Real Estate Fail

The Pontiac Silverdome was recently sold for less than an upper middle class home. The dome was purchased by an unidentified Canadian buyer for $583,000 during an auction on Monday. This amounts to less than 1% of the initial cost to build the stadium 35 years ago. Talk about depreciation! Seriously, you'd think 127 acres of urban land would hold some sort of value. For $583,000, I'm almost wondering if the purchaser is simply planning on taking residence there.

Of all the economic crisis stories coming from Detroit, this is one of the worst. Think about it, many of you reading this blog could have found a way to purchase the building yourself. The Silverdome was built to improve the economy of Pontiac. 35 years later, Pontiac is still in economic ruin, and now all the surrounding suburbs are as well.

As a child, I never understood why the "Detroit" Lions and the "Detroit" Pistons played 45 minutes outside of their city. The riots of '67 began the "white flight" out of Detroit. Over the next two decades, nearly a million people left the city in order to live in the safer suburbs. I suppose this was the first brain drain out the city. We're currently experiencing a larger drain of people fleeing from the entire region. It's called a brain drain since most of the people who leave are the educated working class, drastically changing the dynamics of the group of people left behind. When I travel back up to Detroit, I enjoy what Detroit has to offer now, but all my years as a child, I knew it to be a complete hole. Attending a Tigers game at night was considered a calculated risk. I remember clinging to my dad one time on our way back to the car as he got cussed out by a bum for not not giving him money. Since Pontiac was located near Chrysler headquarters and some of the wealthier suburbs, it made sense to put a stadium in a safer location that was closer to the burbs. The stadium was built in 1975 for $55.7 million. I can tell you with certainty that the stadium did not help the local economy. If you look at the new Ford Field, it is surrounded by restaurants, stores, and the Greek Town Casino. When you go to a game, it is quite common to eat at a nearby restaurant or hit up the casino. The Silverdome, on the other hand, sits in the middle of a giant parking lot next to the expressway. With any luck you could exit M-59 and park your car without seeing much of the run down city. I have no memory of the area near the Silverdome, just memories of walking great lengths in a concrete park. If you were to hang out for food and drinks before or after the game, you certainly weren't going to do it in Pontiac.

I grew up in Rochester Hills, the city directly bordering Pontiac to the East. We referred to our neighbor city as Ponti"crack", as it seemed easier to find a drug house than a car factory in that town. Rochester was a very wealthy, residential city. Most of my friends parents worked for one of the big 3, usually a white collar job, and the city didn't allow any riff-raff; no strip clubs, no liquor stores, there was even an ordinance against 7-11. In high school, we all knew that the closest 7-11 was right outside our city limits, just inside "Ponticrack". Part of the intrigue in making a slurpee run was the simple danger you were subjecting yourself to in leaving your safe suburbia and crossing over into the ghetto. Pontiac was almost this mythical place where whites became the minority, the streets were full of jallopies and potholes, and you did NOT want to get lost there. We knew their high school had metal detectors, and we all knew of a legendary liquor store called Trademark. It was well known amongst the teenage crowd that Trademark would sell alcohol to minors. I know first hand of this, as I made a trip there one time when I was 17. I stayed in the car while my friends went inside, trembling in fear; not of getting caught, but of getting mugged. My parents ended up catching my friends and I with our bottle of Dewars the next day. They were very upset to find out that I was drinking, but way more upset that I had gone into Pontiac at night.

The city owned the stadium and leased it out to the Pistons and the Lions. I can tell you that an upper deck seat for a Piston game at the dome is about the wost seat you could possibly have for a live sporting event. I can also tell you that I would get to watch 8 Lions games a year on television and had to listen to the other 8 on the radio as nearly every home game was blacked out locally due to the inability of selling out the 80,000 seat capacity stadium. The two most famous events at the Silverdome would have to be Super Bowl XVI, and Wrestle Mania 3 where Hulk Hogan body slammed Andre the Giant. The legend is that Hulk didn't think he could do it and was frantic in the locker room before the match. I remember watching it on Pay Per view with the help of my uncle's scrambler. In attendance at the stadium I did actually get to see some historic events. I was there when Dr. J play his last game in Detroit, when Michael Jordan dropped 70 points in one night (a Silverdome record...I think I cried), when Mike Utley gave the thumbs up as he was carted off the field, and when the Dolphins spanked the Lions so bad that coach Bobby Ross resigned after the game in the middle of the season. I suppose it's not just coincidence that these events don't include Detroit actually ever winning.

I don't know what will come of the dome and the 127 acre lot that it sits on, but I do know that it will most likely make me sad. Just another landmark of failure in Detroit next to all the other large abandoned warehouse buildings along the sides of the expressways. An investment that dried up way too soon, leaving nothing but memories and an eyesore. Even the good landmarks of Detroit seem to conjure painful memories: the Chrysler building is now the DaimlerChrysler building and the Renaissance Center was a symbol of the dwindling Ford motor company when it was sold to GM in the 90's, only to become an even larger symbol of failure this past year when GM was bailed out. Still, I get excited when I see the glow from the dome off of M-59, but now it will only serve as another painful reminder of what has become of Southeast Michigan. Henry Ford helped build a great city here a century ago, our generation has only seen it fall apart these last 4 decades.

Charity Marketing

If you're anything like me, you routinely receive emails from various charity organizations soliciting you for their latest and greatest fundraiser. One of my more frequent organizations is Invisible Children. Their latest campaign is called the Legacy Fund. It's really just the same old same old with a new simplistic idea on why you need to give them money. If I take the time to click the link and watch the video, I find myself annoyed with their solicitation. Am I just the outlier in their campaign focus, or are their others out there like me?

For example, here's a video explaining their Tri Campaign.

I actually am curious to know if I'm the oddball; am I the only one annoyed by campaigns like this? The video gives you no real explanation of what is done with your money, other than that it is really needed.

My opinion might be skewed by the fact that I got to see Invisible Children's programs on the ground in Uganda in 2006 and 2007. At the time, I was disappointed. The general consensus from the locals was that it was a young NGO that was still trying to figure itself out. My opinion was that they put young, inexperienced people in positions of power and were thus very ineffective considering the amount of money in their organization.

But as it turns out, my opinion of IC has changed considerably. When I investigated IC's latest capaign, the Legacy Fund, I came across a series of videos from their mission director, Adam Fink. Here's one of them where he explains the Schools 4 Schools program:

Schools for Schools from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

This video is one of four where Adam explains how IC is using their money effectively. As far as my interest is concerned, these 4 videos are by far and away the best videos ever produced by IC; they clearly and tangibly explain what IC is doing in Northern Uganda. I'm not surprised that IC has become a very effective NGO over these past 2 years, but I am surprised that I had to surf around for these videos. I get an email from IC just about every week, trying to motivate me to "make a difference", but never have they sent me an email showing me in much detail how they would make a difference. Why is that?

I've had it up to here with organizations telling me why I need to donate, and there is a definite lack of marketing focus on how an organization actually uses the money you donate.

A perfect example of this is the organization, One Day's Wage.

The Movement of One Day's Wages from One Day's Wages on Vimeo.

I get it, their's a lot of sick, starving children out there. But I can't figure out what this organization is doing about it. There are a lot of organization out there like this one. I personally don't understand it. In this case, I especially don't understand the "100%" promise. Eugene makes it sound like 100% of your money will be used on the ground. I think this 100% promise was innovated by Charity: Water and has since been used by many non profits. But the promise here is simply to get 100% of your donation into another charity, kinda of like a free middle man of sorts. Why not just use the website to promote other organizations, rather than just promote the idea of giving?

What I've concluded is that the majority of donors must not be motivated by how their money is used, they simply need a push to give some of it away. This realization makes me feel sorry for my friends who have to solicit donations in order to run their organizations. I think my friend Hugh refers to this as "pimping the Gospel". My discussions with Hugh have more than motivated me to keep my paid profession.

My biggest distaste with charity marketing is this notion that you are somehow saving the world by giving a monthly donation. In a sense, these charities are selling this idea to their donors. Shame on them. If you really want to make a difference in the world, I think you need to put away your wallet, and simply find some tangible ways to love your neighbor. I'm not sold on the power of money to transform the world; especially the amount of money I have in my wallet. Unless you're a millionaire, your potential to "make a difference" goes far beyond what you can do with your money. Once your heart is in the right place, your wallet will follow; I don't think it works the other way around.

I don't mean to belittle the need of money for non profit organizations to function, so I will suggest two organizations that I feel are very worthy and doing things the right way (and really need your money). Lemonade International is by far the best foreign aid group I know, and Love Wins a worthy local ministry. Despite my cynicism, I do like the way some groups are getting it done.

Acholi Crossroads

With Grad school and a girlfriend, I haven't kept up with some areas of my life as well as I'd like to. One such area is my friendships in Uganda. This week I had to sneak in a tuition payment for Francis, and I finally got a chance to skype with him and my friend Denis. Denis was interviewed on Monday in regards to a student protest in Gulu and he asked me to look up the article. In my search, I decided to just google, "Ocitti Denis Omoya". To my surprise I came across this teaser that my friend Michael (@Michaelfriberg) had put together. If you've ever heard me talk about Denis, please give this a watch and check out http://acholicrossroads.com/

Acholi Crossroads Promo from Nick Anderson on Vimeo.

On a side note, I also came across my own name in my search. It was nice to read Michael's recollection of our time together in 2007. I might have to drive up to Brooklyn one these days and pay him a visit, although I'd much rather cross paths with him again in Africa.

What Matters to Me

In recent months I’ve taken up grad school and stepped away from the blog. My life is still interesting, I swear, but I just haven’t had much time to reflect. I got in my first real car accident on Saturday, and it made me slow down for a second and just relax for a moment. I went back and read through some of my posts over the last year and was impressed with the online journal of my life that I had created. This reflection has once again motivated me to continue my efforts in maintaining this blog.

So what is there to talk about? My life does revolve around a weekly cycle of routines. Monday through Wednesday I focus on grad school. I’m supposed to be committing about 20 hours a week to this endeavor, and it’s limited to these three days. In the past this time was used volunteering with Community Hope and attending some sort of church group. I hate having to spend all this time on school, but what are you going to do? Friday is either high school football night, or watch a movie and go to bed at 9 o’clock night; “date night” as Stephanie knows it. Saturday is my Sabbath and is dedicated to watching Michigan football with my old roommate from college. This typically involves the nervous consumption of beer, as our team has become very exhilarating to watch. Sunday’s typically involve a walk to Morning Times where I call my various family members along the way, followed by a few hours surfing the web when I should be studying, and then a trip to the grocery store to buy food for the week. And there’s my week. Oh, except for Thursday…raise your hand if you noticed that I left out Thursday.

A night that used to be dedicated to NBC’s spectacular comedy lineup is now known to me as dinner night. Stephanie and I decided a while back that Monday’s in Moore Square handing out sandwiches and hanging out, just didn’t have a place in our busy lives. We wanted to focus on maintaining the relationships of the friends we already had, rather than shooting the shit with whoever happened to be in the park. After I got back from my summer hiatus, some of the guys down at the homeless shelter wanted to catch up, so Stephanie and I hosted them for dinner at my place. We had such a good time that Stephanie suggested that this become our new weekly ritual….and it did.

So every Thursday around 6:30, either Stephanie or I drive down to the South Wilmington homeless shelter and sign out Michael, Clint, and T. I write down “Visio Dei Church Community” as my organization for whatever that’s worth. Whoever is not picking up the boys is usually preparing a wild dinner. When I say wild, I mean wild…at least by my standards. It started with Stephanie preparing some pretty incredible meals, and then I felt the need to participate. It’s turned into an exciting experimental experience every Thursday as we’ve created some of the most fantastic and fun meals I've ever eaten. We’ve done “Whities” (a sloppy Joe version of a White Castle), make your own Calzone, Fondue night, inside-out burgers, Boston Coolers (a Michigan favorite), roasted smoares, and these are just the meals I’ve played a hand in helping with (Stephanie has done some much better cooking than I). My roommate Joanna usually eats with us and is in charge of experimenting with another wild creation this week. Stephanie’s brother is the only other regular, but some of my other friends like @thesamed and @billkcummings make guest appearances.

The meals have been fabulous, but the highlight of Thursday night is the post dinner Corn Hole competition. Usually around the time the rest of my friends are watching The Office, I am dominating the Corn Hole sidewalk in front of my house with my partner, T. There have been some epic battles the last few weeks that I won’t bore you with, but I will let you know that it has been legendary…and T and I always win.

In the details here, I’ve forgotten to mention my friend Ricky. We do not need to pick him up at the shelter as he has just recently moved off of the streets and into a rental house. Last week he called me to let me know that he couldn’t come to dinner as he was in the middle of painting the inside of his house. I said, “That’s a shame man, we’re having inside out burgers this week.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“It’s a hamburger with cheese and bacon on the inside, topped with cheese…and bacon-“

“-when can you pick me up?”

At the end of the night, I drive the boys back to the homeless shelter. They typically complain about having to stay there and how they spend all week looking forward to Thursday. I never tell them this, but the truth is, so do I.

Guatemala

On Sunday, I returned from another awesome trip down to Guatemala. I was just there back in April for Painting Lemonade, but when I was leaving I looked out the window of the airplane and saw an incredible view of green mountains and towering volcanoes. I told myself that I had to come back and explore this country. So just a few months later I was back with my friend, Chris to ride around the country on rented motorcycles. Probably not the most sage decision on our part, but we managed to both make it back in good health. Although, there was one run in with a chicken bus that left Chris off the bike for a few days, but he recovered and we had a great time. As usual, here's a video, but you can also check out all of my pictures here.

If you ever get the chance, Guatemala is a fantastic place to travel. The volcanoes are incredible, the food is terrific, the people are friendly, and it's all very affordable. You can usually fly there for under $400 from the states, and stay there for between $5-$20 a night depending on your standards. From Antigua you can take a bus to just about anywhere in the country for less than $25. With many more volcanoes and Mayan ruins left for me explore, it's a safe bet that I will be back.

Home

First it's off to Guatemala to ride through the country on motorcycle, but then I'll be heading home. I've learned that home can be wherever you make it to be. Life in Arizona has been great, but I'm ready to come home. I've got something special waiting there for me.

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Life In Arizona

Aside from just trying to find a warmer place than North Carolina for the summer, I am out in Phoenix to watch over my sister's children. She is going through chemotherapy, trying to work full time, moving next weekend, and her children are out of school for the summer. It's great out here. There's good ultimate 3 nights a week, awesome hiking if you can bare the heat, I get plenty of time to work on my graduate classes, my parents are just an hour away, and it's absolutely gorgeous. This morning I hiked to the top of Camelback mountain.

As far as city hiking goes, Camelback is probably the best in America. It's very similar to Flattop Mountain in Anchorage, Alaska. It's very satisfying to see exactly what you are hiking to the top of and then get rewarded with an incredible 360 degree view when you get there. From the top of Camelback you can see the entire Phoenix area.

If I lived in Phoenix, I'd probably try to capture the sunrise from up here every few months. They say 300,000 people climb to the top of Camelback every year, and I would consider it a must if you ever come out to visit. However, city hikes are not my favorite. The top of the mountain was small and crowded with about 20 people when I got there. I didn't stay there long before heading down the backside and getting off the trail to summit a lower peak at the far end of the mountain. From there I got to soak up the scenery by myself without the distraction of so many people. I even took the time to practice some self photography.

During the week I get to entertain the niece and nephew. They are 7 and 5 respectively, and all they ever really want to do is swim in the pool. With the temperature frequently breaking 110 degrees, it's about the only thing we can comfortably do outside. Fortunately my sister has a great, little pool that offers some relief from the sun. This is key as I probably spend about 2-3 hours out there every day.

I've learned that one of the best strategies in raising children is to wear them out during the day. If I get these two in the pool and toss them around for at least an hour in the morning, they'll have no problem at all going down for their nap after lunch.

Seeing that my family lives in Arizona and I live in North Carolina, I only get to see them maybe twice a year. Fortunately, because of my job as a teacher, this is the second time in three years that I've gotten to move in with my sister for a month. It actually fits my personality quite well. I don't keep up with my friends too well, but get us back together and it's like we've never been apart. Most uncles would never have this opportunity to live so closely with their niece and nephew, even though they'd probably see them more regularly than I see mine.

It would be nice to live out here someday, maybe after I spend some time in Africa. More likely, this will probably just be a place I get to stop in for extended periods of time. I'm about half way through my time here, and I'm going to try and enjoy every last minute of the time I have left.

South Africa preps for World Cup

Is there any doubt that OTL is the best show on ESPN? I'm a little concerned that South Africa won't have everything completed before the cup, but I'm sure they'll be fine hosts nonetheless. This should be good for thier image, good for their economy and a very enjoyable experience for them. FIFA is doing a lot of things all over Africa and their efforts are very well accepted by the locals. Hopefully these programs will continue after 2010. Here are some thoughts from some boys in Soweto on what football and the World Cup mean to them:



On a personal note, I had been planning on living in South Africa next year before my plans fell through. Not to sound too cliche about it, but I think it is for the best. My interest in Africa has a lot to do with getting away from the hustle and bustle of Western life and moving to Joburg at the time of the World Cup may have been a nightmare for me. I'd prefer to watch football in Gulu at a bar with just a 13" screen and about 50 guys crawling on top of each other, rather than a packed staium with $10 beer and obnoxious drunks, but I'm kinda weird I suppose. Also, I have fallen in love with my girlfriend, Stephanie and I can't imagine what it would have been like to have to leave her for a year. America's not too bad I suppose.

CAMPING FAIL

I told my mom that I was bringing my camping gear out to Arizona with me this summer so I could do some hiking and camping. She said, "Yeah, that's a great idea, and we should take your niece and nephew!" My idea of camping is filling up my backpack, hiking a challenging mountain trail, and sleeping in a remote area; none of which I can do with the niece and nephew. I was planning on going solo, but my mom anxiously misinterpreted my intentions and put together a family trip. I practically grew up on a KOA, so I can understand her confusion. Trying not to be a camping snob, I convinced myself that it would be fun to sleep outside and "ruff" it with my 7 year old niece and 5 year old nephew.

Not having much interest in site camping, I let my mom set up the whole thing. We drove about 40 miles south of Tuscon to the Coronado National Forest. The site was supposed to be at elevation, but instead it was located at the base of the mountains. It was 99 degrees when we walked out of the car around 2pm. Our "campground", was an RV park and we were the only campers crazy enough to pitch a tent on this day. My niece and nephew laughed at the meager size of my tent as their tent towered over mine. Dying in the heat, once we got the air mattress set up in the house tent, we hit the pool.

After pool time it was dinner time. We discovered a community grill next to the front office and I went over to cook some hot dogs while my mom was going to cook some canned corn on their old Coleman stove. I was turning hot dogs over the grill with my fingers when I heard, "CHRIS! CHRIS! HELP!" I casually turned around and saw my mother standing next to a roar of flames. It appeared that the picnic table was on fire and my mom was in a panic. Fortunately, I was next to the front office and I sprinted into it. I threw open the door and said, "My mother just lit our picnic table on fire!" The lady behind the counter had no idea if they even had a fire extinguisher and we both searched the room. She grabbed the phone to call the fire department when I found their extinguisher and took it outside. I'm not going to lie to you, I've always wanted to rip away that plastic cable tie and pull the metal pin from a fire extinguisher, and it felt pretty cool to finally do this for the first time. I ran out there and blasted the plastic table cloth that had blazed up so wildly.

As we all caught our breath, I was proudly grinning to myself for saving the day. A man standing near us pointed and softly spoke, "Hey hombre, your tent."

I turned around. "Shit!" Some of the smoldering debris had found it's way in the tent and the air mattress was ablaze. I blasted the tent with the extinguisher as the mattress shriveled up to nothing.

Despite the interruption, the hot dogs I was cooking turned out fine, but with the damage to the sleeping bags and tent, this camping adventure was toast. We arrived back at my parents house just 7 hours after leaving that day. I found the whole experience to be quite funny, while my mom was a little more shaken, exclaiming that she thought the entire desert was about to go up in flames. The probable cause of the fire was high wind gusts combined with a poor connection to the fuel line in the Coleman (mom's fault, not mine). My mom claims that the tent fire was my fault as the blast from the fire extinguisher (not the heavy wind, mind you) blew hot debris into the tent. She also went on to complain about the white dust I got on everything.

Oddly enough, camping with the family turned out to be just like I remembered it being as a kid. It's no wonder neither of my siblings like the outdoors.

Prosperity Gospel

The older I get, the more I realize that the message of the gospel is a tough sell. This message will likely cost you your wealth, your security, and possibly your life. This message led Jesus and 11 of his 12 closest followers to the grave. I don't know about you, but that's certainly not a path I want to go down.

A much easier message to sell is to give away 10% of your earnings and the Lord will pay you back and then some; giving money to God is an investment. This is the message of the prosperity gospel and here is a great ESPN piece on high profile athletes and their high profile churches.



If you want my humble opinion, there's probably a special place in the afterlife for men like Creflo Dollar. I hate to say it, but I think my heightened image of Kurt Warner just fell a bit. Not to be too hard on the guy, but I honestly think that he is more comfortable getting involved with ministers who are wealthy. It would probably make him feel very uncomfortable dropping by Joyce Meyer's house if she lived in a modest home, or heaven forbid in the ghetto. What we have here are prosperity ministers who tell the rich exactly what they want to here: God loves you and has blessed you and will continue to bless you abundantly as long as you do a list of things. And I think it's safe to assume the list includes tithing 10% and the blessing includes personal achievement and wealth.

Messages like this make me want to rip out the Old Testament of my bible and throw it in the trash. That or steal a bunch of money from people I consider my enemies and take it back to my giant home full of wives and slaves, as I could make a pretty good biblical case for that. Giving away money is NOT an investment, it's a way of life that shows that your values are greater than money. I don't get how these preachers read the same bible I read and live such different lives. The message of prosperity and even security died with Jesus. Am I missing something here? What scares me is that I actually think Creflo Dollar believes what he preaches and is justified in acting the way that he does. What's scarier is that more Christians probably agree with him than me.

A message to Kurt Warner, if this ever finds you, please stop giving your money to a mega church and just give it to the poor.

Michigan

I love North Carolina, but there's no place better than northern Michigan in June. A cousin of mine got married in Charlevoix, MI last Saturday and I was able to make a 10 day trip up there to see my family, visit old friends from high school, and take in some awesome scenery. I'll be back in Raleigh for just a week before leaving to Arizona for the summer. Hopefully things will be just as serene out there.

Art

A few weeks ago, Stephanie, her brother Michael, and I were down at Moore Square on a beautiful Monday afternoon. Right as we were about to leave, we ran into one of our friends, Roddrick. Roddrick is perhaps the happiest homeless man in all of Raleigh. He loves Stephanie's dog, always has a giant smile on his face and always has a hilarious story to tell. On this afternoon he was telling us how he had spent the day at the park just enjoying how beautiful it all was. He was so very excited about the whole thing.

"What did you do at the park all day, Roddrick?" We asked.

"It was so beautiful. I sat down and drew a picture."

"Oh really. What did you draw a picture of?"

"A gopher! I love gophers. Like in Caddy Shack." He started wiggling around like the dancing gopher in the movie.

"What'd you do with the picture?"

"Wait, I still have it." He started digging through his bag and low and behold:

What in the world? We all cracked up at the site of his drawing and Roddrick even posed like the gopher in the picture. He signed it and gave it to Stephanie as a gift and it now sits on my refrigerator. Quality.

Beep Beep

In order to draw away from the fact that I drive a Ford, I have decided to shamelessly express myself through the back of my vehicle. I think I've done a fairly good job so far.

I might not have thrown a disc in 9 months, but I am a legend at EMU

Beep! Beep! Disgruntled teacher coming through!

This ride is smoke free.



America's fresh water resort. I miss those summers on the beach.

Wolfpack. My new home.



When you get out west, you gotta have it.



I lemon lemonade international

I would

Follow me or get off the road!

All you Christian Nancy's can read the fine print.

I spend 40 hours a week teaching science. Deal with it.

A redundant "I'd Rather Be" flattball sticker on the front of the car.

And that's pretty much me in 10 stickers or less. Keep the Lexus, "I'd rather be" stickered out.

blog journaling

I've tried to focus my blog on my thoughts on humanity, but sometimes you just have to write about what's going on in your life. Seems a little narcasistic, but why not.

Tuesday was one of the best nights I've had in recent memory. After work I got my first haircut since getting my head shaved back in September. I found a gay hairdresser at a unisex salon who does a great job. It's not the man spa I grew fond of back in Michigan, but the guy certainly knows hair. After the trim I went to the gym before heading out to watch the Canes game with my friend Sam Ed. Right as I was about to walk in the bar, my friend Ricky called and asked if I could pick him up at the homeless shelter. 15 minutes later I was watching the game Hi-5 with two of my closest friends.

The game was phenominal. I had to leave part way through the 2nd period to give a friend a ride home from work. At this time I also went to pick up my new scooter that I had checked out the night before and agreed to buy. I was able to complete these two tasks in time to return to the bar right as the 3rd period was beginning.

Now if game 4 was the best game I have ever scene in person, game 7 somehow managed to outdo it. The Canes trailed 3-2 for almost the entire period. Cam Ward stood on his head as the Canes left him out to dry time and time again. Somehow the Devils failed to score the put away goal. With about 2 minutes left in the game, I thought it was over and I asked the waitress for our check. With under 90 seconds to go, the Devils failed to clear the puck from their zone once again, and Gleason made the play of the season, diving across the blue line to keep the puck in the zone and then passing it along from his knees. The near clear put the Devils out of position as Pitkanen zinged a pass for a Jokinen one timer that tied the game with about 1:20 to go. The bar went nuts. The waitress came up with our checks, but I sent her away and called for another PBR. She quickly got me the beer, but before I could hardly take a sip, Eric Staal found the 7 hole on Brodeur for the game winner. It was amaizing! No team had ever been trailing a game 7 in the last 5 minutes and gone on to win. No team had ever scored a game 7 winning goal in the last minute of the game. Nothing like this had ever happenned before, and it just had happened against one of the greatest goaltenders of all time.

After things settled down, I showed off my new Tomos scooter to Sam and Ricky. After I got my car home, and Ricky home, Stephanie stopped by for a brief visit. I surprised her with my new wheels. The bike is boda boda quality and we took it out for a tandum spin around Oakwood. We had a blast and it totally reminded us of riding around in Uganda on very similar bikes. It was the perfect end to a perfect night.

Hockey, bars, beer, bikes, and girls. I just hope this means my life hasn't become completely superficial.

Benefits of Serving the Poor

For a while now I've been hanging down in Moore Square on a regular basis, making friends with homeless guys and maintaining these friendships. When people ask me why I do it, I tell them that it's really me who is being blessed and served through my actions. People assume this means that I learn invaluable lessons, I experience love through friendships, and that I receive the Holy Spirit through my service. -Maybe. But yesterday it meant that I got to go to a Carolina Hurricanes playoff hockey game.

I was teaching my last period of the day, and my phone started blowing up. Call, message. 10 minutes later, call, message. After school I had a club meeting, and finally around 3:30 I answered one of these phone calls. It was one of my homeless friends, Reggie. A few weeks ago he got a job and on this day his work had a group of tickets for people to claim. Not really asking he said, "Chris, man, I got 4 tickets to tonight's hockey game. I'm at the Y. Come get me so I can give you the tickets." I was a little reluctant at first, but eventually I agreed to come pick him up and get the tickets. Since I was in a hurry to get to they end of the year banquet for Community Hope, the reading/mentoring program I am involved with, Reggie just handed me the tickets and went on his way. I inspected the tickets for a few minutes, trying to get over the fact that a homeless guy just handed me 4 free tickets to a playoff hockey game, and then I called some friends.

I wound up taking Stephanie (my gf), De'Andre (the boy I mentor), and his younger brother Mike. The kids had a great time and I wish I had brought a camera to take their pictures. It was a very "this is what white people do" kind of evening as De'Andre and Mike were blown away by all that is Carolina hockey. The game itself was one of the best I had ever seen. The Canes went up 3-0 in a game they absolutely had to win. The Devils tied the game 3-3 midway through the 3rd. As the clock ran, I came to the forgone conclusion that if the game went into overtime, I would have to bite my lip and take these two young children home. I leaned over to Stephanie and said, "Somebody just has to score." I wasn't about to keep a first grader out past 11.

Well, right when it looked like regulation was over, a moment of divine nature occurred. With about 5 seconds on the clock, the Devils failed to clear the puck from their zone and it bounced out to the blue line. One of the Canes players got control of the puck as everyone in the stadium was yelling, "Shoot it!!!!!!" Instead, he passed the puck along the blue line as the stadium gasped in frustration that he had passed on what appeared to be their last chance for a shot in regulation. Just then, Seidenberg sent a one timer that redirected off of Jokinen and into the back of the net right as the clock read 0:00! The ref pointed to the net indicating goal, the horn sounded, right on cue mind you, and the stadium absolutely erupted. I turned to Stephanie and shouted, "I've never seen that before!" It was a buzzer beater for the win in a hockey game. No Rick Flair this time on the jumbo tron, just pure playoff electricity. They reviewed the goal as everyone continued to cheer, before one more incredible eruption when the ref finally turned around and pointed down to indicate that the goal stood. The game was over and it was immediately deemed an Instant Classic. It was crazy! They announced Jokinen as the night's number 1 star but mistakenly sent out Seidenberg from the dressing room back onto the ice for the misguided, yet emotional curtain call.

It was an incredible game and an incredible experience. But I like to just chalk it up as the fruits of serving the poor. Thanks Reggie!

Broken Dreams

I have my job, I have my health, I have the love of my friends and family, and I know how to keep bad news in perspective, but at the moment none of that matters. When you set your sights on something, it's very disappointing when you don't reach it.

For the past month, my heart has been cast on South Africa. I was accepted into the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program and placed with an exchange in Sasolburg, South Africa. But just moments ago, my principal came by my room, looked me in the eye and told me that the exchange was a no go. He actually found out early this morning but struggled with how to break the news to me all day and even considered waiting till Monday. It turns out that our school is preparing to lose 30-40 positions over the summer and that this was the first of many difficult conversations my principal is going to have to make. Between the time and cost of processing an exchange teacher, and losing the flexibility of my teaching certificate, the human resource director for the county vetoed my exchange.

At the moment, I'm trying to figure out why this hurts so much. I suppose there's that period of time when you receive bad news that your reaction is purely emotional. At some point, I'll decide to move on and get over myself, but at the moment I am devastated. I've been reading, praying and literally dreaming about South Africa. In a few days I'm sure I'll act like it doesn't bother me and that maybe there's a blessing in all of this. But at the moment is does bother me, and I want to acknowledge what my passion is before I decide to forget it.

Right now I'm going to head home and enjoy a beer as I break the news to my girlfriend. This is probably good news for her, but I know she'll empathize with me and I'll be reminded of all the things I have to be joyous about.

Guatemala Trip

I got to spend an amazing spring break in Guatemala visiting my friend Leah and delivering paintings for Painting Lemonade. I brought down almost 200 portraits, painted by American high school students, and delivered them to the children of La Limonada. It was an incredible experience and a wonderful week.

A huge thanks to all the students and teachers who participated in Painting Lemonade. I hope to make it a reoccurring project. The children were mesmerized by their portraits, as were their parents. When I first walked into a shanty home in La Limonada, the first thing I saw was a Painting Lemonade portrait up on the wall that had been delivered earlier this year. An awesome sight and an incredible gift.

Laker's Visit

My good friend David Laker, who I met and got to know on my two trips to Uganda, came and visited this past weekend from Minnesota. He's from Gulu and is studying Comparative Education at the University of Minnesota. He came down to speak at Viseo Dei on Sunday. Maybe the podcast will be up soon. It was an incredible weekend. I was thus inspired to make a video with some of Laker's pictures.

Going to South Africa

Or at least it looks that way at the moment. The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program just proposed an exchange for me outside of Johannesburg, South Africa for the calendar year of 2010. The proposal is not final yet, as both parties and schools have to finalize the agreement, but the chances of me going to South Africa are very high at the moment.

Unlike most traditional calendar exchanges, the South African exchange is on their school system's year round schedule. This is a huge plus for my travel possibilities throughout the region. 11 weeks in school followed by 3 weeks vacation. I believe this will give me three 3 week vacations while I'm there. I've already got my heart set on Cape Town for at least one of these trips. I've also got my heart set on traveling via motorcycle. The area around Sasolburg is full of endless weekend trips that I plan on taking full advantage of.

It's only March, and if all goes well, I'll still be here till January. I am very excited nonetheless. I'm going to begin my South African reading list though, starting with Nelson Mandela's autobiography. If I ever make it through that, I'll take your other suggestions. I'm also going to download some more Hugh Masekela and get more more SA in the Ipod as well. Wow Africa!

Can the ICC save Darfur?

In my humble opinion, the answer to this question is simply, no.

On Wednesday, the ICC issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese president al-Bashir. The warrant included charges of war crimes and acts against humanity, but did not specifically charge Bashir with genocide. This is the first warrant for a head of state issued by the ICC since it's creation in 2002.

al-Bashir dances after the announcement of the warrant for his arrest

I'm slightly surprised to see the enthusiasm over the indictment. George Clooney was very supportive of this action as were most of my friends who are interested in Sudan. It only makes sense to support such an action. Clearly al-Bashir is directly responsible for supporting the Janjaweed tribes responsible for all the death and rape in Darfur over the last 5 years. Over 300,000 people have died and the Western world is struggling to find any notion of a solution. Concerned citizens write letters to Congress, and Clooney even made it to the White House just last week, all with the message of "Please do something to save Darfur." Finally, after years of deliberation, a case was brought before the ICC and warrant was handed down for the arrest of Sudan's president. Justice.

Well, it's only been a few days and we are already seeing several predictable problems emerging. The most obvious being that it will be impossible to capture Bashir. The UN peacekeeping force already said they would not do the job, and I'm not sure who else the ICC could send. To go into Khartoum and arrest the guy would require a large scale military operation resulting in thousands of casualties, with a limited possibility of success. It'll never happen. But just for the sake of argument, let's say they were actually able to capture Bashir. Would that help Sudan? The citizens of Khartoum are now becoming more anti-West as each day passes. The removal of their president would cause such a stir that the next president would likely be much more radical than Bashir. Bashir is very popular amongst the Arab majority of Sudan, and you can't just rob a country of their president without a significant backlash from his supporters. This might in fact be the worse scenario for Darfur.

There are so many similarities here to our intervention in Iraq. How popular was the Iraq war on the eve of the invasion? How many people did we have to kill in order to capture Sadam? Now that Sadam is gone, how has that improved Iraq? After years in Iraq, if we were to leave today, there would likely be a Sunni genocide. This is certainly not progress, and removing Sadam, oddly enough, might have been the worst thing we ever did in Iraq. Let's not forget that the product of "The Great War" was WWII, a much larger catastrophe. Our hard nosed solutions more often escalate conflicts than resolve them.

The simple truth is that the ICC will not be able to capture Bashir. In retaliation to the warrant, al-Bashir has already removed 13 aid organizations from Darfur; Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders being the two most notable groups. My guess is that Bashir is attempting to remove as much of the Western World from Darfur as possible in order to achieve what he has already been charged with. If things were bad before, I'm deathly afraid that it could get much worse.

So without justice, how do we find peace? I firmly believe that the answer lies in the freedom of the press. The overwhelming majority of people who suffer from human rights violations live in countries who deny freedom of speech. Only when lines of communication are opened can equality be attained. Oddly enough, I thought al-Bashir was slowly (albeit, very slowly) sliding in this direction. News and aid organizations were allowed into Darfur, the South was finally getting a voice in government, and Bashir was open to meeting with just about anybody (he met with Franklin Graham just the other day). I'm not implying that Sudan was freeing itself from censorship, but it was opening up to the outside world more and more. The power of the open media is a powerful deterrent to those who burn down villages and rape women. People only commit these atrocities when they know they are not being watched. Instead of demanding justice, what the West needs to demand is openness. That is the pathway to lasting peace.

Unfortunately, what is left of Darfur is a group of people without modern weaponry, without media, and without the aid of doctors, waiting to defend themselves against radical militias who wish to destroy them completely. My prayers go out to them, and I truly hope that the ICC is right and that I am the one who is wrong.

Other opinions: Franklin Graham, Mohamed Ahmed al-Nur, Desmond Tutu

Intended Consequences

One of the difficulties I have with blogging is that my world often shifts back and forth between a set of polar opposite thoughts and philosophies. Unfortunately, this does not make for good writing. I much prefer the world of Jim Rome where the primary objective is, "have a take, don't suck." For me, sometimes it's tough to take a side.

Recently I came across the Intended Consequences project; my latest conundrum. Intended Consequences is a book and now a gallery exhibit portraying Rwandan women who were raped during the genocide of 1994. It's a series of portraits of mother and child, captioned with a description of the rape and often the mother's feelings toward the child. The dilemma for me is in determining whether this project is a sincere attempt to better the lives of women and children in Rwanda, or an exploitative project designed to bulk up a short list of aide organizations at the expense of these children.

The issue of sex crimes is very sensitive especially when children are involved. Typically it is unethical for journalists to photograph victims of sexual violence or even describe in much detail these types of crimes. There is certainly a 3rd world, African aspect of this situation that somehow makes it acceptable to do this sort of thing with these children in Rwanda. Let's not forget that these are just young children, who are well documented in this project as being unwanted and unloved. Does it make sense for a mother quoted as saying, "I don't love this child," to give proper consent for that same child? Wronging Rights has a great "take" for the argument that this project is not looking out for the best interest of these children.

But it is always my instinct to side with projects like this. Maybe it's just my bleeding heart, but I live for stuff like this. I'm in North Carolina right now, what do I know about rape victims in Rwanda unless somebody does something like this. There are reports that similar systematic rape is currently taking place in Darfur. What are we doing to stop this? The truth is that rape is quite common whenever a military force invades an enemy territory. The only way to fight this fact is to bring the issue to the front of conversation. It must have been a devastating blow to the moral of our US troops in Vietnam when images of child rape victims were published in the media, but I have to believe that this type of exposure now serves as an effective deterrent for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If anyone is doing something to prevent large scale rape, it has to be Jonathan Trogovnik, the creator or Intended Consequences.

But above all, there is something about this whole project that is very raw. I almost wish that the intent of the book and the gallery wasn't to raise money for any kind of cause, but just to shed light on this issue. These are such beautiful women and children, stained with an incredibly horrific past. I want to hear them. America gave Rwanda a large collective cold shoulder back in 1994, and the worst thing we could do now is have similar attitude once again. I'm not entirely comfortable with Intended Consequences, but I am infinitely more uncomfortable turning my back on a group of people unhappy about their circumstances.

Eat Me

Today is Fat Tuesday, but I have always known it to be Paczki Day. That's pronounced "poonshki" for those of you who are at loss at the moment. The holiday is not so much a product of my polish heritage, but a Detroit tradition from the city of Hamtramck. As they say up in the midwest, "you don't have to be Polish to polish off a paczki", but it certainly helps. Hamtramck is a little town next to Detroit that used to be a hub for Polish immigrants. The town is so ethnic that Pope John Paul II made a visit on one of his trips to America. I try to make it into Hammtramck whenever I'm back up in Michigan to dine at the Polish Village restaurant. The menu is still written in Polish and today there are still residents who speak only Polish.

After a wild goose hunt today, I was able to track down a local grocery store that carried paczki's. This involved many phone calls, confusing several local bakers but culminated in a "do you mean pack skees?" response that I eagerly responded with "YES!". Within 15 minutes I was at the store purchasing these "pack skees". They came from a company in York, PA and at first I thought they tasted alright (I was really craving a paczki), but it didn't take long for me to remember what a real, fresh paczki was really supposed to be like. It's been about 5 years since I've had one, and I really need to find a place down here that makes them fresh. I still managed to eat 6 of these glorrified donuts, so they couldn't have been all that bad.

When it comes to Detroit, I don't miss the weather, the economy or even the Canadians, but around this time every year, I do very fondly miss the paczkis. I suppose I also miss my babciais, but that's another story.

Palestinians Need Radical Consultation

My friend Bill lead me to a nice piece on the conflict in Gaza. The article within the link raises some great questions, but fails to find solutions. Then again, I suppose there are no solutions.

Here's the conundrum that Adam Hamilton and so many of us can't seem to figure out:

The question I found myself asking as the military wing of Hamas began launching their crudely made and ineffective Qussam (Kassam) missiles into Israel two weeks ago was “Why?” After all, these missiles have no guidance systems and virtually never hit a real target. They stand no chance of winning a military battle against Israel. These missiles have killed as many Palestinians (as they occasionally fall back into Gaza) as they have Israelis. And the launching of them was almost guaranteed to bring an Israeli attack that would kill large numbers of Palestinians - making their launching of these missiles suicidal. So, I continued to ask, “Why?”

I can't answer the "why?" but I can make a suggestion. Palestinians need to find a leader in the mold of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nelson Mandela. These three men have spent significant time in prison, two of them were even shot and killed, but all three of them have been successful in defeating their oppressors, all in different eras and different corners of the world. Violence and terrorism will not win in Gaza and if it does win, it will only provide the Palestinians with an oppressive, militant form of government. Active nonviolence is the solution.

I know that Israel is our ally in the middle East and that the Jews are God's chosen people, but I cannot side with the way the Israeli government is treating the Palestinian people. I may be naive in saying this, but I don't think that most Americans support the actions of this government either. The problem is that Palestine's answer to oppression is militant Hamas; something most Americans side strongly against. What Palestinians needs is active, public, documented, civil disobedience. If you can convince an 18 year old kid to strap dynamite to his chest and blow himself to pieces, why can't you convince a man to stand in front an Israeli soldier who is unjustly demanding to get inside his house?

I think that Jesus gives a good example of how a Palestinian should act in a situation like this.

You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

Matthew 5:38-40

The lesson from Jesus is not to back down in a situation like this, but to confront your enemy in a brave manner. If soldiers keep taking over your house, eating your food and sleeping in your bed, maybe a solution would be for you to bring in a catering service for the soldiers, or something crazy and outlandish of this nature. Instead of being walked over like a doormat, your actions would force the soldiers, or whoever is watching, to realize how oppressive they are being. It is so counter intuitive to love your enemy, but actions of love are much more powerful than actions of violence, especially if you are the one being oppressed. Jesus is not just giving us a mandate from God on how a good Christian should live, he is however providing us with very practical information that can impact the world.

Sure, civil disobedience will get you arrested, beaten, and even killed, but it will have a much greater effect than firing a Qussam missile. If there are laws and regulations that Palestinians find unjust, they must openly violate them in a peaceful way and force the Israeli's to act on it. Once we start seeing this type of behavior in Gaza, Americans will have to side with Palestinians and force a peaceful solution that will benefit them. Until that happens, all we will see is violence and Americans like myself will always side with Israel regardless of their militance and oppression.

In reality, I could be completely wrong, but that's at least how things work in Waluk's World.

The Burden of the Rich

If this article in the New York Times doesn't make you bothered by Capitalism, even in just the slightest bit, I'm not sure where your heart is. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a socialist and I do understand macroeconomics, but I am troubled by some of the fundamentals of Capitalism. When it boils down to it, Capitalism relies on our selfishness. How can that not bother you? I'd like to think that investment and generosity will pick up our economy from the bottom up, but it seems that those principles are not as valuable to a struggling economy as selfish extravagance. Our economic prosperity as a whole, relies on our demand for the unnecessary.

There's got to be a bottom up solution to our recession that involves lifting up the working class, rather than just finding things for rich people to buy. I hate the entire concept of redistribution, but I also think that there must be some way in which the wealthy can boost our economy other than simply pissing away their money. The desire to spend is what got us into this whole mess, so it troubles me that our best economic minds think that it is also the solution.

It's just a matter of time

The last two months have been quite horrible, but it looks like the LRA is finally trapped this time. I won't believe it till I see it, but this has has been a long time in the making. Thousands of truly innocent people have died, and thousands of children have been raped, enslaved, and forced to kill by the LRA. It will be a huge celebration once Joseph Kony is finally captured and all this madness is behind us.

I can't wait to go back to Northern Uganda. The world has rallied around bringing aid and attention to this region, and we are seeing change. I went to Gulu in the summer of '06 and then again in the summer of '07. On my second trip I was amazed to see the economic growth that had taken place in just 11 months: 3 banks had been built when there had previously been none in Gulu, buses to Juba ran daily, and there was substantial amounts of foreign investment throughout the city. Peace has remained in Uganda, and their economic growth has continued as the DRC has experienced the wrath of the LRA. But we all hope and pray that this has now come to end.

Will the ICC save Darfur?

"Judges at the International Criminal Court have decided to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, brushing aside diplomatic requests to allow more time for peace negotiations in the conflict-riddled Darfur region of his country, according to court lawyers and diplomats."

I've been loosely following the conflict in Darfur and I just feel like, once again, the ICC is behind the times. If the ICC was somehow capable of preventing atrocities like that in Darfur, I wouldn't be such a cynic, but I just don't see them having a positive effect on the situation this late in the conflict. Al-Bashir has been in office since 1993 and is popular amongst the Arabs who run the Sudanese government. The problems in Sudan are much larger than this one man. If he actually gets arrested, and I doubt that he will, he will likely be replaced by someone even more radical. Sudan doesn't need a new president, what it really needs is a free press. I hate to say it, but my prediction is that this warrant will only increase the genocide in Darfur while also mustering more dislike towards the west in Khartoum. What's sad is that this was not the direction in which things appeared to be headed, and it does not bid well for a peaceful future in Sudan.

Someone please explain to me why I am wrong.

Violence Begets Violence

Ruling by force might protect your home or even your country, but it only makes things much much worse for those without the power to protect themselves.  The only way we will ever destroy terrorism is with education and peacemaking.  It is impossible to police the world and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has clearly made things worse in Africa, much like the US has turned Iraq into the deadliest place on the planet.  This article in the New York Times shows us just how bad a situation the ICC has created with the LRA in the Eastern Congo.  My heart goes out to these peaceful villagers who are suffering in such horrific ways.  Our attempt to rule with violence has lead to their destruction by greater violence.  

There are no easy answers, but I do know that death on a cross is more powerful than fire from the sky.  The solution in Africa is not force, and it is certainly not passivity.  The LRA is no longer fighting for any reason other than that they have been pushed into a corner with no other reasonable alternative.  There has to be a peaceful solution to this crisis otherwise many more villages will continue to burn.  

In the Independent

So it looks like News From Our Shoes is ready for prime time. At least they've gotten themselves a featured article in The Independent Weekly. "Hyperbole perhaps," as Bob Geary would put it, that two men living in a homeless shelter could appear to be successful, but these guys continue to amaze me. Ricky and Michael have beaten many of the problems homeless people face because they have found something to pursue. To go out on a bender would ruin it all for them, and it doesn't even tempt them because they are both striving for something more.

Congratulations Ricky and Michael!

Painting Lemonade

The first set of paintings have been delivered. Here is a very short video showing just a few of the children receiving their paintings.



Painting Lemonade is a project where I paired up American high school art students with children in La Limonada. The American student paints a portrait for the Guatemalan student and these paintings are delivered to the children along with a brief letter from the American and a photo of themselves. I will be travelling down to La Limonada to deliver the last of these paintings and visit "La Escuelita" in April.

Northern City Football

Thanks to Shannon, I discovered animoto today. I had to try it out, so I put together a short little video of when we got to deliver uniforms and equipment to the Northern City Football Club of Gulu, Uganda. I got to scrimmage with the boys at the end and make a fool of myself in the process. It was an awesome time, and this video takes me back.

"Even Worse Than We Thought"

Every time I talk with my friends in Northern Uganda, I am surprised by how peaceful it is over there. I say to them, "I read about the LRA's recent massacre's. Are you guys fearful?" They tell me time and time again that people are continuing to move from the IDP camps back into their bush villages and that there is a strong sense of security. In December, the governments of Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) agreed to work together in fighting the LRA. This agreement has made it near impossible for the LRA to cross the Nile, so the majority of the LRA is seemingly stuck in the DRC. This is good news for Ugandans, but horrible news for the Congolese. The Christmas Massacres are much worse than what was first discovered, and now this crisis is becoming the worst in Africa.

With this recent surge, I hope that groups like Invisible Children and the GuluWalk move their focus out of Northern Uganda and into the Congo where this tragedy has moved. I feel like there is another whole generation of "invisible children" forming right now, and it demoralizes me to watch a dark history repeat itself in a new location.

Okay, someone I actually admire

Despite my firm belief not to turn athletes into hero's, I can't deny my admiration for Cardinal Quarterback Kurt Warner. Despite losing, his performance in the Super Bowl surely solidified his induction into the Hall of Fame. Personally, I thought his 377 yards, 3 TDs and clutch 4th Quarter play was good enough to receive the award for MVP, but I can't argue giving it to a player from the winning team. After the game, a reporter went to the losing team's locker room for the always awkward post game interviews. Even though Warner had just experienced one of the most disappointing losses of his career, he managed to put a smile on his face and talk about how proud he was of his teammates. Rather than give the Jesus shout out, or just pout, Warner showed love and appreciation to his team with sincerity and pride. Maybe I'm giving the guy too much credit, but it's just one example of the many things I admire about him. Here's a decent story about him if you're not familiar with his family background. I believe he is one of the best human interest stories of our generation. I try not to put athletes up on a pedestal, but it's hard not to with this guy.

My New Hero

Illinois Governor Rob Blagojevich is my new hero. True story. I hope I see his face on every major press outlet for months. Step over Obama, Blago is my new poster child for the American politician. It's not the fact that he tried to sell a US Senate seat, or the fact that his language in front of his young children is enough to make Snoop Dogg blush, or even the grandeur of his PROceeding hair line. The reason I love Rob Blagojevich so much is that he is working very hard to destroy America's faith in it's leaders. Rather than do the rational thing, walk away and enjoy a peaceful life with Steve Bartman down in Florida, Blago is putting his face onto every media outlet he can and fighting this one to the very end. Brilliant.

Blago is a typical politician, and the more we see his face this week, the more Americans will realize how corrupt our system is. He may be a little more arrogant and corrupt than most, but this is just politics as usual. The job description of a politician is to gain power and control and then to maintain it. That's why we have people like Blago in our public offices. This is also why we will never see something like a Fair Tax ever pass into law because it would rip away a significant portion of the power our senators have over us. The simple truth is that our elected officials will always fight for themselves and the power of their office.

So I'm going to enjoy it while is lasts and I just hope ol' Blago's 15 minutes don't become a forgotten image of the past.

Good News and Bad News

The Good News:

A few weeks ago The Child Soldier Prevention Act was signed into law by President Bush. Currently, American tax dollars go toward military assistance for six governments using child soldiers. The Child Soldier Prevention Act restricts that funding. I believe it is a strong step in the right direction.

My only exposure to child soldiering has been in Northern Uganda. There, the Lords Resistance Army uses children almost exclusively as they are easy to brainwash and control. One of the big stumbling block in opposing the LRA is that their main enemy, the government of Uganda, also enlists children as young as 13 into their army. Hopefully this act will force governments like Uganda into acting more responsibly.

The Bad News:

To think this act will do anything significant in the fight against child soldiering is a fallacy. The problem is that the overwhelming majority of child soldering is done by rebel groups, not government armies. Just a few weeks ago the LRA abducted at least another 160 children in what is known as the Christmas Massacres. I missed this story when it happened last month, but when I finally read about it I nearly threw up. I have dear friends in Northern Uganda and to think of them being killed in such grotesque ways is just sickening. The people in these bush villages are so peaceful and friendly; it breaks my heart to read stories like this.