Champion of the Month!

Yes, it's that time again when I raise a hand in victory and declare this person to be Kayo Nelson's Champion of the Month! This month, however, I am actually raising the hands of several people because my champion is not one person, it's a group: Pussy Riot.

I don't much care for punk music, so I don't much care for the music of Pussy Riot. What I like, of course, is their willingness to take on the world, to fight for change in an oppressive society. I greatly admire their willingness to face arrests and imprisonment (and have done so!) in their attempts to change their country. Where would the world be without people like this?

The Russian government erred badly when they arrested and tried three members of the group in 2012 after their protest at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. They should have fined them a token amount and sent them on their way. By trying and convicting these women the Russian government unwittingly turned them into international stars.

Obi-Wan Kenobi to Darth Vader: "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine."

The women were at it again yesterday in a large protest in Moscow. Look it up. Pussy Riot! Kayo's Champion(s) of the Month!

It has been a while since I have blogged. That isn't because nothing has been going on in the world. It's because too much has been going on in mine. The holiday season can be a busy time. I hope you all had a great Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate (Isaac Newton's birthday maybe?), and will have a happy New Year. I will post on some more thoroughly fascinating subjects soon.

The strange case of Elizabeth Lauten.

If you don't know the name Elizabeth Lauten...well, good for you. She recently was involved in a real firestorm of a mess. A mess, of course, that she made herself. After the obligatory "President Pardoning the Turkey" bit, Lauten decided to focus in not on the ceremony itself, not on the President, not on the First Lady, but on the first kids! On her Facebook page she blasted them for being classless and dressing like they were heading for a bar. The girls she was ripping into are 13 and 16 for heavens sake! Talk about classless!

This wouldn't have been so bad if Lauten had been just another goofy Facebook user, but she happened to be the communications director for US Congressman Stephen Fincher. She also happened to be a self proclaimed expert on social media. Lauten quickly took down her post and apologized, but in that typical non-apology way. She first wrapped herself up in the Bible, claiming that she had prayed for hours, and then apologized not to the people she had insulted but to the ever present "anyone I might have offended." She had no trouble directly addressing the Obama daughters in the first post, but in the apology...well...not so much.

Then came the firestorm and Lauten's inevitable resignation. Yes, if you are that bad at your job (communications and an expert in social media, remember) it is probably best that you resign.

Next, of course, there was the backlash from the conservatives rallying to...well...not so much defend Lauten, but to say it was all an overreaction, because (insert the name of a Democrat here) did something worse. (There is always someone who did something worse out there, isn't there?) And somehow it must all be the fault of the media, liberals in general and Obama in particular.

All of this misses the entire point. Why people were so angry with Lauten's post is perfectly clear and it has nothing to do with her political affiliation, be that Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Whig. The citizens of this country are fed up with this type of extreme partisan politics.

These days too many people don't just disagree with a politician's policies, they must hate that person's entire being: Politician A doesn't just have bad policies, but he's evil, he hates the country, he wants to destroy the county, his wife is a terrible person and so are his kids!

I think it's time we started dialing that back a little. Don't you?

Champion of the Month!

At the end of every month Charley "Kayo" Nelson (that's me) raises a hand in victory and declares that person to be Champion of the Month. It will always be someone who has made a positive difference in this world. For November of 2014 that champion is a 12 year old boy named Devonte Hart!

You don't know who that is? Oh, but you do. Google search the name. Or better yet do an image search for Devonte. You'll find a now very famous photo.

Well done young man. Thanks for reminding us that when we get past all the rhetoric, when we get past all the arguing, when we get past all the "I know what really happened and you don't," when we get past all of that, we're all in this ride together.

Devonte Hart: Kayo Nelson's Champion of the Month!

100 years ago (1914) Henry Ford took the extraordinary step of increasing his workers' pay to $5 a day while reducing their hours from 9 to 8 hours a day! Ford's average worker had his pay nearly double while working a shorter day!

Ford was no dummy. By increasing his workers' pay he helped increase wages around the country. Ford famously asked who would be able to buy his cars if we didn't pay good wages to the average worker. He was correct. You can't build an economy if workers cannot afford to buy anything other than rent and food.

Let's put in another way: You can't build an economy with minimum wage jobs.

But Ford had another reason for his $5 a day rate: To cut down on his turnover rate. Working an assembly line is a difficult and monotonous job. He had a bad attrition rate until he increased wages and cut down on the hours. Increase your employees satisfaction and you cut down on turnover. Simple enough. This is a lesson many in corporate America could stand to learn today: Sometimes if you pay a bit more up front you save money in the long run. By paying more you actually end up paying less.

I have a new nickname from now on that I will use for Scott Walker:

The Tyrant!

As in... Instead of saying Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker I will say Wisconsin Tyrant Scott Walker.

That is all for today.

I've been going over the viewership stats for my blog and have discovered something very interesting: I have a very loyal following in France! In fact, I seem to be more popular in France than I am in the USA!

All I have to say about that is: Vive la France! Oui, oui! And Ludivine Sagnier!

It occurs to me that I haven't yet commented on the Minnesota Twins hiring of Paul Molitor as their new manager. So I will do so right now. And actually I just did.

Paul was pretty much who we expected all along. I think the reason he was added to the coaching staff a year ago was to take over the reigns if Gardy faltered. What kind of manager he will end up being is anybody's guess right now, but he definitely has the pedigree. There are few people out there more knowledgeable of the game than Mr. Molitor.

So I will be anxious to see what he can do. Right now the Twins are young enough that they can allow their new manager to grow with them, much like they did with TK back in the 80s. Actually, the Twins grew up pretty fast under TK, but I think it will take a little more time with PM.

World Series by '16? Or maybe '17? Or...someday. 

Ebola mania strikes again!

After my blog praising Kaci Hickox I had a couple people write me asking the following: What was the harm of having Kaci serve her three weeks in quarantine? Maybe it's being overly cautious, but shouldn't we error on the side of caution? What's the harm?

It's a good question and I don't want to minimize it. At first glance it seems like a great argument. Hey, she probably doesn't have Ebola, but why not make completely sure? Again, where's the harm?

I would like you all to do a news search on Susan Sherman, a teacher from Louisville. I'll give a quick recap. Susan returned from a trip to Kenya and was asked to take a 21 day leave of absence from her school to quarantine herself. Why not, right? What's the harm? Let's be absolutely 100% certain. The problem is that there is no Ebola in Kenya. That's the wrong side of the continent.

This is what happens when we let fear and ignorance rule our lives. Susan Sherman poses no more of a threat returning from a trip to Kenya than she would have returning from a trip to Alaska. And there is the harm, folks! We are letting fear get in the way of reason. "Kenya is in Africa! Oh my God! Run for your lives!"

Sure Kaci could have served her three weeks, but what then? How about another three weeks? Some have suggested the longest possible incubation period for Ebola is actually around 45 days. Let's be absolutely sure, right? What's the harm, right? When does the madness end?

The point about Kaci, and Susan too now, is that we should not let ourselves be ruled by unreasonable fears. We should not let ourselves be ruled by politicians playing into those fears. Honestly, who should decide when Kaci and Susan are safe to be around the general public?  When medical doctors and the CDC decide that X is the best course of action, do we really want politicians and a mob of fearful parents overruling that and saying "No, let's do Y instead?"

Only two people have contacted Ebola here in the USA. Both were health care workers taking care of a sick Ebola patient. And both have now fully recovered. There is no Ebola problem in the USA.

It's time for this Ebola mania to end.

One last reminder. Or maybe the second to last.

Scott Walker: Worst Governor Ever!

Champion of the Month!

Every month in this blog I am going to crown a champion; a person who has made a positive difference in this world. And this month it's an easy call for me: Kaci Hickox.

Instead of sitting at home fretting and wringing her hands over Ebola, she went onto the front lines to fight the disease in Sierra Leone. If we are going to defeat  Ebola, we aren't going to do it here in the U.S. just worrying about it and saying "Oh, dear! Oh dear!" We have to confront the disease where it is truly a problem. Kaci has done that. It was a brave and noble act.

Since returning home Kaci has been fighting a different type of battle, one against fear and ignorance. A fight against grand standing politicians trying to scare you into voting for them. A fight against those who would ignore science and try to make us think we're living in Europe in the 1350s and we're battling the Black Plague.

If I were in Main I would go visit Kaci and give her a big kiss. Instead I will settle for figuratively raising her hand in victory.

Kaci Hickox! Kayo Nelson's Champion of October 2014!

I want to address Ebola mania today. Or to quote the Bard: Much ado about nothing.

Now don't misunderstand Charley Nelson (that's me). In West Africa Ebola is a very serious problem. Our worries and our prayers should certainly be for the many people living there infected and at risk. But as a problem in the USA, Ebola is virtually non-existent. You wouldn't know that by listening to some of our politicians and members of the media, however. You'd think we were living in Europe in the 1350s fighting off the Black Plague.
 

A few stats here. And a bit of common sense. So far we've had four cases of Ebola in the U.S. and one death. That is hardly a plague. Compare that to around 10,000 deaths a year from drunk driving and around 30,000 deaths a year because of the flu. No one has suggested yet (have they?) that we ought to start quarantining people who neglected to get a flu shot this year. Yet you are more at risk from these people than anyone in the U.S. with Ebola.
 

"But Charley," people say to me, "it got out of control in Africa so it could get out of control here!" Well, no, actually. It couldn't. Ebola is not an airborne virus. It is passed through bodily fluids. In third world areas where sanitation is not great and medical facilities aren't modernized, the disease can become a serious problem. That isn't going to happen here.

 

Yet some politicians are playing this for all it's worth! "Oh my God! Obama has let the disease get completely out of control." Oh, yeah. Four cases and one death. Run for the hills. I for one would much rather see Obama and congress work on ways to cut down on drunk driving deaths instead of fretting away over a non-existent plague.
 

Oh, and Governor Christie? Instead of playing doctor with a disease you obviously know very little about, why don't you go back to doing something your are good at? Like causing traffic jams.  

I am writing this blog mostly for fellow residents of Wisconsin, although you folks living elsewhere are certainly welcome to read. (Even you Minnesotans!)

In recent years the company I work for, instead of hiring enough workers for whatever reason, has become increasingly more dependent on overtime. This summer I didn't have a lot of two day weekends; instead I frequently had to work Saturdays. Worse yet, we often weren't told we were working Saturday for certain until late on Friday. So even if we did get one of those rare Saturdays off we really couldn't make plans for the weekend anyway.

Enough people have left the company or have threatened to leave that the OT, for now, has come to an end. But this is, I'm afraid, a company addicted to the OT. And like any addict they try to get away from it for awhile, but eventually go back into their old habits. I'm working a 40 hour week again right now, but I bet it will only be a couple months or so until we're back to the 54 or 56 hour weeks.

It wasn't long ago in our country that people were fighting and dying for worker's rights, including a 40 hour work week. It is certainly not a coincidence that as labor unions have lost their size and power workers have steadily lost their rights. Just look at the growing pay gap between the average workers and the top executives at most companies.

Unfortunately, the attitude I see from many of my fellow workers is "Oh well, nothing we can do about it." Or they even take a "blame your fellow workers" attitude. You know, instead of getting mad at management, blaming your fellow workers for all the OT. ("Hey if you guys would work a little harder...!" Yeah, trust me, upper management absolutely LOVES to hear you blaming each other instead of blaming them.)

Workers, wake up! It is way past time to start fighting back!

Enough workers at my place of business protested and we got (for now) an end to the endless OT. Maybe it will come back, but then we'll have to fight back again. It can be done! No more of this "Oh, poor us, nothing can be done" attitude!

A very good place to place to start pushing back is at the polls. Fellow Wisconsinites, let's start by getting rid of Scott Walker, the most unworker-friendly governor currently in office! It's a close race! You can make a difference!

Charley Nelson (that's me!) is going to write one more blog about the situation in Sayreville. Not that Sayreville in and of itself is that important of a story. No, what's important is what the situation says about our society and the over-emphasis ("over the top" one might say) we place on school sports.

I had a couple e-mails after my last blog saying, essentially, you can't really blame the coach. He didn't know what was going on. That's the point, people. He should have known what was going on. That's the law as a matter of fact. If a teacher fails to recognize that a pupil of theirs is being abused, that teacher can be held accountable for it.

I think the most damning thing one can say about George Najjar in this situation is that not one member of his team, not one victim, not one witness, not one ANYBODY, felt that they could go to him and tell him what was going on. NOT ONE!

Why not?

Do the right thing, Najjar. Resign. Commitment and Character.

    

Allow me to say a little more about the situation in Sayreville. (See my previous blog for more.)  I am rather amazed that head football coach George Najjar still has a job. I'm not saying I'm amazed he hasn't been fired yet. After all, there is a process to be followed. Rather what I'm amazed at is that he hasn't resigned.

Until a couple weeks ago, Najjar was a very respected man in Sayreville. He compiled one heck of a record as head coach, 162-48, and turned the team into a true powerhouse, winning titles and championships and all.  But you know what? If he's responsible for the good things that have happened with this team, then he's responsible for the bad things as well.

And that's the thing. Ultimately it's the man in charge who must take responsibility. And Najjar has not yet done so.

George, you're not surviving this. There is no way in hell you will coach another football game for Sayreville. You must know that. If you want to teach these kids one last life lesson, why not teach them to take responsibility instead of pointing fingers in other directions?

Resign. The sooner the better. 

So a lot of you are wondering what Charlie Nelson has to say about the Sayreville football scandal. At least, maybe one or two of you are wondering. If you don't know what scandal I'm talking about, do a news search for Sayreville and you will find all the sordid details. I won't rehash it here.

Charley Nelson (that's me) is remembering many years back when he moved to a small, Midwestern town with a population a bit less than 1000. At that time the biggest source of pride for this town was their girls high school basketball team. They were one of the top teams in the state, eventually winning a state title one year.

The first time I went to one of the games I went a bit early to catch the junior varsity game as well. And I could not believe what I saw. Or actually, I could not believe what I heard. A barrage of obscenities from the fans rained down upon these girls every time one of them made a mistake. "Get your head out of your f------ ass!" was one of the kinder phrases. Some of these girls facing this abuse were as young as 13 years old!

After the game I talked to a few people, voicing my concern about such behavior. One woman told me "Charley, the language is rough, but remember: These girls will be our varsity team in a couple years!"

Now, you're wondering what in the world this has to do with Sayreville. I will tell you. We as a society have lost our perspective when it comes to school sports.

If you really know Charley Nelson, you know I'm a guy who loves sports. There's nothing better on a Friday night, after a long week of work, than coming home, popping open a couple beers and watching a good game on TV. But all things in moderation. A couple beers; not a couple six packs. And professional sports, not some high school kids. Seriously. Perspective.

When adults think it's okay to yell obscenities at a 13 year old girl because she made a bad pass, something is out of whack in our society. When high school boys think it's just fine to commit sexual assaults because "Hey, I'm a football player and coach will fix it," then something is out of whack in our society. When parents of these kids are more concerned with the lost football games than the sexual assaults, something is out of whack in our society.

Our schools need to return to being schools instead of being minor league sports franchises. Superintendent Richard Labbe, pull the plug on football in Sayreville for good. You'll anger a lot of people, but in the end you'll have better schools.

Just a quick note today to say...

Scott Walker: Worst Governor Ever!

That is all.

Like many of you, Charley Nelson has been following the case where a South Carolina state trooper, Sean Groubert (now an ex-state trooper), shot an unarmed man, Levar Jones, after a traffic stop for a seat belt violation. If you haven't seen the video, I'm not going to post it here, but do a Google or Youtube search for Sean Groubert and you will find it quite easily.

I've heard and read lots of reports and opinions on this incident and most people seem quite baffled as to why Groubert shot Jones. Well, Charley Nelson is going to clear up part of the mystery. Not all of it, but some of it. I believe I know something that everyone else seems to be overlooking.

Charley Nelson (that's me you know) got pulled over one night. It was around 2:00 AM and the reason I was pulled over was bogus. Something like doing 61 in a 55 mph zone. Yeah, right. What was really going on? At that hour of the night, the officer was pulling over people at random to see if they'd been drinking. A brief conversation proved I hadn't been and I was sent on my way with a mild warning. Many or even most of you have had this happen I am sure. You get pulled over with some silly excuse because the cops are looking for something.

Levar Jones had just pulled into a gas station, parked, and was getting out of his vehicle when suddenly Sean Groubert pulled up to confront him. The excuse? A seat belt violation. Now, come on! If you park your car and then get out you have to take off your seat belt! This was an excuse and it could have been used on anyone. Every single person who pulled into that gas station could have been hit with that same charge! "Hey! You just took off your seat belt!"

Groubert saw something that made him very suspicious. What, I don't know. Was it just because Jones was black? Possibly, but I'm sure Groubert saw many, many black people every day and didn't have this response. Maybe Jones matched the description of a fugitive. Maybe Jones' vehicle was similar to one Groubert was on the lookout for. Who knows but Groubert? But he saw Jones and immediately excepted trouble. He used the seat belt as an excuse to confront him. He was on edge, expecting the situation could very easily spiral out of control, so he had his gun at the ready. When Jones made one slight move he didn't like... Bam! Bam! Bam!

Of course Jones was no fugitive. He was no bad guy. He was just an ordinary fellow on his way home from work. A very sad situation and my heart goes out to you, Levar. I hope you are recovering well.

As for Groubert, he's been fired and a jail sentence is a very real possibility. Well, Sean, you made your own bed...

Truth about Roswell!

You never expected Kayo Nelson to reveal the truth about the Roswell incident, did you? I've discussed this with many friends over the years and have decided it would make a good blog topic. So hold on! Charley Kayo Nelson is about to tell you the truth about Roswell!

I have a friend named Mike. (That's not his real name. His real name is "Bill.") (Ha, ha. That's a joke.) Mike was in the Air Force for many years and for quite some time was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base outside of Las Vegas. Having some familiarity with Area 51 nearby, Mike told me what he was officially supposed to do if anyone questioned him about UFOs and Aliens in connection with that good old mysterious secret air force base. The official policy was to be a bit wishy-washy and say something like "Well, I can't really comment on that."

Why? Because if people were focused on crazy things like UFOs in connection to Area 51, then they had been conveniently sidetracked and weren't focused on the real reason we had/have a secret air force base. The real reason? It did have something to do with aliens, only the aliens were from the USSR and not some planet on the other side of the galaxy. Area 51 was built to keep secrets from the Russians. Remember, this was during the Cold War and KGB and CIA spies and James Bond and all that.

So let's transfer this bit of knowledge to Roswell. A prototype of a spy balloon we wanted to send out over Russia (Project Mogul) was being tested and it crashed outside of Roswell, New Mexico. Now the US Air Force couldn't come out and say "Oh, yeah! That was a prototype of a secret spy balloon we're going to send out over Russia!" That would have been pretty stupid. So instead Air Force spokesman Walter Haut said something quite brilliant. He said what had crashed was one of them there flying saucers. Actually, he called it a "flying disc," but everyone knew what he meant.

Okay, he was following official policy, but it was a brilliant move. Nearly 70 years later and Mr. Haut's slight of hand is still working. People don't think "Roswell: Secret spy balloon." No they think "Roswell: Flying saucers! Visitors from outer space!" And so I say Walter Haut, very well played, sir.

Oh, in case you haven't looked up Project Mogul on the internet do so. Google it. That is all.

A lot of people lately have been asking what I think of Ron Gardenhire's status as manager of the Minnesota Twins. (If you consider three to be a lot of people.) As a fan of the Twins I will tell you what I think: It's time for Gardy to go.

Understand that it pains me to say that. Gardy's a good guy. He's won six division titles in his tenure with the Twins. That is a record that may never be broken. Unfortunately, it wasn't his ability to reach the playoffs that was ever the problem; it was his ability to advance. His first time in back in his first year as manager, 2002, he and the team advanced to the ALCS. After that it was six straight playoff series losses.

Nowdays we Twins fans would drool for the chance to win our division and lose in the first round. Four straight years of 90+ losses is also a Twins record that might never be broken. No matter how good of a manager we feel Gardy is, it's obvious the team needs a new direction. Someone to light a bit of a fire.

Who? An obvious choice would be Paul Molitor. Paul, however, has one big problem: He's part of the current regime. If it's a new direction we seek, the underling is not the answer. How about Doug  Mientkiewicz who's doing great things managing down in the minors? An intriguing choice, but I think Doug is a few years away from being able to manage in the bigs.

So I am going to throw out a wild card. You heard it hear first folks. This might sound crazy at first glance, but I think it's so crazy it just might work! Ozzie Guillen!

Yes I will say that again! Ozzie Guillen should be the next manager of the Minnesota Twins! Ozzie Guillen! Ozzie Guillen! Ozzie Guillen!  (That's to help the Google searches.)

A lot of people have been asking me "Charley Nelson, what do you think of the Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, et. al. situation in the NFL?" Actually, they don't usually put in the "et. al." part. I added that on my own. But the question remains the same. So Charley Nelson will tell you what he thinks.

I know the sport of boxing quite well. There are some great people who are or were professional boxers. Wonderful people, wonderful friends. There are also, I'm afraid, some not so great people who are boxers. Many of these boxers grew up using their fists to solve all of their problems. Rather than be condemned for that, they were rewarded. They earned a career. They won fame and glory. So it's not too difficult to understand that some boxers have trouble separating what is appropriate behavior inside the ring from what is appropriate behavior outside the ring.

I see the same thing in the NFL. Pro football players grew up as big, tough kids who could knock other kids into the next zip code. Quite apart from being punished for it, they were rewarded. All of their life they have been treated special because they were big and tough and knew how to knock other kids senseless.  High school was a breeze for them because they were the big football star! Colleges begged for them to come to their school because "You're big and tough and can knock the crap out of people!"

Again, I am sure that most NFL players are good, decent men. But again I am not at all surprised that a good many of them have trouble distinguishing what is appropriate on the field from what is appropriate off the field.

Ours is a society that revels in violence. Truly, it is. Of course we want that violence to be contained to the playing fields and our movie and TV screens, but sometimes it's not going to be. Sometimes a man who grew up being told that his violent ways are a wonderful gift is going to use that wonderful gift the wrong way.

This is not in anyway meant to defend Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson et. al. What these men did disgusts me. It is to say, however, that the NFL has a serious problem on its hands. The expression "tip of the iceberg" comes to mind.