Kayo Nelson's Champion of the Month!
Usually when I crown someone Champion of the Month it's pretty obvious why I am giving them the honor. This month maybe not. My Champion of the Month for March of 2015 is none other than Ricky Gervais! This is not because Ricky is one of the funniest people alive. He is. But this is for another reason more in tune with why I give out this monthly honor.
Ricky Gervais is a tireless advocate for animal rights. I mean tireless. I urge you to follow Ricky on Twitter and you will see what I mean. I could write a long list of what Ricky has done as an advocate for animals, but my Champion of the Month blog is suppose to be short and sweet. So Google "Ricky Gervais Animal Rights" and see for yourself.
Ricky, thanks for making me laugh and thanks for fighting the good fight in speaking up for those who cannot speak. Ricky Gervias! Kayo's Champion of the Month!
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Internet trolls: Who are they? Why do they do it?
You know who I'm talking about. The people who make many internet discussion boards unreadable because they make outrageous comments designed to do nothing more than get people upset. A little research will show you that many of these trolls have thousands upon thousands of comments that they have left on particular message boards or on such services as Disqus. Why?
I'll give you a clue. I'm not an expert, but I think I can throw a little light on the subject.
Several years ago I started visiting internet chat rooms just to see what they were all about. I got really into it...for about a month. Then I stopped. Cold turkey. I realized two things. 1) It was taking up way too much of my time. And 2) You never really know for sure who that person is on the other end of the line. As most of you probably know, many (I won't estimate a percentage, but it is many, many) of the women you meet in a chat room are actually men.
So why do men go into chat room and pretend to be women? I've heard many theories offered up. They are perverts. They are secretly gay. They are bi-curious. These theories overlook the most likely reason men do this: Loneliness.
Seriously. It all boils down to loneliness. A man going into a chat room will have far more trouble attracting attention there than a woman will. So if you're a lonely guy looking for someone to have a long chat with, what's the best way to do it? Don't go into these rooms as a male; go in as a female.
I think the very same thing is true with most of these internet trolls. If they go onto a discussion board and write a normal comment, they won't attract much attention. If they are commenting on a news article and they write a normal comment, that comment will soon get buried in a pile of dozens of other comments. But! If they instead make some outrageous, racist, sexist or whateverist comments, suddenly they get attention! Suddenly everyone is paying attention to them.
And that is what they want. Attention. Because they are lonely.
So remember that next time you get heckled by an internet troll. It's probably just a lonely guy looking for a little attention. Knowing that doesn't make them any less annoying, I grant you, but it does make them a little easier to understand.
You know who I'm talking about. The people who make many internet discussion boards unreadable because they make outrageous comments designed to do nothing more than get people upset. A little research will show you that many of these trolls have thousands upon thousands of comments that they have left on particular message boards or on such services as Disqus. Why?
I'll give you a clue. I'm not an expert, but I think I can throw a little light on the subject.
Several years ago I started visiting internet chat rooms just to see what they were all about. I got really into it...for about a month. Then I stopped. Cold turkey. I realized two things. 1) It was taking up way too much of my time. And 2) You never really know for sure who that person is on the other end of the line. As most of you probably know, many (I won't estimate a percentage, but it is many, many) of the women you meet in a chat room are actually men.
So why do men go into chat room and pretend to be women? I've heard many theories offered up. They are perverts. They are secretly gay. They are bi-curious. These theories overlook the most likely reason men do this: Loneliness.
Seriously. It all boils down to loneliness. A man going into a chat room will have far more trouble attracting attention there than a woman will. So if you're a lonely guy looking for someone to have a long chat with, what's the best way to do it? Don't go into these rooms as a male; go in as a female.
I think the very same thing is true with most of these internet trolls. If they go onto a discussion board and write a normal comment, they won't attract much attention. If they are commenting on a news article and they write a normal comment, that comment will soon get buried in a pile of dozens of other comments. But! If they instead make some outrageous, racist, sexist or whateverist comments, suddenly they get attention! Suddenly everyone is paying attention to them.
And that is what they want. Attention. Because they are lonely.
So remember that next time you get heckled by an internet troll. It's probably just a lonely guy looking for a little attention. Knowing that doesn't make them any less annoying, I grant you, but it does make them a little easier to understand.
Sunday, March 1, 2015
I am a day late posting my Champion of the Month for February of 2015. But it is worth the wait. Kayo Nelson's Champion of the Month is Global Warming expert James Hansen.
I give the honor to Hansen symbolically representing all the many people out there fighting the good fight on the climate change front. Hansen was not only one of the first but he has also been one of the most persistent people out there fighting for global awareness.
For those of you still unconvinced, or who actually think global warming is a hoax, I have a simple question for you: Name me one time in the history of the world when all the scientists got together (okay, not all of them, only 97% or so) to pull a great big hoax on the public. Tell me just one time when a majority of scientists in the world conspired together to tell a great big lie. ONE TIME!
And yet I can give you example after example of when scientists came to a conclusion, but business and industry leaders didn't like that conclusion because they thought it would hurt business and so they cried "No! No! Not true! The scientists are lying!" Probably the biggest example in my lifetime was when the tobacco industry vociferously denied that smoking caused cancer. "No, no, no! Scientists are lying! We need more studies! It's those darn liberals!"
Another example within my lifetime: Leaded gasoline.
Don't be fooled again people. Global warming is real. Industry leaders are going to fight like hell to say it isn't. Thankfully we have people like James Hansen fighting for truth.
I give the honor to Hansen symbolically representing all the many people out there fighting the good fight on the climate change front. Hansen was not only one of the first but he has also been one of the most persistent people out there fighting for global awareness.
For those of you still unconvinced, or who actually think global warming is a hoax, I have a simple question for you: Name me one time in the history of the world when all the scientists got together (okay, not all of them, only 97% or so) to pull a great big hoax on the public. Tell me just one time when a majority of scientists in the world conspired together to tell a great big lie. ONE TIME!
And yet I can give you example after example of when scientists came to a conclusion, but business and industry leaders didn't like that conclusion because they thought it would hurt business and so they cried "No! No! Not true! The scientists are lying!" Probably the biggest example in my lifetime was when the tobacco industry vociferously denied that smoking caused cancer. "No, no, no! Scientists are lying! We need more studies! It's those darn liberals!"
Another example within my lifetime: Leaded gasoline.
Don't be fooled again people. Global warming is real. Industry leaders are going to fight like hell to say it isn't. Thankfully we have people like James Hansen fighting for truth.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Sunday, February 22, 2015
The Republican Problem.
Earlier this week former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani told us all "I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America."
Let's take a step back and realize who it was saying such a thing. This was not some unknown staff member of an obscure congressman. This was a man who at one time was the odds on favorite to win the Republican nomination for president. (Remember when '08 was supposed to come down to Rudy Giuliani vs. Hillary Clinton?)
There are goofballs on both sides (all sides!) of the political spectrum. Just read the comments section of any political story on the internet and you will see many of them come out. But seriously, ask yourself this: What nationally prominent Democrat ever questioned if George W Bush loved his country? Or if he was really born in this country? Or if he were only pretending to be a Christian while actually being a secret member of some other religion? Yet we have nationally prominent Republicans, including many who have or will run for president, questioning President Obama on these matters continually.
This is what I call the Rush Limbaughization of the Republican party, where rational debate on the issues has been replaced by simply demonizing the other side. It's been a trend for many years for the GOP, but recently it's been growing to fever pitch. Now not only can a (at least once) respected Republican like Giuliani question Obama's love for his country but he can get swarms of followers saying "Yeah! Rudy's right! Rudy speaks the truth!"
Anyone who would really question Obama's love for his country (or for that matter either of the Bush's or Clinton's) is wading deep into tin-foil hat territory. It's a very worrying trend. But you know what? It isn't the Democrats who should be worried about this trend. It's the Republicans. Just what is your party turning into?
Earlier this week former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani told us all "I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America."
Let's take a step back and realize who it was saying such a thing. This was not some unknown staff member of an obscure congressman. This was a man who at one time was the odds on favorite to win the Republican nomination for president. (Remember when '08 was supposed to come down to Rudy Giuliani vs. Hillary Clinton?)
There are goofballs on both sides (all sides!) of the political spectrum. Just read the comments section of any political story on the internet and you will see many of them come out. But seriously, ask yourself this: What nationally prominent Democrat ever questioned if George W Bush loved his country? Or if he was really born in this country? Or if he were only pretending to be a Christian while actually being a secret member of some other religion? Yet we have nationally prominent Republicans, including many who have or will run for president, questioning President Obama on these matters continually.
This is what I call the Rush Limbaughization of the Republican party, where rational debate on the issues has been replaced by simply demonizing the other side. It's been a trend for many years for the GOP, but recently it's been growing to fever pitch. Now not only can a (at least once) respected Republican like Giuliani question Obama's love for his country but he can get swarms of followers saying "Yeah! Rudy's right! Rudy speaks the truth!"
Anyone who would really question Obama's love for his country (or for that matter either of the Bush's or Clinton's) is wading deep into tin-foil hat territory. It's a very worrying trend. But you know what? It isn't the Democrats who should be worried about this trend. It's the Republicans. Just what is your party turning into?
Saturday, February 7, 2015
There was a news story going around the internet this week about a 9 year old Texas boy who was suspended from school for threatening to make a fellow student disappear with his magical ring straight out of "The Lord of the Rings." Find one of the articles online and read some of the comments.
Reading about this story is a really good example of using critical thinking skills. Or not using them. If you read the comments (never read the comments, I know, but sometimes resistance is futile) almost everyone seems to accept it all on face value. They are angered at the school. How could they? How stupid! Kids aren't allowed to be kids these days! Damn liberals! (That last one always gets thrown in there somehow.)
A closer look reveals a few things that all these people seem to miss: The details of this story are coming ENTIRELY from the boy's father. The school will not comment because of confidentiality. And how about this? It was the third time the boy was suspended this year and every single time (according to Daddy) it was for equally silly reasons.
Okay, folks. Let's put on our critical thinking caps. If you are only getting one side of the story, it will be distorted to favor the storyteller. We all know parents who have misbehaving children (most kids misbehave at least a little bit, right?) but according to Mom and Dad they are perfect angels all the time. Let's put one and one together here. It's not hard to do.
If this school really is suspending children for such silly reasons as saying "My ring will make you disappear!" then I think every child in that school would be getting suspended every week. Isn't it far, far more likely that this boy did something to really deserve this suspension (and the others before) and now Daddy is crying "Not my boy! He's an angel!"
Think!
Hey, I know it's fun to read an article, get all angry about it and cry "What is this world coming to?" But instead of always doing that, let's try doing a little more of this:
Think!
Reading about this story is a really good example of using critical thinking skills. Or not using them. If you read the comments (never read the comments, I know, but sometimes resistance is futile) almost everyone seems to accept it all on face value. They are angered at the school. How could they? How stupid! Kids aren't allowed to be kids these days! Damn liberals! (That last one always gets thrown in there somehow.)
A closer look reveals a few things that all these people seem to miss: The details of this story are coming ENTIRELY from the boy's father. The school will not comment because of confidentiality. And how about this? It was the third time the boy was suspended this year and every single time (according to Daddy) it was for equally silly reasons.
Okay, folks. Let's put on our critical thinking caps. If you are only getting one side of the story, it will be distorted to favor the storyteller. We all know parents who have misbehaving children (most kids misbehave at least a little bit, right?) but according to Mom and Dad they are perfect angels all the time. Let's put one and one together here. It's not hard to do.
If this school really is suspending children for such silly reasons as saying "My ring will make you disappear!" then I think every child in that school would be getting suspended every week. Isn't it far, far more likely that this boy did something to really deserve this suspension (and the others before) and now Daddy is crying "Not my boy! He's an angel!"
Think!
Hey, I know it's fun to read an article, get all angry about it and cry "What is this world coming to?" But instead of always doing that, let's try doing a little more of this:
Think!
Saturday, January 31, 2015
My Super Bowl blog.
Okay, let's face reality. 11 of 12 footballs did not deflate themselves. 11 of 12 from the Patriots and none of 12 from the other team? If you think that's just a coincidence you are deluding yourself. Someone deliberately deflated those footballs and quite obviously Tom Brady knew about it.
The question is what should the punishment be.
Deflate-gate reminds me a bit of the George Brett Pine Tar incident. For those of you too young to remember, in July of 1983 the Kansas City Royals were playing the New York Yankees. George Brett had just hit what appeared to be a crucial homerun that gave the Royals a late lead. But Yankee manager Billy Martin said "Not so fast!" and pointed out that Brett had too much pine tar on the bat he had used. Originally the homerun was disallowed and Brett called out. The Royals protested the game and their protest was eventually upheld. The homerun counted. The Royals won the game.
Now the question in the pine tar incident was never about if Brett had too much pine tar on his bat. He clearly did. The question was the punishment. "Let the punishment fit the crime" it is said. Did having too much pine tar on his bat mean that what appeared to be the game winning homerun should be overturned? Or did it merely mean that an umpire should tell Brett "Hey, take a little of that pine tar off your bat." MLB finally ruled (quite correctly I think) the latter should apply.
That's the question right now in deflate-gate. Does Brady & co. deflating the footballs mean they should be disqualified from the Super Bowl? Of course not. It's way too late for that. A $25,000 fine and a loss of a draft pick is what the rulebook seems to call for
Of course, I think most teams out there would quite willingly pay a $25,000 fine and lose a draft pick for the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. I know the Minnesota Vikings certainly would!
Tom Brady and Bill Belichik did themselves no favors in speaking out over the incident with their "Golly gee whiz, how did that happen?" denials. They should have merely said "Hey, we have a game to prepare for" and let it go. Because this will be the real punishment for the New England Patriots: Loss of esteem. Like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire and all the others in baseball, we will no longer look at them as we did before.
Champions? No. Real champions don't cheat
Okay, let's face reality. 11 of 12 footballs did not deflate themselves. 11 of 12 from the Patriots and none of 12 from the other team? If you think that's just a coincidence you are deluding yourself. Someone deliberately deflated those footballs and quite obviously Tom Brady knew about it.
The question is what should the punishment be.
Deflate-gate reminds me a bit of the George Brett Pine Tar incident. For those of you too young to remember, in July of 1983 the Kansas City Royals were playing the New York Yankees. George Brett had just hit what appeared to be a crucial homerun that gave the Royals a late lead. But Yankee manager Billy Martin said "Not so fast!" and pointed out that Brett had too much pine tar on the bat he had used. Originally the homerun was disallowed and Brett called out. The Royals protested the game and their protest was eventually upheld. The homerun counted. The Royals won the game.
Now the question in the pine tar incident was never about if Brett had too much pine tar on his bat. He clearly did. The question was the punishment. "Let the punishment fit the crime" it is said. Did having too much pine tar on his bat mean that what appeared to be the game winning homerun should be overturned? Or did it merely mean that an umpire should tell Brett "Hey, take a little of that pine tar off your bat." MLB finally ruled (quite correctly I think) the latter should apply.
That's the question right now in deflate-gate. Does Brady & co. deflating the footballs mean they should be disqualified from the Super Bowl? Of course not. It's way too late for that. A $25,000 fine and a loss of a draft pick is what the rulebook seems to call for
Of course, I think most teams out there would quite willingly pay a $25,000 fine and lose a draft pick for the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl. I know the Minnesota Vikings certainly would!
Tom Brady and Bill Belichik did themselves no favors in speaking out over the incident with their "Golly gee whiz, how did that happen?" denials. They should have merely said "Hey, we have a game to prepare for" and let it go. Because this will be the real punishment for the New England Patriots: Loss of esteem. Like Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire and all the others in baseball, we will no longer look at them as we did before.
Champions? No. Real champions don't cheat
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
I want to touch on a subject near and dear to my heart today: The deplorable state of the sport of boxing.
Last Saturday night a man named Deontay Wilder defeated Bermane Stiverne to become Heavyweight Champion of the World. Sort of. Well, not really at all, actually. I'm not sure anyone alive considers Deontay to be champion other than Deontay himself.
It wasn't that long ago when pretty much everyone could name the heavyweight champion: Frazier, Foreman, Ali (of course!), Holmes. I bet when Ali was reigning 90 to 95 percent of Americans would have identified him as champion. How many Americans today could name the true heavyweight champion? I would bet less than 5%. And even that might be pushing it.
That is partly because there are no fewer than four men claiming the current title. The WBA itself recognizes three! They recognize a super champion, who has the overall heavyweight title, but then the WBA must have its own champion along with that super champion. And then for some reason they also recognize something called the "interim" heavyweight champion. (Which leads me to believe the folks running the WBA have no idea what the word "interim" means...they just like the way it sounds.)
The situation is worse for the middleweights. That proud division of Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Graziano and Marvin Hagler has no less than six champions at the moment.
Every sport expands. Some of you readers will remember when Major League Baseball consisted of 16 teams, eight per league. The top two teams in each league would meet in the World Series without any sort of playoff system. Now there are 30 MLB teams and eight of them make the playoffs. Football, basketball and hockey have seen similar expansion. But here's the thing. There is still only one World Series. Still only one Super Bowl. And only one team emerges as champion.
Imagine for a moment that instead of one Super Bowl each year we had three. (Or four. Or five.) Let's have Green Bay play New England in one. Baltimore vs. Seattle in another. And in still another how about Denver vs. Minnesota. Yeah, I know the Vikings don't really belong, but hey it's been so long since they've seen a Super Bowl and that match up would really sell!
As silly as that situation seems, that is exactly what goes on in boxing! So many fighters fighting for so many championships that no one really cares anymore.
Boxing needs to get it's act together. Literally. One champ per division. If something doesn't change in boxing soon, the sport is doomed.
Oh, and PS. The one true Heavyweight Champion of the World is Wladmir Klitschko. Sorry Deontay.
Last Saturday night a man named Deontay Wilder defeated Bermane Stiverne to become Heavyweight Champion of the World. Sort of. Well, not really at all, actually. I'm not sure anyone alive considers Deontay to be champion other than Deontay himself.
It wasn't that long ago when pretty much everyone could name the heavyweight champion: Frazier, Foreman, Ali (of course!), Holmes. I bet when Ali was reigning 90 to 95 percent of Americans would have identified him as champion. How many Americans today could name the true heavyweight champion? I would bet less than 5%. And even that might be pushing it.
That is partly because there are no fewer than four men claiming the current title. The WBA itself recognizes three! They recognize a super champion, who has the overall heavyweight title, but then the WBA must have its own champion along with that super champion. And then for some reason they also recognize something called the "interim" heavyweight champion. (Which leads me to believe the folks running the WBA have no idea what the word "interim" means...they just like the way it sounds.)
The situation is worse for the middleweights. That proud division of Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Graziano and Marvin Hagler has no less than six champions at the moment.
Every sport expands. Some of you readers will remember when Major League Baseball consisted of 16 teams, eight per league. The top two teams in each league would meet in the World Series without any sort of playoff system. Now there are 30 MLB teams and eight of them make the playoffs. Football, basketball and hockey have seen similar expansion. But here's the thing. There is still only one World Series. Still only one Super Bowl. And only one team emerges as champion.
Imagine for a moment that instead of one Super Bowl each year we had three. (Or four. Or five.) Let's have Green Bay play New England in one. Baltimore vs. Seattle in another. And in still another how about Denver vs. Minnesota. Yeah, I know the Vikings don't really belong, but hey it's been so long since they've seen a Super Bowl and that match up would really sell!
As silly as that situation seems, that is exactly what goes on in boxing! So many fighters fighting for so many championships that no one really cares anymore.
Boxing needs to get it's act together. Literally. One champ per division. If something doesn't change in boxing soon, the sport is doomed.
Oh, and PS. The one true Heavyweight Champion of the World is Wladmir Klitschko. Sorry Deontay.
Friday, January 9, 2015
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