Obama's "Special Olympics" Remark

Much of the talk about Obama's appearance on The Tonight Show last night is centered on his comment regarding his bowling skills.

The comment came midway through Obama's appearance on the late night comedy show, when host Jay Leno quipped about the president's lack of bowling skills: “I imagine the bowling alley [in the White House] has just been just burned and closed down," Leno said.

“No, no. I have been practicing,” Obama said. “I bowled a 129. It's like — it was like Special Olympics, or something."

Now, I do believe that words are powerful especially when they are coming from someone like the President of the United States. He should apologize for the remark as he did. He should not make comments like this in the future. However...

When are we going to admit that people make jokes like this all of the time? When are going to admit that jokes like this are not always bad? That humor is a vital part of the human condition and helps us grapple with complex issues? I have a black co-worker that I routinely make jokes with about his skin color. He laughs just as hard as I do and jokes about it as well. Should I not do that?

I suppose the difference, though, is that in my case it is on a personal, one-to-one level. My co-worker knows that I don't care what color his skin is and I do not in any way judge him or disparage him for it. When the President or anyone else makes a joke like this in a public forum, not everyone knows that he doesn't actually think less of disabled people. In short, jokes or comments like this are probably fine in a small group when everyone knows everyone and is comfortable with them and not in a public, impersonal setting.

I do hope that we don't hear any more about this after today. Any Republican thinking that they can spin this into any sort of meaningful or effective attack against Obama is going to be sorely mistaken.

I should also take this opportunity to link to a favorite article of mine.

UPDATE: As Joe Klein writes: "Yes, he should apologize, as he has. But we shouldn't belabor this. I'd much rather see Presidents caught in the act of being human than in the promulgation of egomaniacal excess."

Incompetent Bosses

A new study proves what most of us have known all along. You don't have to be competent to become a supervisor.

Social psychologists know that one way to be viewed as a leader in any group is simply to act like one. Speak up, speak well and offer lots of ideas, and before long, people will begin doing what you say. This works well when leaders know what they're talking about, but what if they don't? If someone acts like a boss but thinks like a boob, is that still enough to stay on top?
*snip*
"Dominant individuals behaved in ways that made them appear competent," the researchers write, "above and beyond their actual competence." Troublingly, group members seemed only too willing to follow these underqualified bosses. An overwhelming 94% of the time, the teams used the first answer anyone shouted out — often giving only perfunctory consideration to others that were offered.

This is how con men work, too. Most people, despite what they may say, are very trusting and take things at face value. If you walk like a duck and talk like a duck, people will point at you and say, "Duck!" even if you are in the middle of a desert.

TANSTAAFL

New research shows that modafinil (aka Provigil) is not as safe as once thought at least when it comes to addiction.

That was the thinking, at least — but the thinking now turns out to be wrong, according to a new study published on March 17 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The authors say modafinil is not only the latest in a long line of chemical stimulants designed to keep users awake, alert and happy; it's also the latest to go straight to the brain's addiction centers in the process.

"This drug is not safe to use the way people are using it," says Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and co-author of the new study. "Not safe at all."

I take Provigil because one of the side-effects of my MS is fatigue whether or not I've done anything to warrant it. I've written about it before, how I usually feel sluggish and out of it by mid-afternoon if I do not take it. On the weekends, I try to not take it and nap instead. My neurologist suggested I do this in order to not build up a tolerance to the drug, but this was before this study came out so there was never a mention of addiction.

I've been taking it for two years now, but I don't feel like I have an addiction. I can quit anytime I want! More seriously, I often don't take one on the weekend, at least not both days. There are also days I forget to take my pill. I don't feel anything other than fatigue when I don't take it.

The growing number of people taking Provigil simply because they want a "pick me up" probably need to re-evaluate their decision. Of course, it's only one small part of our society's decision to take drugs anytime they have a sniffle or just want to feel good. Get high on life, man! *crickets chirp* Well, maybe not that; but when is our society going to realize that we can't avoid all things (aging, common illnesses, emotional woes) that we might like to. A life full of ups would be tedious because there would be nothing to measure the highs against. Day is beautiful because we have night. Life is meaningful because we have death. The human condition is about the awe-inspiring highs and the devastating lows. Attempting to avoid it rather than simply accepting it is a path to madness.

Misquoting

Some people just think they're cool, but they're not.

Men View Scantily Clad Women as Objects

File under the "No Shit" category.

New research shows that, in men, the brain areas associated with handling tools and the intention to perform actions light up when viewing images of women in bikinis.

The research was presented this week by Susan Fiske, professor of psychology at Princeton University, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"This is just the first study which was focused on the idea that men of a certain age view sex as a highly desirable goal, and if you present them with a provocative woman, then that will tend to prime goal-related responses," she told CNN.

Although consistent with conventional wisdom, the way that men may depersonalize sexual images of women is not entirely something they control. In fact, it's a byproduct of human evolution, experts say. The first male humans had an incentive to seek fertile women as the means of spreading their genes.

My favorite line in the article?

"Many men make foolish choices because of sexual attraction."

Ya think?

The Fear Card

Dick Cheney just won't go away. He's making rounds criticizing Obama and playing the fear card, accusing him of making terrorist attacks more likely. This is beyond ludicrous. There is nothing wrong with offering critiques of the President's policies; that's what healthy democracy is all about. Trying to gin up fear, though, by saying stuff like, "President Obama campaigned against it all across the country, and now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack," is not cool at all. It crosses the line.

This is how the previous administration worked, of course, but I don't think I'm alone in having hoped that some of this (at least the same faces, anyway) would go away after January 20. Clearly that's not the case. I'm not sure what Cheney's game is here, either. He's not running for office again. He doesn't have a book coming out anytime soon that I know of. I wish he would just crawl back under the bridge he came from.

Weekly Music Video

The greatest song of all time.

Queen - "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Weekly Secret

PostSecret

Flamers for Jesus

This guy would be an awesome youth pastor.


Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

Via iMonk

A Day for Math Geeks

Happy Pi Day

If you ever need the first few dozen digits of pi and you don't have access to a computer, just let me know and I'll help you out.

What? You mean not everyone memorizes digits of pi? Huh. People are strange.

Depression is a Bitch

It has become painfully obvious to me over the past month that I am struggling with depression. This is not a completely new development in that I have dealt with this off and on for the past two years or so. Over the past couple of months, though, it has become much worse. Enough so that it is interfering with my life. I have moments where I feel I am crashing hard and I don't know if I'll recover. If I don't do something, I fear I will.

To that end, I am going on a retreat. Alone. My friend, Jeromy, told me about a place in Minnesota, Pacem in Terris. It is a Catholic retreat where one can go to "get away from it all." There is no electricity or plumbing. A basket of bread and fruit is provided daily. You are alone with your thoughts. I'm taking a notebook, some pens, and my camera; that's it. I'll be gone from Sunday until Thursday.

I can't wait.

I seem to have a natural inclination toward melancholy, but it wasn't a big deal until I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Since then it has been an ongoing issue. I don't get depressed over the fact that I have MS, but the MS does affect my brain and one of the side-effects (a fairly common one) is depression. It is without a doubt the worst side-effect I have had to deal with. Even the constant fatigue is not as bad. Of course I have not yet had any physical debilitations, but I have a hard time imagining even those to be as bad as the depression.

Everything going on in my life over the past year has not made things any easier, either. I fought for custody of my daughters and won which I am eternally grateful for, but it also means that I now have to be a dad full-time instead of one day a week. I love it, but it's not easy. My daughters came out of a very negative environment and so on top of the normal parenting challenges I am trying to help them overcome their issues from their previous home. Also at home has been a lot of chaos due to...well, due to a number of issues. I've been trying to do school. It seems like I've been going forever and I'm so close to finishing my degree, but it feels so far away. At work, my job duties have nearly doubled since December. And, of course, dealing with my health and the discovery that I have two incurable autoimmune diseases does little to help matters.

So, I've had a lot on my plate and really no respite from it. Lately I honestly haven't really cared about much of anything and things in my life - school, my relationship with my family and friends, work - have all suffered for it. I don't expect this trip to be a cure all, but it will be an important step. I need to get away from everything for a few days, to have time to think, refocus, and clear my head. When I come back, I expect to have the will and the energy to re-tackle my life head on and get to where I want to go.

I also promise to start blogging more. Writing is hard when you're depressed.

The Sixth-Grade Demographic

Judging by comments to this post, I'm guessing that my daughter, Erica, is attempting to garner a larger audience for me. I'm touched really, but I don't think she realizes that much of what I write on here is not suitable for kids (or anyone with taste).

Hmmmm...it makes me wonder, though? Could a blog be used as a teaching tool for children? What would it be like? Would it be one author with comments? Could kids post entries? Hmmmm...

Gravity in the Land of Mario

Aren't geeks great? Here is an analysis of gravity in the Super Mario Bros. games. I found it very cool, but, that's just me.

Star Trek Opera

Star Trek II: The Opera of Khan

Parenting Tips

As a parent, I am always on the lookout for good advice on the subject and this guy seems to have a lot of wisdom.

The Honeymoon is Over

My blood sugar has been up higher lately and I've had a harder time keeping it down. Part of it has certainly been the numerous amounts of sweets around during the holidays combined with my own sweet tooth. Even when I've been good, though, it has been up. I'll eat the same thing I usually do, take the same amount of insulin, and my sugar will still be up 20-30 points.

I saw my doctor last week and he told me the "honeymoon is over." Type 1 Diabetics often go through a honeymoon period during the first year after their diagnosis as their pancreas ekes out the last bits of insulin before finally throwing in the towel. He had me increase my nightly Lantus injection from 20 units to 25. He also strongly recommended I start a regular exercise regimen. It's not that I don't want to, but between working full-time, going to school, raising two daughters, and helping my mom out, I don't know when I'm supposed to exercise.

I suppose I'll need to find some way of doing it, though. High blood sugar can lead to all sorts of complications that I can't afford to get. Maybe I'll start sleeping even less...

Isn't It Ironic

I've written that one of my biggest problems with the school my girls were attending was the anti-science nature of it. I was very excited to get them in a public school which would obviously not have that issue, right?

Sigh. My oldest daughter, Erica, informed me today that her teacher told the class that she is not going to teach the evolution portion of their science curriculum because she is a Christian and doesn't believe humans came from monkeys.

Great! Neither do I, but I still adhere to evolutionary theory and definitely think it should be taught. If she can't teach stuff like this in a secular school, then maybe she should be teaching at a private, Christian school that also doesn't believe in science. I could recommend one to her if she'd like.

Empty Faith

This video was nearly over before I realized that it was not a parody.



Attempts like this one to convert people have always really puzzled me. Does anyone watch something like this and say, "Dude, I totally did not know that Jesus could be extreme! How awesome is that? I am so becoming a Christian now that I know JC is down with skiing!" This video seems so empty, so vacuous, that it almost makes me question my faith. Almost.

I sort of understand the notion of keeping the issue simple in order to get people in the door and then introducing them to a more fully realized vision of Christianity. I don't see that happening, though. It seems that too many churches keep making things more simple, more dumbed down just to try to keep growing (in terms of the number of parishioners) and to keep current members from going somewhere else. Where is the challenge? Where is the idea that trying to live up to the standards of Jesus is not easy and calls for more than extreme skiing, singing rock music, going to church once a week, and saying a single prayer. Maybe I'm reading a different Bible, but when I read mine I'm constantly thinking, "Wow. I have a lot to live up to if I am going to call myself a Christian. It's going to take a lot of hard work, failure, and trying again and again."

I suppose that's intimidating for many people in our me-first-no-pain culture, but I think that we underestimate people. I think that there are a lot of people out there who do want more; they just don't know how or what to do. They need leaders, real leaders, not people like Joel Osteen telling you that God wants you to be rich. People who will challenge those around them, to say "I know you can do better. We can do better, in fact. Let's see what happens." I think the economic crisis is the perfect time for these people to be stepping forward. More than ever, we need them.

"They feel very guilty."

Oh, no doubt they do.

"Hey, honey, Adam's missing."

"Really? Oh, he'll turn up anytime now."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Kids are tough. He'll be fine."

Ten years later.

"Hey, honey, you realize Adam's still missing?"

"Is he? Hmmm...what do you think we should do about it?"

"Well, gee, I don't know. I don't think we need to do anything. He'll be fine."

"Yeah, you're right."

Wow. What do you even say about something like this? What sort of parents don't report their child missing, even if he or she is an adopted child? It's just sick.

Mileage Tax

I'm not an expert on this, but taxing mileage sounds like a bad idea. Wouldn't making more roads toll roads and putting up more parking meters accomplish a similar end with less worry about privacy issues?