A Case for Optimism

How are we doing, I mean, as humans?

...Because from where I sit, it doesn't look that good.

There's:

• Brokenness: Broken families, broken hearts, broken lives. Many people in this world will never begin to experience what love is.
• Corruption: Just take a look at Mexico, where anyone with the cojones to stand up to the drug trade ends up six feet under.
• Ignorance: That the Newark public school system could inspire Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million gift should be evidence enough.
• Rhetoric: Glenn Beck. Jesse Jackson. Lady Gaga.
• Rhetoric listeners: The rhetoric offends enough by itself. But when I learn that my beautiful grandparents watch FoxNews, witness the black community's failure to recognize the overwhelming bullsh*t of its leaders, or wonder why a celebrity's opinion can make headline news, I cringe. And a little hope dies inside.

I'm like Ironhide in Transformers. That's him, pretty studly.

• Ironhide: "Why are we fighting to save the humans? They're a primitive and violent race."

I get tired I wonder if I should even bother to try and change the world.

--------------------------

But maybe I should take a more historical perspective.

• Optimus Prime: "They're a young species. They have much to learn. But I've seen goodness in them."

We are a young species, and to look back over the last 50,000 years is to see a lot of war and violence; suffering and apathy. But look again and observe a steady progression from darkness into light.

We have formed society. Cooperation has begun to overwhelm conflict as the means of overcoming difficulty. Education has begun to dispel ignorance and its resulting technologies have improved our quality of life. And although these types of progress have marked human progress from the start, never before have they been so widespread.

Since 1970 the percentage of the world's population with access to clean water has increased from 30% to upwards of 85%. Free elections are no longer a luxury, but an expectation. "For the first time in human history all people are convinced that the benefits of culture ought to be and actually can be extended to everyone" (GS).

Cause for optimism abounds.

-------------------------

But how to ensure further progress?

It falls to the leaders and thinkers of the age to discover and protect those principles and underpinnings of society that, in the midst of change and evolution, steadfastly bind humankind to itself. Failure in this regard will leave us slaves to our creations.

Success, well success would just rock :).

Special thanks to Mike Toohey for his ongoing friendship and his contribution to this article. Cited material: Gaudium et Spes: Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. The Vatican, 1965.

The Catholic Church is in Turmoil

And God is a Grandma...

Behold, I am always with you, until the end of time. - Jesus

The Catholic Church reminds me of an old grandmother's old house. Paint peels from the siding, the front porch sags dangerously, the floors creak, and the roof leaks. An assortment of characters help take care of the place. Some are kind. Some are funny. Some are sick. Some are mean.

From the outside, I'll always ask, "Why does Grandma live in a house like this?," but once inside her warmth and love overwhelm my doubts.

Anytime I want to visit she opens her door and invites me in. She feeds me delicious cookies and lends an ear to my problems. Her wisdom means more to me than that of any other. She radiates peace and joy. She tells me what's really important in life.

Still, when I have to go, I often find myself wondering: "Is Grandma there because the house is still standing, or maybe the house is standing because Grandma is still there?..."

Big fucking deal...

There, I said it.



Is it really so scandalous that Vice President Biden did too?

Samberg/Rihanna

Oscars Tonight!

The Best Picture will doubtlessly go to the film that most closely matches this uber-trailer.

Shamu: son of Rambo

So, a killer whale killed somebody. Big surprise there I guess...

No, that's not the news. The news is that the Orlando Sentinel has taken the death of the trainer as a sign that orcas should not be kept in tanks.

Possible correct conclusion. Horrible logic.

This is clearly a sign that trainers do not belong in orca tanks.

Death Knells of Democracy: Mayor Goodman

Rejecting the President

The President will be in Las Vegas Thursday and Friday of this week but the mayor has refused to see him.

In continued backlash to comments Mr. Obama made about "blow[ing] a bunch of cash in Vegas," Mayor Oscar Goodman (Independent) has stated that "I've got other things to do quite frankly for my constituents here in Las Vegas [than meet with the President]".

Power to the mayor, seriously. Mr. Goodman's job title says "Mayor of Las Vegas" not "Sycophant to the President".

Death Knells of Democracy: Senator Bayh

Quitting the Senate

Today two-term Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) announced that he will not seek re-election in November.

Among his comments:

For some time, I have had a growing conviction that Congress is not operating as it should. There is too much partisanship and not enough progress -- too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving. Even at a time of enormous challenge, the peoples' business is not being done...

To put it in words most people can understand: ...I do not love Congress.

I am constantly reminded that if Washington, D.C., could be more like Indiana, Washington would be a better place.

Define the state of democracy if elected officials can't even stand the stench in Washington.

On the Insanity of Modern Life

"...And on the eighth day God invented free time. Humanity could diversify. Each person was no longer tied to subsistence and could now dedicate life to activities formerly too "expensive" to enjoy.

Education flourished, human bonds matured and strengthened, and every individual became a font of wisdom and experience."

Ironic then, that you probably discovered this post on your Facebook NewsFeed—A well-spring of knowledge boasting gems such as:

• Amber can't stop thinking about his eyes.
• FML!..., IMAO..., lol
• Only 12 more days until CHICAGOOO!!
• ...coming to grips with the dark shroud of life without you...

What convinced modern man that other people cared so much about his melodramatic, pithy self-expression?

Who decided that free time should be best used to wallow in constant introspection instead of the pursuit of additive meaning and the construction of a more beautiful humanity?

Demographics

If you've ever been married you know that marriage (and especially kids) cuts down on free time and eliminates the waste of this precious resource.

I don't know what it used to be like back in the day ;) but statistics alone demonstrate that the marriage age for both men and women has risen about 5 years over the last 50 years while the divorce rate for first marriages has risen from 25% to 50%. The factors combine to produce a plethora of single adults: bored single adults with lots of free time.

A Little Rant

So, into which vessels does our generation pour its creative energies and time? The following comes from the lips of Brad Pitt in Fight Club, an all-too-apt expression of the meaninglessness of so much of our activity.

"I see all this potential.
And I see it squandered.

Goddamn it, an entire generation pumping gas. Waiting tables. Slaves with white collars.

Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes.
Working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.

We're the middle children of history. No purpose or place.
We have no Great War. No Great Depression.
Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives.

We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars.
But we won't. We're slowly learning that fact.
And we're very, very pissed off."

Non Serviam

All in all, our decisions suggest an new theology...

The Economy is now God. He seeks profit.

His creatures best serve him through self-transformation into factors of production. They go to school so that they can work for the rest of their lives.


To keep them from achieving the autonomy that could lead them astray he plies them with television, the Internet, meaningless possessions, and any other opium that will occupy their minds without actually effecting true personal formation.

Humanity accepts the Economy's Matrix: the alternative demands too much effort.

I will not serve. The light of humanity has not gone out in my soul. Today will be an investment in the subtle riches of tomorrow. So help me God...

Documentary maker Moore on Capitalism

Capitalism: A Love Story

Michael Moore (Fahrenheit 911, Bowling for Columbine) unveiled his newest film at the Venice film festival this week. The film closes with the warning: "Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil"...

Despite its many failings, consider Mr. Moore, that the system you condemn has the potential to make you very rich indeed.

Candid is the new cool

Penn State coach Joe Paterno when asked to comment on the allegations that the University of Michigan has exceed NCAA regulations on summer practices: "I don't read the newspapers."

After a summer in DC, it's a good reminder that some people don't feel the need to pretend to care.

Detroit manager Jim Leyland on whether or not Tigers' pitcher Jeremy Bonderman was ready to play after being recalled from Triple-A baseball: "He better be, or else he could have stayed down there and gone walleye fishing."

All hail candidness. Two points in one night.

Bad Form

Ohh Peta...

The Art of Communication

If indeed you must be candid, be candid beautifully. ~Kahlil Gibran

Pumpkin Spice Latte

At the register:

• Good morning, welcome to Starbucks can I take your order?
• Um, yes, I'd like a quad grande pumpkin spice latte, no whip.
• Ok, your total is $3.79, Cassandra will have that right up for you.

At the bar:

• Hey, how's it going?
• Good, how about you?
• Do you even care?
• Now, that you mention it, not really, no.
• I didn't think so. I'm not crazy about you either, mostly because your eyes reveal no intelligent life within. You speak and yet say nothing.

The preceding conversation has never taken place. And yet it takes place every day: People treating people like things. Perhaps its recurrence shouldn't afford the bat of an eye. The Starbucks barista is just like the guy at the tollbooth. He hands you your ticket. You say thank you. Rewind and repeat: 10,000 times a day.

But man (and by man I mean woman) owes it to himself to demand more. Humans have a range of expression that exceeds that of the universe itself. Nuance, passion, undertone, irony, humor, love: The list could go on... We can do all that. For humans, communication can become an art.

Ingredients

Part of communication consists of its words or gestures: its language. Still, even a perfectly crafted message owes dependence to its receiver. Take the famous Japanese game show "Takeshi's Castle." This exquisite show took on a whole new meaning when Spike TV revealed it to American eyes as MXC (Most Extreme Elimination Challenge). Talk about lost in translation.

So obviously it’s also necessary to understand the recipient(s) of a message. Since that’s often impossible, tact is vital. Tact is like smiling: It communicates an idea in a way that everyone accepts and understands.

Good Form

Observe the application of these two ingredients. In the following scene, Don Corleone greets Bonasera in his office on his daughter's wedding day. His communication is smooth, efficient, and effective.



As a Sicilian, Don Corleone cannot refuse favors on his daughter’s wedding day. He’s over the barrel but he leverages the request to get what he wants: respect and family unity. Watch him carefully. Every word he utters works toward his ends. He listens, questions Bonasera’s loyalty, and demands his respect. Words, tone, and body language all flow in unison: The Godfather is a master.

Bad Form

The Internet provides an ideal medium for poor communication. Please observe the result of a message stripped of its artistic value:

• starfish: worried about dave (stepdad). he had a heart cath today. days like these i wish i believed in a god so i could ask someone to look after him. i hate feeling helpless in these situations : \


• iamwaldo: Yet you're still happily atheistic?


• starfish: that's comparable to something ill fated happening to your family & my asking "still happy believing in your god?" sorta tactless

The entire exchange lacks beauty. The Internet lays no claim on lingual accuracy and 'starfish's' reply serves as a fine example. Conversely, 'Iamwaldo' has language down, apostrophe and all, but he has the tact of a staff infection. He doesn’t understand ‘starfish’ and he doesn’t care. His point of view has become more important than the people with whom he shares it.

Assassin

A master of the communicative form wields a rare weapon. He or she can sense the needs and desires of others and choose to ignore, fulfill, or abuse them. Seduction and manipulation come as easily as kindness and compassion.

Yet regardless of intent, all communication bears the potential to exceed mere information exchange. Treating Cassandra like a person instead of a clever answering machine does more than acknowledge her humanity—It proves your own.

Faith in Science: The Difference between Girls and Boys

"Baby Blues" by Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Sociology treats gender as a culturally generated phenomenon. Can Wanda and Darryl really teach Hammie his gender role before they can teach him to use a toilet?

Tim Tebow is a virgin! What?!

When questioned about his sex life two weeks ago, Tim Tebow told the world that he is waiting for marriage. A trivial fact, except for the 'Virgin Gator's' stats:

• 6'2", 238 lbs of solid steel
• 183.2 career QB rating: 65.8% of passes completed for 6159 yards and 67 touchdowns; only 11 interceptions
• 4.3 yards a carry over 2037 yards and 43 touchdowns
• Only true sophomore ever to win the Heisman Trophy
• Returning for his senior season for a chance to win a second consecutive national championship

Tim Tebow is a stud. But where are all his women?

What possesses this man?

Seriously. From a strictly objective perspective, this man could sleep with ninety percent of college-aged women. The college dating environment is loose and fast. Hookups are plentiful and noncommittal. Why would he not take advantage?



Unless...

• He's gay: Then again, it can also be assumed that ninety percent of gay men would sleep with Mr. Tebow.
• He's lying: It seems a little evangelical praise hardly outweighs the ridicule he is sure to endure.
• He's impotent: Ha ha.
• He's been seduced by religion: The man does have strong religious convictions. Still, several major religions condemn pre-marital sex and many of their followers do it all the time.

What could be better than sex?

Sex is the pinnacle of the human experience, it therefore makes no sense that Mr. Tebow chooses to postpone it. The 'Virgin Gator' has clearly found something better than sex.

Erroneous!

He has found a better kind of sex.

Even casual sex cannot conceal the incredible intimacy of intercourse. No action more powerfully expresses love. Tim has decided that he won't sell that intimacy on the cheap. He has elected to share himself in that way with only one woman—And he wants to guarantee it to her by marrying her first. A lot of people can't handle that; but it is beautiful beyond words.

Bottom Line

This man is impressive. He does what few people (in his position or otherwise) have the balls guts to do: He acts according to his principles. The plethora of available women and his public stature only amplify the rare conviction he has shown.

Social Norms for New Technology

The winds of technology have unleashed a storm of confusion on the sea of humanity. Texting, sexting, IMing, Facebooking, online dating—I can't handle it! How does all this stuff fit into our established rules of interaction?

Thankfully, Brad Pitt is here to guide our way.

In the July issue of Wired magazine, Mr. Pitt and company spill the beans on surviving in a tech-saturated world. The article, "How to Behave: New Rules for Highly Evolved Humans", provides some of the following gems:

Using [your Facebook status] to declare a breakup is like announcing you're going to sleep by pounding the lamp with a hammer: It gets the point across, but you're likely to leave a mess behind.

Don't Google-stalk before a first date... Reading your date's Muppet Show fanfic might end a beautiful friendship before it even begins.

Friend your boss but not your boss's boss.

When your college pals emerge from their parents' basements to litter your Facebook wall with sexist jokes or embarrassing tales of drunken misadventure, people may think you're like them.... Don't be shy about deleting untoward graffiti, eliminating your name from tagged photos, or even asking friends to remove incriminating pics that weren't meant for public consumption.

And...

Here's a rule of thumb for those of us playing catch-up: Feel free to text while talking or dining with friends.

Well, no. More on that topic soon.

Obama and Racism: Can't we all just get along?

The elephant in the room: That's the only way I know how to describe the racial tension that permeates the majority of black and white relations. There is something present of which no one dares to speak.

I wish I could write off the recent drama involving President Obama, Professor Gates, and Sargeant Crowley as mere miscommunication or foolishness. Unfortunately the root lies closer to ignorance, intolerance, and self-righteousness.

This issue requires much thought and dialogue. In lieu of a post I am not ready to write, I leave you some words from political commentator Andrew Breitbart. His entire column can be read online at WashingtonTimes.com.

Less than a month after being confirmed as the nation's attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr. called out the American people as "essentially a nation of cowards" for refusing to talk openly about race....

Americans, especially nonblacks, are deeply fearful that [racial interaction] is predicated on an un-American premise: presumed guilt. Innocence, under the extra-constitutional reign of political correctness, liberalism's brand of soft Shariah law, must be proved ex post facto.

Think not? Ask the Duke lacrosse team, which had 88 of the school's professors sign a petition that presumed their guilt before their side of the story was known. Even though the white athletes were exonerated and the liberal district attorney who pushed the case was dethroned, disbarred and disgraced, the professoriate that assigned guilt to its own students still refuses to apologize.

Those signatories constituted 90 percent of Duke's African and African-American Studies Department, the subject-matter domain of Mr. Gates, Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West and other tenure-wielding, highfalutin, iambic-pentameter-filibustering race baiters, and 60 percent of Duke's women's studies department, another hotbed of victimology posing as intellectualism....

In the Beginning was Fergal

The Origin of the Species

The Blue Anchor was conceived in a bathroom in County Wicklow, Ireland in 2007. This rather unseemly circumstance delayed her birth until May 17, 2009 when Barack Obama helped deliver her on a stage in South Bend, Indiana. She has been slowly growing ever since and has attracted quite an array of admirers. They await her formal début, which has been scheduled for mid-August of this year.

Meanwhile, allow me to regress a moment to that fateful day...

In the beginning God created some space

Apparently the Divine left out the bathroom at Fergal M's modest home in Bray, because there wasn't room to stand. This fact may explain why my mother avoided Fergal's facility—a choice without which Baby Blue would never have been.

By the time I left the cupboard under the stairs, The Blue Anchor lived within me.

Gestation

I didn't even know she was there until I got back in the car after bidding farewell to Fergal and his lovely wife. I'll pick it up as it happened:

Mom: Hurry hun, I really have to use the bathroom.

Dad:  Look El, I'm going as fast as I can. These damn Irish roads...

Me:   Mom, why didn't you just use the bathroom at Fergal's?

Mom: I don't know. I just...

Me:   You just what, didn't think Fergal's house was good enough for you?

Mom: ...didn't really think of it.

Me:  (perturbed) Didn't think of it? Did it not occur to you that there are certain benefits associated with using another man's toilet?

Mom: (drolly) Like water and a wipe? Son, the hotel has those too you know.

Me:   (sputtering) Water and a...No!

And then the baby moved inside and the words left my lips:

Me: It builds international relations.

Horns blared as my dad nearly lost control of the vehicle. My parents' laughter echoed in my head for days.

The Ultrasound

A closer look will reveal the wisdom of my statement.

Relationships are built on commonality. By using Fergal bathroom, I extended the common ground we share. (Case in point: You and my parents now share a common laughter at my ideas. Maybe it will germinate into a conversation some day.)

But laugh not hastily. Any conscientious housewife should agree: Before a party, women tidy the entire house. Oftentimes this exercise only serves the exasperation of the children. Guests stay on the main floor. They never see whether or not Johnny cleaned out under his bed.

But on rare occasion, a curious or tired guest may enter the newly-cleaned, rarely-seen parts of the house. In such a case, the guest will be grateful for a tour of the house/place to rest/wardrobe to hide in. In consequence, the housewife will feel as though all her efforts were worthwhile. To some degree she will be grateful that she could provide for her guest. And a bond will be formed.

The Family

It is this bond, this common ground, that the Blue Anchor intends to foster.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening

Humanity needs to discuss the issues that most haunt us. We need help in answering those questions most intimate to our lives. Such an endeavor demands a great deal of sensivity and forbids self-righteousness.

I recently commented on someone's blogpost. The response that came back distorted my words and reiterated the argument I had refuted. Clearly, there was no room for dialogue. The dissenting opinion failed to even grant me the accuracy of my own words.

Unfortunately, 'dialogue' of this nature dominates the public square.

"And Then One Day, They Learned to Talk"

All our opinions are necessarily drawn from our human experience. Impressions are projected into beliefs—beliefs then weaved into ideologies. Two persons sharing one experience may end up worlds apart.

The Blue Anchor intends to show Dick the Communist, Jane the Anarchist, and Joe the Plumber Fundamentalist that little can be achieved by ideological contention. Arguments from opposing 'thought spheres' will never meld into a peaceful solution.

Instead, we ought return to the core of the dispute. The rediscovery of our shared human experience will allow us to walk together on the path to truth.

Apollo 11: A Bygone Era

The buzz around the 40th anniversary of the lunar landing puzzles me. Am I the only one surprised at the news coverage this non-event is generating?


Ha. All conspiracy theories aside, in an age of iPhones and space tourism the moonshoot has lost significance. NASA may not have moved on, but everyone else has. Apollo 11 does still have limited use though: For instance, if someone mentions conspiracy theories, well, it might be time to get out the shotgun and blow that un-American hippie away.

Update

I owe you all an explanation.

Two months ago I started this blog with the intent to deliver a more serious discussion of contemporary issues; to embrace what others might gloss over.

Things have gone well but the clear difficulty has been in generating sufficient material to sustain interest in the blog.

We (by that I mean my co-writers and I) are at a crossroads.



Um, maybe not like that (although, as the Brits used to say, "Clapton is God" and therefore serious enough to mandate a post); but we do face the decision to really run with this or to to let it fade. There will be no middle ground.

In a nutshell, this 10-day lull between posts will not persist. If all goes well, you can expect new material at least three times a week by mid-August.

On a final note, if any of you know someone who has the writing ability, philosophical grounding, and emotional detachment necessary to write material for this blog, please drop me a line at blueanchorblog(at)gmail.com.