A competitor will find a way to win.
Competitors take bad breaks
and use them to drive themselves just that much harder.
Quitters take bad breaks
and use them as reasons to give up.
It’s all a matter of pride.
Nancy Lopez
I'm Proud of Sebastien De La Cruz
The 11-year-old San Antonio native mariachi singer, the son of a Navy veteran, came to national prominence a year ago (third video) in last year's America's Got Talent competition, where he hoped, if he won, he could help pay for his younger brother's hearing problem surgery; unfortunately he failed to advance to the semifinals. He was a last-minute substitute for another singer to sing the national anthem for the first Spurs' home game in the ongoing NBA Finals (first video). [Familiar readers know I'm a Spurs' fan from way back when they were in the ABA (one of 4 teams which eventually merged into the NBA), then especially known for introducing the 3-point shot and three-color basketballs. As OLL students,we got a dirt-cheap ticket bundle, plus pre-game recognition. I have occasionally strayed; I was at UH during the Phi Slama Jama days and went with the Rockets after they signed Olajuwon. After the 1995 Finals, which I watched from Brazil, I was living in the Chicago area and followed the Bulls through the end of the Michael Jordan era. I then reverted back to the Spurs.]
I really didn't hear about the unconscionable wolf pack Twitter attacks on Sebastien, primarily focusing on his ethnic heritage, until I stumbled on a related post on National Review Online. Perhaps in response to the controversy, he was asked back to do an encore for the next home game (video 2). The boy has great pipes; I can only dream of doing how he skips up octaves during "land of the free". Along with Pollowitz, I don't know what's wrong with some people whom go after an 11-year-old, not over the quality of his performance, but his appearance, which is beyond his control. I went to school and college with Latinos, and I've occasionally dated Latinas. The vast majority of them are the salt of the earth, very honest, good-hearted, God-fearing, hard-working, family-oriented people; you would be blessed to have them in your life.
More JOTY Nominations
My Congressman (Cummings (D-MD) gets a second nomination for trying to cut off the politically damaging IRS probe; only an ideologue would believe under Obama's hyper-partisan "wink-and-a-nod" leadership these were "isolated incidents"; what makes this politically corrupt culture more odious is the fact that Obama ran on a post-partisan, reform platform. Obama also earned another nomination for his unconstitutional attempts to influence the outcomes of sexual assault cases in US military courts (re: yesterday's post).
I've never liked Markey (D-MA); let's hope that Massachusetts doesn't elect a second economic illiterate US Senator to replace Kerry. As someone with 2 math degrees. I can say what Markey is saying here is pure uneducated gibberish. Now if I nominated every idiotic thing said by a left-wing politician, my work would never never be done. The reason I'm naming Markey for my mock award of Democrats behaving badly is because he's trying to do a putdown of his opponent, Gabriel Gomez, by quibbling over Gomez' use of the term 'math' of economic statistics in reference to the long-deferred approval of the Keystone pipeline project from Canada to the US.
Stay Out of Syria!
Some readers may have noticed that I've featured a lot of military family reunion videos recently; it's not just because I'm sentimental: there are a number of military families that make sacrifices. As a military brat, I remember how I felt about my Dad shipping out to a war zone; he wasn't infantry, but you still worry--choppers can crash, etc. Even though I was too young to be drafted for the Vietnam War or to get involved in the anti-war movement, I was against the war, although not strident in my views; my dad knew how I felt, but we rarely talked about it. Some of it was personal: I had a playmate in my neighborhood whom lost his dad, and my undergraduate RA lost his leg on Hamburger Hill. As someone whose intention was to become a Catholic priest, I really didn't like the concept of war, particularly in a small country posing no credible threat to the US halfway around the world.
Barack Obama has himself to blame for the unforced error of drawing a line in the sand. If the allegations of Assad's use of chemical weapons are true, it's horrific; but just like Iraq, this sectarian battle has all the earmarks of being a proxy war between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, a conflict which predates the founding of our republic. This is not a problem we can resolve, and it's like we haven't learned our lesson from arming the Muslim resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. He argues the US involvement will be modest, furnishing arms to rebels, but our involvement in Vietnam after the nightmare of the Korean stalemate was also limited in intent. These things have a way of spiraling out of control, mission scope creep. It seems day by day Obama is validating the trust of the Nobel Peace Prize committee.
My Greatest Hits: June 2013
My runaway most read post was my May 24 daily. Was it my critical discussion of Abenominics? Just 2 days earlier the Nikkei hit its yearly peak, but the Nikkei is officially in bear market territory, falling more than 20% in less than a month, giving up so far nearly half its gains this year. I wouldn't say I called a peak, but I clearly implied the rise was unsustainable. There is a whiff of Enron around this: when the stock market of a large developed economy in a generational slump skyrockets based primarily on money printing and runaway government spending: it smells of manic-depressive investor behavior (It's not like Japanese factories are churning out babies to augment its future economy.) I know what everyone is thinking: has that Japanese girl band lowered their hemlines yet? I'm pleased to see my Grumwald rant is still running strong and has cracked my all-time top 8 (my overall statistics only go back about 3 years).
- Miscellany: 5/24/13
- Miscellany: 5/30/13
- Michael Grumwald and the GOP Road to Nowhere
- Miscellany: 5/25/13
- Miscellany: 5/18/13
[I was hoping to see him hold his newborn daughter for the first time...]
Political Humor
The whole movie, if you go to see it — this is a spoiler alert — is Superman complaining about having to fly friends to the airport. - David Letterman
[In Superman's absence the TSA learned to develop its own x-ray vision, and NSA can eavesdrop on a conversation halfway across the world.]
Edward Snowden shows up in a hotel in Hong Kong and announces to the world that he's leaked confidential National Security Agency memos and documents. He's now gone. Where is this guy? Gosh, if only there was a way to keep track of people. - Davis Letterman
[How do you think the Chinese found Snowden?]
This week a man was arrested for jumping over the White House fence and trying to spray paint a political message. If that guy really wanted to get a message to the president, he could have just written it in an email to literally anyone. - Jimmy Fallon
[Or make a big enough donation to Organizing for Action.]
The world's oldest human tumor has been found on the rib of a Neanderthal skeleton in Croatia. The tumor would have been discovered sooner, but they have government healthcare over there. - Jay Leno
[And he's on a waiting list to get it treated.]
Some experts believe the privacy scandal will hurt the NSA. Are they crazy? Do you know how many people want to join now that they've heard the guy who blew the whistle is a high school dropout, making almost $200,000 a year, with a pole dancer girlfriend, and he’s living in Hawaii? People are lining up to get this job. - Jay Leno
[It sounds like what the NSA is offering as bounty for Operation Get Edward Snowden.]
The big story continues to be 29-year-old Edward Snowden, the man behind the leaking of the NSA spy scandal. Speculation is that Snowden is hiding in Hong Kong and could be working for China. Hey, let's get real. Aren't we all pretty much working for China? - Jay Leno
[The Chinese give money to Obama to "invest" in exchange for an IOU. American workers give money to the federal government to "invest" in retirement entitlements in exchange for an IOU. It's the greatest scam since the Dutch bought Manhattan for $24 in Venetian trading beads and trinkets.]
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups Redux
Simon and Garfunkel, "My Little Town". One of my favorite Simon songs which I've also embedded in the past. If there was one group fans wanted to reunite after the Beatles, it was this one. Both singers went on to chart as solo artists in the 70's. The songwriting, arrangement, and vocal performances are brilliant. I will close this series with a James Taylor collaboration with the group, and start my Beatles reprise Monday.
