SWCAMBORNE

In the UK soccer hooligans are a cultural phenomenon that have over the past few decades caused dozens of deaths and lots of social angst.  Most of the news chatter that I heard seemed to hold society as a whole and the perpetrators individually responsible for the damage and mayhem.

Now consider the aftermath of the tragic soccer riot in Port Said, Egypt.  The Egyptian press reports that the public is blaming not the individuals or the society but the army and the police.  The quote I read was “there were no police there to stop us.” It is as if they are saying we are not responsible enough to attend sporting events without an authoritarian boot nearby.  It doesn’t seem to bode well for their post Mubarak society.

But it get more complicated.  In Los Angeles a Dodger fan beat a Giants fan nearly to death after a baseball game and the press and the public are holding Frank McCourt the team’s owner responsible for not having enough security.

Of these three approaches I think that the English one is probably the best but it has a danger.  Saying something like “boys will be boys” or allowing the “social disease” excuse from West Side Story tend to over time exacerbate the problem because the “boys” start to think that they can get away with it.

A mix of competitiveness, alcohol, avid loyalty and the unhappiness of losing is sure to be volatile. So the potential of people rioting at sporting events is a condition that every society has to manage.  How they manage this emotional mix is to some extent a measure of a societies maturity.  Allowing the perpetrators a free pass by blaming the police is not an indicator of a mature society.

As Gordon C. said:

“The nicest Summer I ever spent was this Winter in Pasadena.”

I took some pictures that prove his point.

An Album on Flickr

Sorry Ohio, NY, Pennsylvania and the UK

From XKCD.com

a very clever comic site

Recently, while I was working in the flower beds in the front yard, my
neighbors stopped to chat as they returned home from walking their dog.

During our friendly conversation, I asked their little girl what she
wanted to be when she grows up.

She said she wanted to be President some day.

Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked
her, “If you were President what would be the first thing you would
do?”

She replied… “I’d give food and houses to all the homeless people.”

Her parents beamed with pride!

“Wow…what a worthy goal!” I said. “But you don’t have to wait until
you’re President to do that!” I told her.

“What do you mean?” she replied.

So I told her, “You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull
weeds, and trim my hedge, and I’ll pay you $50. Then you can go over to
the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give
him the $50 to use toward food and a new house.”

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in
the eye and asked, “Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the
work, and you can just pay him the $50?”

I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party.”

Her parents aren’t speaking to me.

“When trying to decide a course of action, it is usually helpful to ask yourself,

What would Anne of Green Gables do?

From an intriguing  new book

The Fallback Plan

by Leigh Stein

It reminds me of the bumper sticker I bought at the Nixon Library:

This one is for the director of training at the Marine Corp.

Americans are so rich that 95% of our “poor” own color TVs.

Don Watkins and Yaron Brook

Ayn Rand Institute

In a Forbes Magazine article 1/16/2012

Okay but the numbers are probably much lower for HD and flat screen.

Here is a link to a site that has the MONEY  CHART.   It is a remarkable creation.  If you are interested in information follow the link.  The internet is amazing.

The link in the clear:  http://xkcd.com/980/huge/#x=-6432&y=-4336&z=2

Here is a screenshot of a large section:

And one of a detail:

Thanks to Rebecca B for this one.

Here is a common quote from Plato:

“One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferior!”

Unfortunately it is a bastardization of a much longer quote that is probably translated as:

“If the decent are not willing to rule, they are punished by being ruled by worse men.”

Here is someones full translation that is almost unreadable:

“Hence, necessity and a penalty must be there in addition for them, if they are going to be willing to rule – it is likely that this is the source of its being held to be shameful to seek to rule and not to await necessity – and the greatest of penalties is being ruled by a worse man if one is not willing to rule oneself.“

This came to my mind when a friend posted on Facebook: “Con esperanza intermitente”  which the new Facebook translator said in English was “With intermittent hope”  but I think really means “with a bit if hope”

It is hard to know what people mean in English let alone in other languages.

Even translations have biases.

For Hanukkah, Lillian found and gave me a perfect new bucket for the pond.

One of Maimonides, the medieval Jewish  scholar, most famous ideas was his Eight Levels of Giving.  They are still very germane today.  According to the list the highest level is giving a loan to a person in need and the lowest is “giving unwillingly.”   I’ve reprinted the entire list below.

Rebecca remembered that I wanted a new computer game and got me hooked happily on WarLight.

I was reminded of Maimonides classification system during this years Hanukkah gift giving extravaganza.  A gift has to fill needs of both the giver and the receiver.  Many don’t.  Some gifts are bought on demand, some are given as a duty and some are perfect, filling a need the recipient didn’t know they had.  I decided to write a list of the Eight Levels of Gift Giving.  Originally I had seven levels but Fred R suggested that a list that refers to Hanukkah should have eight.  The first level is most preferable but most gifts are appreciated:

1. A Gift that the receiver wanted but didn’t expect.
2. A Gift that creates new opportunities for the recipient.
3. A Gift that is made or discovered rather than just purchased.
4. A Gift that is purchased because the giver would like to have it.
5. A Gift that is purchased because it is easy to buy or generic.
6. A Gift that is outside the expectations of cost or effort.
7. A Gift that is specifically requested or clearly needed by the recipient.
8. A Gift that is purchased by the recipient and labeled as if from the giver.

I loved these kitchen utensils when we saw them in Israel.  Nurit found them and bought me the set.

I was lucky enough to get three gifts from the first level this year.  All of which are used to illustrate the article.

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