I Was Wondering. . .

Do water polo players ride on sea horses?

Do players on the Chicago Cubs (baseball team) grow up to be Chicago Bears (football team)?

Do the podiatrists hold a big annual dance called the Foot Ball?

If there is a New Brunswick, New Jersey, is there also a New Jersey, New Brunswick?

If there is Chicken of the Sea tuna, is there Tuna of the Land chicken?

Okay, these are just musings of mine. Here is another "funny" (at least I hope it's funny) that I have come up with:

It was during the Spanish Inquisition. The Inquisitor has some poor heretic stretched out on the rack and is inflicting sadistic and merciless pain upon him. Naturally, the poor fellow cries out loudly in pain. The Inquisitor says, "My poor fellow, don't you know that they say that pain is all in your head? In other words, 'The pain in Spain lies mainly in the brain.'"

Okay, now here are some--not fancies of mine, as above, but real, actual facts and oddities:

In Chicago, recently a stretch of a road known as Congress Parkway was renamed to honor an African-American woman named Ida B. Wells. However, the Chicago City Council, in its infinite wisdom, was not particularly  bothered by the fact that we already had a Wells Street. In fact, the Wells Street which has existed for quite some time actually intersects the new Wells Street (or Road or Parkway, whichever it is). So you could say to someone, "Meet me at the corner of Wells and Wells"!

Similarly, you could say, "Meet me at the corner of Wacker and Wacker." This is possible because Wacker Drive in Chicago makes a right-angle bend, going from running east-west to running north-south. In fact, Chicago's Wacker Drive supposedly is the only street in the world with street numbers running north, south, east, and west.

Also--a slightly different phenomenon--you would not want to say to someone, "Meet me at the corner of Broadway and Sheridan Road," because--would you believe?--Broadway and Sheridan Road in Chicago intersect three times! How is this possible? Well, Broadway runs on a diagonal, and Sheridan runs in sort of a step-wise fashion, running north-south, then turning east-west, and running north-south again. I think there are several such steps, so Broadway actually cuts across Sheridan three times.

Getting back to Wacker Drive and its peculiarities: Wacker is a decked-over street or road--one of several in Chicago near the lake (Lake Michigan) and the river (Chicago River). That is, it runs at ground level, but there is an upper level that runs above it. (The two are known as Lower Wacker Drive and Upper Wacker Drive, fairly logically. There is also--maybe confusingly--Upper South Water Street, Lower South Water Street, Upper North Water Street, and Lower North Water Street. So, as you can see, it's important to not just say "Water Street" but to remember to add two qualifying adjectives. Some of these are relatively new and I find it confusing sometimes to know the ins and outs--or ons and offs.)

Copyright © 2019.

Blackhawks, Blackhawks, Blackhawks. . . .

Every day, for several days, the top story on the TV news here in Chicago has involved the Chicago Blackhawks hockey team.

First it was the day's results as to whether the Blackhawks had won or lost the most recent game they were playing in a six -game championship playoff.

Then it was that they had won enough of the six games and thus won a championship and the accompanying trophy called the Stanley Cup.

Then, yesterday, "The Cup" was being paraded around Chicago with stops at various neighborhoods and locales.

Today, no such news, but the news is about a parade planned for tomorrow having to do with celebrating the Blackhawks' victory and winning "The Cup."

These daily news segments have shown jubilant hockey fans and have consumed about 15 minutes--that is, half of the 30-minute newscast. And I refuse to believe that there were not other things going on in the world that were as newsworthy as this, or more so. To me, to magnify a local concern in this way, so that it is so paramount, seems very provincial.

 

I wish and hope that this Blackhawks stuff will stop after the parade tomorrow; but, given the TV news people's propensity to milk a story for all it's worth, and to keep a story going longer than I would have thought possible, I very likely will not stop hearing about the Blackhawks even then.

Now, I have to say right off that I am not into sports in the least, and absolutely do not get sports fandom. Maybe in that regard I'm a little like the character of Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory in that I fail to understand a certain chunk of our culture, or our society's values, assumptions, and folkways.

To many people it would need no explaining, no analysis; but I am grappling to understand the phenomenon or fandom. I know that people identify with a sports team that is associated with their city, just like they identify with their school (college or lower school), town, country, and so forth. (In the Unites States, several of the 50 states seem to engender in their citizens a sense that they have a special identity.)

But how is one augmented when his (or her)  team wins a game or a multi-game competition? Is it that important for people to be able to say, "Our team beat your team," and thus, presumably, they are made better, or made to feel better?

The matter of group identity has always interested me, and as I see it, it is often not a good thing. We know that sometimes there is fighting between fans of two competing teams. Fans of one team have sometimes been attacked by fans of an opposing team. I think it's like two enemy nations going to war.

Group identity is always a process of identifying and labeling ourselves as "we," and some "others" as "they." This seems to be a very human, and maybe fundamental, trait of the human species. Think about national rivalries, religious wars and persecutions--as well as sports team rivalries.

Copyright (c) 2015

Truth and Lies on the Internet

The Internet is a wonderful thing, as a source of information, there's no doubt. I personally rely on it for finding out a lot of things via Wikipedia and Google searches: how to do some homeowner-ly task, consumer reviews of products, health information, and much more. And this from someone who has a lifetime habit of turning to books and libraries to find things out.

Unfortunately, the Internet is a two-edged sword. It can also be used to spread incorrect "information."

About a week ago I was reading an article, "Ten Brands that Are Likely to Disappear in 2014," on the financial web site 24/7 Wall Street. This article said that Volvo cars are likely to disappear from the US market next year. I forwarded this information to two friends of mine who own Volvos.

One of those friends got somewhat alarmed and wondered if she should sell her car. The other one took a more critical view of the story and did some research on her own, finding a statement from Volvo's US arm that they have no intention of leaving the US market.

That got me thinking about the fact that you can easily locate contradictory information on the 'Net, and then I had to wonder about what percentage of Internet content might be reliable and what percentage not.

Shortly after that incident I received an email, one of those viral emails that has been forwarded many times before reaching me. The immediate source of this one was an old friend from high school with whom I re-established contact a few years ago. (I could tell a bit about this person that might be interesting but I don't want to get too far off my subject. Suffice it to say here that he is politically conservative whereas he knows, or should know, that I am not.)

This email listed some of the problems that the State of Illinois and the city of Chicago have. The problems are  undeniable but, according to this email, these problems are attributable to Democrats because—as the email asserted numerous times—there are no Republicans in Illinois. This is patently false. It mentioned former Illinois Governor George Ryan as being in prison and implied that this is among the many examples of the things that are wrong with Illinois. This is wrong because Ryan was recently released from prison. More importantly, the email conveniently ignored the fact that Ryan is a Republican.

The City of Chicago has a tradition of  voting Democratic; this long history might deserve comment, but again I don't want to go too far afield. However, the suburban counties that surround Chicago typically are Republican and elect Republicans on both the state and federal levels.

If anyone cares to look at the facts rather than making unfounded assertions, the makeup of the Illinois legislature (General Assembly) is thusly: Senate, 40 Democrats and 19 Republicans. House, 70 Democrats and 47 Republicans. Thus, the Democrats do have a majority in both houses of the Illinois state legislature; but I'd say that's a far cry from there being NO Republicans. The facts for the US Congressmen (Representatives) from Illinois are that there are 12 Democrats and 6 Republicans. In the US Senate, there is one Democratic Senator from Illinois and one Republican.

So—back to the email from my high-school classmate. The person who originated that email had very little regard for facts or truth. And I have found in the past that other emails—also forwarded to me by the same classmate—were also full of exaggerations, half-truths, and out-and-out falsehoods.* At the risk of making a rather sweeping generalization, I'm going to say that those on the Right very often play fast-and-loose with the truth. (I base that assertion partly on the fact that, on matters regarding homosexuality, they have been known to shamelessly promulgate lies.)

I think that those who forward these emails are just as guilty as those who first write them. Unfortunately, every person who receives such an email and believes it and forwards it is doing the world quite a disservice by adding to the general store of incorrect information out there.

However, on a brighter note, if the Internet is the problem, it can also provide the cure. I'd like to acquaint my readers with two 'Net sites that are dedicated to countering incorrect information that circulates on the 'Net—to setting the facts straight. They are FactCheck.org and Snopes.com.
___________
*I can recall three previous emails that this person forwarded to me. Two of them were anti-Obama and, when I did some checking, they were factually incorrect. The third was anti-Muslim.

I used to berate my students for what I felt was their mindless, mechanical, uncritical note-taking. I said, "My words go into your ear, through your neck and shoulder, down your arm and onto your paper, with no thought involved. I could say 'Black is white' and you would write down 'Black is white.'"

The point of this posting was that we tend not to be critical of what we hear and read. How many people would take the trouble to check on the content of an email they'd received, if they were planning to forward it or even if they were not?

Note added August 18, 2013. Also see my Friday, September 21, 2012 posting, "Lies from the Right, in Your Email Inbox."


Copyright © 2013.

Another Polce Officer Who (Allegedly) Is a Criminal

A few months ago, a Chicago police officer was driving his Lexus SUV while his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit. He crashed into an SUV stopped on the shoulder, setting it afire and killing two young men who were inside.

Then he tried to calmly, slowly, nonchalantly walk away!

Fortunately he was apprehended. Now the policemen's union (the Fraternal Order of Police) is hosting a benefit event to raise money for this man's defense. This, I think, shows how the police stick together, never disavowing one of their number. They simply cannot or will not ever acknowledge that one of their number is a wrongdoer.

The Policeman Is Your Friend (or Not)

The motto of the Chicago Police Department is "We Serve and Protect." Some people have asked who protects us from the police, and it's no joke. (The Romans used to say, "Who guards the guardians?")

Some noteworthy stories in the news lately: About a week ago we had a second (in the space of a few months) case of a Chicago policeman driving drunk, causing a fatal auto accident, and walking away! (I don't think either of these cases has come to trial yet so I'd best not say much about them.)

Two years ago there was a case of an off-duty Chicago policeman who was accused of battery in an occurrence famously caught on video: he attacked a female bartender who refused to serve him any more drinks. He was convicted of battery yesterday (but not yet sentenced). His defense was that he acted in self-defense as the bartender pushed him when he tried to come behind the bar--I guess to get that drink for himself when she would not let him have it. Since the woman in question is 5'3" and weighs 125 lb, and the policeman weights just double that, the self-defense plea was perfectly ludicrous.

Plus we have the famous case of Drew Peterson, now a former police sergeant in suburban Bollingbrook who was indicted in the murder of his third wife and is a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife.

Also, there is the story of a body that was just found that might turn out to be the spouse of a police officer. This may turn out to be another woman killed by her policeman husband (again, I must not comment further).

All these are cases of police officers within, say, 30 miles of where I live. In Chicago and certain of its suburbs there have been, over the years, many stories of police corruption and bad cops who were in league with criminals and often committed crimes themselves--for example, a ring of thieves that stole TVs included several cops.

There are good and nice cops who truly want to help the public and have no animus against anyone but bad guys. And, obviously, there are bad ones. I have often suspected that at least some men become policemen so as to be able to throw their weight around. Let's just hope that that first category is much larger than the category with the bad eggs in it.

An addendum: I'm not quite the only one who has some misgivings about policemen or police forces. Here is an article about police tasering and using pepper spray on a deaf and handicapped man:
http://www.bvblackspin.com/2009/07/28/police-taser-deaf-disabled-man/?icid=mainhtmlws-maindl1link6http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bvblackspin.com%2F2009%2F07%2F28%2Fpolice-taser-deaf-disabled-man%2F

Copyright © Richard Stein 2009

Me and Sports

I like to imagine I can know everything. Well, of course I can't, and I do know that—at least in some of my more rational moments. There are a few things that I don't really want to know about, like sports, or pop culture, or anything having to do with the military.

Let's talk about me and sports. As one of my friends once put it, I'm your old-fashioned faggot who doesn't know anything about sports. I even pride myself on that. And what's up with all this identification with your local sports team? Here in Chicago, if you're a South Sider you're—I don't quite get how this magically comes about—a White Sox fan, and if you're a North Sider you're a Cubs fan.

In Chicago, we have one sports team called the Cubs and one called the Bears. I asked whether Cubs grow up to be Bears.

I wondered whether the opposite of pro football was anti football.

I asked whether water polo is played by riding on sea horses.

Seriously, why do professional athletes (and, for that matter, others who entertain us—movie stars, rappers, etc.) have to earn obscene amounts of money—while teachers and even scientists make a fraction of that? Only CEOs of big companies earn salaries of that magnitude. I think I read somewhere that gladiators in ancient Rome made a very good living—so I guess we, just like the ancient Romans, place a very high value our "bread and circuses."

Copyright © 2009 by Richard Stein