Alex Rodriguez and the Sports Drug Culture

Barry Bonds was a sports hero but he has not played baseball since 2007. He holds many baseball records. He was charged with using performance enhancing steroids. He has been accused of using those steroids as early as 2000.

Bonds is not the only sports figure accused of using performance drugs. Lance Armstrong, winner of the Tour de France seven times. He does not deny using drugs.

There is little point in listing all of the sports personalities who have been accused of using drugs. The issue is winning and making big money.

Money is the driving force. Owners of professional teams are aware that there is the use of drugs. It is not a new occurrence. This has been happening for many years.

So what is new about the Alex Rodriquez suspension? He is quoted as saying, “I am disappointed with the penalty and intend to appeal and fight this through the process.” No denial! The Yankees? They are permitting him to play tonight.

You want me to attend baseball games? You want me to support drug use?

Shame on the players. Shame on the owners.

Manning and Snowden are Not Alone

Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden are not the first people to release government secrets and they won’t be the last. Historically Daniel Ellsberg’s release of “The Pentagon Papers” is one of the most famous cases of a military analyst divulging government secrets. Ellsberg, working for the Rand Corporation, worked on a top-secret report ordered by Defense Secretary Robert McNamara entitled U.S. Decision-making in Vietnam, 1945-1968 (The Pentagon Papers) copied the entire 7,000-page report and released it to the New York Times and Washington Post.

Aaron Swartz, another geeky computer type/hacker, recently committed suicide (January 11, 2013) while facing charges for downloading academic papers from MIT and digital library JSTOR.

Time Magazine (June 24, 2013), says the internet calls these geeks heroes. They must not have read the conservative commentaries on these self appointed “heroes” who prefer the possibility of harm to Americans than protecting Americans.

TIME Poll question:

What do you think of the government’s collecting phone records, e-mails, and internet search records?

48% approve

44% disapprove

We just went to the Hollywood Bowl this past Saturday. It is an outdoor amphitheater that holds 18,000 people. The security when entering? A cursory check of our picnic baskets. We did not have to remove all items before the checker said “OK.”

Millions of phone calls and e-mails are made daily in the USA. What is the likelihood they are listening to your conversations? Why would they want to listen? Could the program be a review of where people are sending emails and phone calls? Obsession with intruding into your business seems to be the objection to the NSA’s efforts to stop terrorists. Let’s hope no someone, undetected, does not carry a bomb into an amphitheater on ball stadium.

Manning and Snowden may not have meant to help terrorists but they have harmed our efforts to stop them.

They should be jailed for decades.

Retirement Paradise

As I review the options I am horrified. The reason is that most of us do not have the funds needed to live the same lives we lived when we were employed. Social Security in the United States provides an average of $1,230 per month. The Maximum Social Security Benefit for a Worker Retiring at Full Retirement Age is $2,513 per month. So even if both spouses are eligible for the maximum benefit, an unlikely occurrence, the benefit would be $5,026 per month. You have to save significant amounts to impact your retirement income. I knew about the need to save a long time ago. Feeding the family, paying the mortgage, and all the other bills just made this a difficult assignment to fulfill.

Then I read “Baby boomers’ mobile-home paradise” in The Week magazine. I found this article depressing. Most of these people are poor. They have little to do to occupy their time. How many times can you walk on the beach? Pismo Beach is in a particularly bad spot in terms of warm days. Every time we stop there on the way to San Francisco the sky is overcast or it’s a sunny but very windy day.

When my parents moved into Leisure World in Orange County, California (now called Laguna Woods) they at least had the money to enjoy their retired years. That community has literally dozens of clubs and groups for a variety of interests. The sad reality is that most people are not as fortunate as they were. They accumulated the money by living in poor working class neighborhoods all of their working years. When I grew up we shopped at Sears and JC Penney’s. Cars were driven until their next destination was the junk yard.

All retirement communities have two things in common – 1) you are surrounded by people at least your age and 2) your next move is to the grave yard.

As long as I am able to drive my car I believe I would be better off remaining in my home. Mostly, it’s paid for. I know the neighborhood. I have easy access to shopping, doctors, and educational opportunities. When I can’t drive a car I might consider Leisure World. It’s expensive but I can’t take my money with me.

Environmentalists Gone Wild

Environmentalists have the desire to return the earth to its native state EVERYWHERE. Thus their idea is to limit national park access to hikers only. No cars or other vehicles should be permitted to enter. Entering Yosemite Valley would only be available for the hardy who can hike there from the park entrance. Riding in an inflatable raft in the Merced River would be banned. Grocery stores and gift shops would be closed.

The Environmentalists would also remove the concrete walls of the Los Angeles River. It is really a wash that only holds rain water during the winter months. There are no streams or creeks that feed into this wash. There are no springs from surrounding hills that trickle in.

Despite the fact that the concrete walls protect the city from flooding that was prevalent in the first half of the 20^th century and all times earlier the Environmentalists want the concrete walls removed to restore the natural appearance of the wash. They have done such a good job of promoting their vision that a group called L.A. River Revitalization Corp. have convinced the Army Corp of Engineers to consider proposals costing at least $444 million for making the banks of the wash more environmentally pleasing. At the high end the cost would be $1.06 billion.

A house that was washed a block away from the river, 1934

Amnesia seems to have affected both our government officials and the general public. As reported in the Los Angeles Times on February 12, 1992 “City emergency workers in helicopters and rubber boats rescued 48 people stranded in cars and other vehicles as floodwaters rose rapidly on Burbank Boulevard and other streets that run around and through the basin.”

The concrete Los Angeles River was built to protect the city from massive flooding. Sepulveda Dam, which was constructed in 1941, protected downstream neighborhoods (and allowed others to be built); the postwar concretization of the upstream riverbed allowed the development of the San Fernando Valley. All of the homes and businesses from Canoga Park going downstream could be seriously impacted if those concrete walls were removed. Kayaking down the Los Angeles River is not a necessity. Protection from flooding is a necessity.

News Media – All About the Revenue

Just this past December everyone was talking about the killing at Newtown, Connecticut. Then there were the Marathon Bombers. And just two days ago there were hundreds of parades and demonstrations over the George Zimmerman verdict.

I was certain that “Justice for Trayvon Martin” would not be easily forgotten. But the birth of a new prince in England has pushed everything off the front page. Even “Hardball with Chris Matthews” devoted his entire program to the birth.

So my question is, How important are the daily stories presented in the news? The media wants us to believe that the current story really is the consequential event. They keep feeding us with a non-stop flow of tragedy and drama that suits their need to obtain advertising revenue. And what does the public do? We watch and listen to every bit of information no matter how trivial.

The newspapers are not much better than television and radio. Washington Post’s front page article “For some, a drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a harrowing experience” may be interesting to some people but is this a front page story? The Los Angeles Times Column One story “The NRA newest Sensation” tells of a Black man who is also a member of the organization. Both stories might be interesting to some people but is this front page news? To me it is trivial events that have little bearing on anyone other than their immediate families and maybe not even them.

Is it any wonder that so many of us have turned off the news broadcasts and canceled our newspapers?

Zimmerman and the Jury Trial System

Demonstrators held a peaceful rally in Beverly Hills against the George Zimmerman trial verdict, but 17 people were arrested during a rally that turned rowdy in Victorville, California, authorities said Wednesday night.

The block immediately west of Highland Avenue in Hollywood is a tourist Mecca. The Famed Grauman’s Chinese Theater is there. Almost immediately next door is the Dolby (Former Kodak) Theater that is home of the Academy Awards show. Across the street is the El Capitan Theater. See pictures in the Los Angeles Photo Gallery.

I have visited this area dozens of times. But since the Zimmerman trial the area has become a center for demonstrations against the verdict. That has led to criminals storming the streets to steal whatever they can. It’s just an excuse for criminal behavior that some believe will not result in punishment. They are wrong. The police have made arrests.

I have served on many juries both civil and criminal. Once in the deliberation room all of those jurors struggled to reach the correct decision.

The O.J. Simpson murder trial resulted in a not guilty verdict. There were no demonstrations even though many believed him to be guilty. Both the prosecutors and the defense attorneys did their best to convince the jury.

I know of no better system to determine guilt or innocence. Highly capable lawyers do have a bearing on the outcome. O.J. Simpson’s lawyers were among the best. If Zimmerman was Black and Martin was White would the verdict been different? I believe the answer is Yes. There is racial bias/bigotry in this country and I hear some of it almost every week. Still this is the system. The law must prevail.

Demonstrations are permitted. Vandalism is not.