanchez played the first part of the Giants game while Smith came in later for the second half.  The Jets found themselves up 14-13 when they got the ball deep in their own territory, by their own goal line.  Smith went back to pass and, scrambling in the backfield, inadvertently stepped out of the back of his own end zone, causing a safety and giving the Giants a 15-14 lead.  Coach Ryan was evidently so miffed at this that he took Smith out of the game on the next series and put in his starter Sanchez...who subsequently suffered a shoulder injury in this essentially meaningless game.  Ryan came under a lot of criticism for his decision to play Sanchez, but to me saying and doing boneheaded things is what this dude is all about.  What bothered me about it all is what a (probably well-paid) football analyst on TV said about Geno Smith's safety: he called it a "rookie mistake".

I don't know how to play rugby, folks.  I'm sure the rules are such that if I were out on the field during a game, I would be lost as to what I should be doing.  But even with my profound ignorance about this sport, I already know, without having ever played it for even a minute, that I probably don't want to step out of bounds around my own goal while holding the ball.  Geno Smith was the class of the high school football world as a quarterback, which enabled him to attend a major college like West Virginia, where he succeeded so well that he was drafted as a top prospect into the National Football League.  After all these years of him practically living football, I think that he already knew that you don't step out of your own end zone holding the football!  He just made a mistake...don't we all from time to time.  But it had nothing to do with being a "rookie": they have end zones even in neighborhood sandlot games that little kids play!

It's true that as one progresses within a sport to a more advanced level, the tempo picks up and the strategies are more complicated, putting additional mental stress on the player.  But when a player who happens to be a freshman in college or a first-year rookie in the pros makes an error, it is often a simple lapse of judgement or perception and has nothing to do with lack of experience.  For announcers and analysts to throw out the "rookie/freshman mistake" line in these instances just makes me want to groan (and change the channel)...

Return to Outdoor Writing

It's been a while since I sat down outside to do some blog writing.  Either I write something on my laptop at home (at the dining room table) or I go inside a comfortable-but-noisy coffee shop.  Back in 2007 when I began this blog, I would be in the habit of writing blog articles after stopping off at one of two local Starbucks on the way to my work shift, which then began at 3:30 PM. The typically hot weather wasn't so pleasant, but it seemed that my ability to drum up topics and expound upon them was enhanced more with outdoor writing.

Maybe, especially with my old home town of Gainesville once again packed with tens of thousands of college students, I'll just forgo the indoors and hang out outside, where more seating is usually (but not always) available.  That certainly was the case for me today.  Besides, we're now nearing the end of August and cooler times, hopefully, are just around the corner...

Finally Finished Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind

Terry Goodkind's books dominate the shelves in the fantasy section of bookstores.  His Sword of Truth series is his trademark achievement, spanning twelve (or more?) volumes, periodically putting him at the top of the bestseller list and no doubt making him a very rich man.  Yet when I recently got on the Internet and checked out a list of the top 25 fantasy series (George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire at the top of it), Goodkind's presence was nowhere seen...not even among the supplementary "honorable mention" list.  I myself had a bit of difficulty last year with the first book, Wizard's First Rule, getting through a few hundred pages (it is gigantic) and finally putting it down in frustration.  Not only did I discover that I felt an irrational aversion to this fantasy world of magic and swords (and the accompanying gore and violence), but I also experienced the same feeling that I had when reading Christopher Paolini's Eragon series: both authors probed the thoughts and intentions of their characters far too much instead of letting each story's actions and dialogue reveal their personalities as the plot progressed.  This, to me, took away some of the natural mystery and suspense that could have sustained me as a reader.  However, with Goodkind at least (Paolini is FAR too ponderous), I decided to give him another chance.  So I went back to Wizard's First Rule and read the whole damned thing from beginning to end.  And a funny thing happened: I began to like it!

It isn't quite so clear at the beginning of Wizard's First Rule, but as I read through it, I came to feel that Terry Goodkind is doing more than just spinning a yarn set in an imaginary fantasy setting.  He is also laying out a philosophy for living that involves people taking responsibility for themselves while redefining the notions of what truly constitutes compassion, and how important the method is to achieving one's means.  These are significant, heady topics, and Goodkind delves into them...at least in the first book.  I'm getting myself ready now for the second in the series, titled Stone of Tears... Oh by the way, I read up on Goodkind and he appears to be a follower of Ayn Rand's objectivism philosophy.  How that point of view is reflected in his writings should prove interesting to discover as I read on.

As for the title Wizard's First Rule, what does it mean?  Simply that, in the pantheon of rules that the wizards of Goodkind's imaginary realm have listed, there stands one principle high above the others: people are stupid and will believe whatever they WANT to believe, regardless of the facts!  You know what, that sounds like MY first rule as well!

Visible Nova in Delphinus Detected

Late yesterday afternoon I attended my third planetarium show at the facility in Santa Fe College, here in Gainesville.  Once again James Albury hosted the event, which featured a movie adapted for domed theaters about black holes...narrated by Lian Neeson.  It was O.K., I suppose, although I've gotten more information and enlightenment on the subject from watching Science Channel shows like Wormhole.  Still, I enjoyed the experience of going inside the planetarium, sitting down in a comfortable chair, and digging the surroundings.  And at the conclusion of the program, Mr. Albury once again gave a synopsis of the night sky for this time of year...and with a special addition.

Our host announced that a few days ago, a nova explosion was detected in the constellation Delphinus, located a little northeast of Aquila.  The star, which was originally "seen" at magnitude +17, much too dim for the naked eye, suddenly brightened to where it is, at last report, +4.9...not exactly bright against the background of stars but still visible to the naked eye and certainly detectable to one (like myself) who is very familiar with the normal star patterns of that region of the sky.  Last night I went out to see it, but as luck would have it, the sky was overcast...as it currently is today so far.  Later this evening I'll go check it out, if the clouds have cleared out...

Snowball Earth, Among Other Prehistoric Disasters

I've always been interested in the origins and development of the Earth, both in its geological context and in that of the evolution of life.  I am also a subscriber to Netflix, at least the streaming Netflix which much too often comes up severely lacking with its offerings of movies and shows.  This time around, though, I found on it a four-part television series titled Prehistoric Disasters that explored the Earth's distant past through four key disasters that struck it over the eons.

The four "disasters" were the formation of the Moon through the collision between early Earth and a minor planet, the 25-million year long lapse into a completely ice-packed "snowball" status covering the entire globe some 650 million years ago, the eruption of a supervolcano in what is now Siberia causing a chain of events leading to excessive global warming and mass extinctions 250 million years ago, and the hypothesized collision of an asteroid with Earth about 63 million years ago causing the end of the age of the dinosaurs.  I was especially interested in that strange "snowball Earth"...

Earth throughout its span of existence has gone through an extensive cycle of ice ages, when ice glaciers would flow far south of the polar regions and into more normally temperate climate zones.  But 650 million years ago the ice passed a threshold of latitude and went on to cover the planet with ice, and very thick ice at that (several hundred meters).  The cause: depletion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to loss of this gas as it combined with solid material through excessive weathering from the then-single, huge continental mass lying on the equator and then settled on the sea bottom, far away from the atmosphere.  The advance of the ice sped up the process of global cooling because the ice's reflectivity of sunlight was much higher than the liquid ocean's, sending the sun's heat back out into space instead of absorbing it into the Earth.  Life at that time, for billions of years ongoing as a matter of fact, was composed of unicellular organisms, mainly bacteria.  Nearly all of the species died out, leaving only those few that could adapt through evolution.  After the ice cover eventually receded from the heat generated by massive volcanic eruptions 25 million years later, life began evolving rapidly into more complex forms...but only after the "snowball" period.

By all accounts, the "snowball" period in our planet's past was a singular, nonrepeating event.  That bothers me a little and keeps me from completely accepting it, even though there seems to be empirical evidence that it occurred.  I would have expected at least of handful of other "snowballs", too, in the records.  But if it was truly the only time that Earth was completely encased in thick, thick ice...and for millions of years at that, then to me this has to be the most incredible period of its past. 

Three Old Miami Dolphins Shun President

This past Tuesday the President received the 1972 Miami Dolphins team at the White House East Room as they together celebrated forty years of being the only team to go completely undefeated in a National Football League season...throughout that year's regular season, divisional and conference playoffs, and culminating with a Super Bowl victory.   Hall of Fame Dolphin greats Bob Griese, Larry Little, and Larry Csonka were among those there, as well as legendary coach Don Shula.  The current Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross footed the bill to bring them to Washington, which I thought was a nice gesture on his part.  But three of those '72 Dolphins players spurned the event because they said they were politically opposed to the sitting President.  Jim Langer, Bob Kuechenberg, and Manny Fernandez not only didn't attend, but they had to throw in some political trash talk into something that was a nonpolitical visit to their elected Head of State.  It could have been Republican President Romney instead of Democratic President Obama for all the difference it makes: in my opinion these three players, who obviously were under no compulsion from any one side to attend, are lacking in basic civics education and appreciation.  We live in a representative democracy, and as such, will sometimes collectively elect people into leadership positions with whom we, as individuals, have political differences.  Still, we should respect the PROCESS and the POSITION to honor the results of those elections and thereby respect whoever happens to be holding office at a particular time.  I wonder, had Romney been in there and held this commemoration, whether some of the more liberal members of that '72 Dolphins team would have shunned him.  There's no way of knowing for sure, but if that had happened it would have been just as wrong as what these three did.  For the record, by the way, owner Ross happens to be a proud Republican who clearly gets it when it comes to truly appreciating what it means to live in a democratic republic...as well as being a class act.  Too bad that some don't...

Football Teams I'm Rooting For and Against

I can't tell you which teams will be the best in professional and college football this 2013 season, but I still have my own favorites...some of them will undoubtedly flop!  I decided to pick at least one team from each NFL division and one from the major NCAA conferences to cheer for and boo against, and here they are:

NFL: AMERICAN CONFERENCE
EAST
Cheer: Miami Dolphins, of course
Boo: New England Patriots
SOUTH
Cheer: Jacksonville Jaguars
Boo: Houston Texans
NORTH
Cheer: Baltimore Ravens
Boo: Pittsburgh Steelers
WEST
Cheer: Kansas City Chiefs
Boo: Denver Broncos

NATIONAL CONFERENCE
EAST
Cheer: New York Giants
Boo: Dallas Cowboys
SOUTH
Cheer: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Boo: New Orleans Saints
NORTH
Cheer: Chicago Bears
Boo: Detroit Lions
WEST
Cheer: Seattle Seahawks
Boo: St. Louis Rams

NCAA COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SEC CONFERENCE
EAST
Cheer: Florida Gators
Boo: Georgia Bulldogs
WEST
Cheer: LSU Tigers
Boo: Alabama Crimson Tide

BIG TEN CONFERENCE
Cheer: Michigan State Spartans
Boo: Ohio State Buckeyes

BIG 12 CONFERENCE
Cheer: Kansas State Wildcats
Boo: Oklahoma Sooners

PAC 12 CONFERENCE
Cheer: Oregon Ducks
Boo: USC Condoms

Oh, and I need to mention independent Notre Dame, a team that I traditionally root against.  I will be booing them again this year...

TV Science Shows: More Math, Please

I appreciate much of the science programming I see on television when it is available.  I especially like shows about cosmology, physics, and astronomy.  Usually it is the Science Channel that provides this programming.  Shows like Wormhole and Wonders of the Universe are great, and anything narrated by Morgan Freeman (admittedly NOT a scientist) or physicists Michio Kaku and Brian Cox are interesting to watch.  I like the popularization of cutting edge scientific research, and wish there was more programming available like this.  But although I enjoy the intriguing material that is presented, I feel that there is still a massive cognitive gulf between professional scientists and the lay observer.  The chief cause of this gulf is the massive difference in mastery of the mathematics necessary to fully understand much of the theory and method.

Unfortunately, mathematics in itself isn't that glamorous.  But if more complex and advanced mathematics are introduced and explained in combination with various discoveries and theories, I believe that many viewers, myself included, would be able to catch on and more fully appreciate not only the exciting scientific advances that are going on today, but also better grasp some of the limitations and disagreements that cause scientists within a particular field to go down divergent paths with their theories and speculation.

In no field is the need for a deeper understanding of underlying mathematics more felt than in physics, especially that which is concerned about the origin and nature of our universe.  For one physicist to enumerate more than ten dimensions (string theory) while another reduces everything to just one dimension makes me scratch my head in frustration.  I'd like a little more in-depth probing of their thought processes than just see them sitting around throwing out their ideas, which may or may not be sufficiently backed up by empirical research or mathematically reasoned theory...

Upcoming Running Race Prospects for Me

I thought it might be a good idea for me to list the upcoming running races that I have an interest in entering.  I'll stay away from most of them, I'm sure...not because I physically can't handle the race load, but rather because these events cost some money.  A little spent here and there is reasonable, but there is something to be said against overdoing it, too.  The locations are all Gainesville unless otherwise specified...

August 23 (Friday)...Fit2Run Cross Country Challenge (10K event) (off West Newberry Road)
September 28 (Saturday)...chORD Half-Marathon (on UF campus)
October 5 (Saturday)...Jacksonville Marine Corps Half-Marathon
October 20 (Sunday)...Running for the Bay Half-Marathon (in Apalachicola)
October 27 (Sunday)...Light House Loop Half-Marathon (in Port Orange)
November 9 (Saturday)...InnerAct Alliance Half-Marathon (in Lakeland)
November 16 (Saturday)...Tom Walker Memorial Half-Marathon (on Hawthorne Trail)
December 14 (Saturday)...Season of Hope 15K (on Hawthorne Trail)
December 29 (Sunday)...Jacksonville Bank Half-Marathon
2014: January 19 (Sunday)...Ocala Half-Marathon
February 16 (Sunday)...FivePoints Half-Marathon

I'm sure other races will sprout up from time to time, and Florida is full of half-marathons during the winter months.  But at least through February next year, the preceding pool of races offer me the best choices.  There are four half-marathons that I definitely want to run: chORD on September 28, Tom Walker Memorial on November 16, Ocala on January 19, and FivePoints on February 16.  Also, it would be cool to fit in a race that involved a little travel. That Jacksonville race on December 29 may be a stretch, but I've never run there before...