The timing of the attack by Hamas on Israel has raised my suspicions that it is not unrelated to the U.S. Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy being removed from office last week. It doesn’t take a rocket science to figure out that with the U.S political landscape in disarray without a speaker of the house, and the House being unable to allocate additional funds for Israel while there is no speaker, that Hamas used to their advantage the small window of opportunity the right-wing extremist Freedom Caucus members provided by removing McCarthy last week.
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During the first few days and weeks of the conflict in Gaza, you can bet that a large majority of Congress will support aide to Israel, just as we did for Ukraine in the early stages of the war. Israel has the right to defend itself. As time goes on, the unified support for Israel will wane just as the unified support for Ukraine has waned in Congress.
Israel, under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, does not have the same support from the U.S as many of his predecessors did. Money will become an issue. Death of innocent Palestinians at the hands of Israel will become a major issue. It will test our commitment to human rights as a leader in the world. How far the U.S will go in supporting Israels right to defend itself is the unanswered question. You can bet, Israel will not get a blank check from the U.S for an extended period without protest from a vocal minority of Congress.
Question of the Day: Will the Freedom Caucus who has made continued funding of the Ukraine war a major issue for them, take the same stance on long term funding of Israel war with Hamas?
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Quote of the Day: “There were times when I would look at the big picture and it would be overwhelming for me, because I wouldn’t know what to do to try and help the team win. It seemed like there was so much going on, and I’m, like, ‘Where do we start?’ “And I kind of got to where I was focusing too much on that. It was bogging me down mentally. Because when you’re just angry all the time, it’s exhausting. I think anger is awesome fuel, but when it’s all you have, it just wears you down. And I felt like I was just worn down all the time.”
When I read the above quote, I couldn’t help but think how it describes how many of us are feeling about the state of our nation’s politics, especially after the last week. It can also apply to how we are feeling about the world as we have a war in Ukraine and now a full out war between Israel and Hamas, where over 1,000 are dead in less than 24 hours with no end in sight.
The quote was a wake-up call to me about anger and the importance of managing it appropriately. As frustrated as I get about the above, I must understand that I have no control over these events. The only thing I control is how I react to them.
The above quote was from Lion’s offensive left tackle Taylor Decker, who yesterday played his 100th game for the Lions. His quote was in the context of how he was feeling following yesterday’s 42-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers after suffering through seven seasons of futility with previous Lion teams. His words are good advice for so much more than losing football games.
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I missed this article last week in the NY Times. Fortunately, one of the subscribers of this blog sent it to me. I found these comments about the state of our current education system very interesting.
Snowplow parenting is here. Snowplow parenting, also called lawnmower parenting or bulldozer parenting, is a parenting style that seeks to remove all obstacles from a child’s path so they don’t experience pain, failure, or discomfort. Learning how to overcome adversity has become a lost art in public education.
Many teachers lament that 4.0 grades have become meaningless. “Failure is a bad word — and the kids know it. It takes way more work to hold a student accountable than to simply pass him/her. Even if a kid does nothing all year, we are encouraged to find a way to pass him/her. And then, of course, when a student does not perform, parents often want to know what we are going to do about it — not what their child can do.”
Part of the issue is grade inflation. As Chalkbeat reported last year, “Even as students have taken higher-level courses, their G.P.A.s have steadily risen — from an average of 2.68 in 1990 to 2.94 in 2000, 3.0 in 2009 and 3.11 in 2019.” At the same time, test scores on national exams have dropped or remained unchanged, which suggests that students aren’t actually better prepared in math, English or science than they were 20 years ago. The lack of basic skills has been evident for a while: Many two- and four-year colleges devote significant resources to remedial education.
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The hype train for the Lions continues to add cars to handle the increased number of fans that are buying tickets for the train. There is no question, this team is good enough to win their division and host a home playoff game for the first time in over 30 years. They currently have a 1.5 game lead on the Packers, plus they own the tiebreaker.
Before I jump on the hype train, I am waiting to see how the next two weeks turn out. If they beat the Bucs at Tampa and the Ravens at Baltimore, I will buy a first-class ticket on the train. I am looking for them to win at least one of these two games, preferably over the Bucs since they are in the same conference and the game could become a tiebreaker if needed.
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Last week, Dick Butkus of the Chicago Bears and the University of Illinois football teams, passed away at age of 80, Butkus was the greatest linebacker to ever play the game. His size, speed, intelligence and ferociousness made him a feared opponent. Off the field he was a personality that was larger than life as he starred in commercials, TV shows and movies.
My two greatest memories of him were 1: watching an interview with him, in which he said his greatest wish on a football field was to hit a player so hard that he knocked his head off. Later that season, he tackled Lion’s tight end Charlie Sanders so violently, Sander’s helmet came flying off as soon as he was hit. I remember thinking that Butkus just got his wish and 2; when Lion’s receiver Chuck Hughes collapsed on the field in a game against the Bears, it was Butkus who first saw Hughes lying on the ground. Butkus saw that Hughes was in bad shape and Butkus frantically did everything possible to get the attention of the Lion’s and Bears’ training staffs to come on the field to save Hughes. Unfortunately, Hughes died later that day. Football in that moment in time in front of 57,000 Lions fans was not important to the greatest linebacker of all time. Saving the life of one of his fellow players was all that mattered. I became a fan of Butkus ever since. RIP Dick Butkus.
Feel free to share my blog or to sign up to receive it directly in your email. See the sign-up below the Video of the Day.
Quote of the Day: See above.
Orchid of the Day: Dick Butkus, a special player.
Onion of the Day: Hamas
Video/Image of the Day: Dick Butkus at age 80 talking about what happened on the field with Chuck Hughes as compared to what happened last year to Damar Hamlin. See from the 2:00 minute mark of the video. It is worth your time, and you will see why I have so much respect for Butkus.