The Influence of the NFL

During class, we discussed the NFL - its rules, its penalty system, and its influence on kids. The part that I found most interesting was the spillover effect it had on other players in the NFL and of other ages. I especially found the question that Mr. Bolos posed on his blog post interesting. He asked: "Finally, I guess I wonder what you think about the impact of football on young people who play the game and how the NFL doe(s) or does not influence the kids playing at the high school level, for example."

To answer his question, I think that the NFL has a large impact on high-school football. This is especially apparent in two examples that I can remember. Cam Newton, the starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, does a touchdown celebration where he acts as if he rips off the shirt from his chest. He does this every time he scores a touchdown, and never gets in trouble for it. However, Jalan McClendon, a high-school quarterback, did the same exact celebration during one of his games, because of how much he looked up to Newton. The celebrations were the same, but the consequences were not. McClendon got ejected from that game because the high school thought it was disrespectful.

Similarly, a well-known football star is Tim Tebow. He also has a coined touchdown celebration called “Tebow-ing” where he kneels over and looks like he is praying. Many young kids, and even adults, mimic this by tebow-ing at any time they deem necessary. Some high-school students at Riverhead High School were suspended for a hallway tebowing session.

Both examples indicate that actions that NFL stars take are often copied by high-schoolers who look up to them. The pattern indicates that the actions the pros take have no consequences, while the kids often do get penalized. Why do you think this is true? Should pros be more careful about their celebrations, or should they continue to do what they do?

Americans and the Lottery

During this past week, the news was filled with stories not of the situation in Syria, but of the lottery. The Lottery was up to $580 million dollars last week, which was the second highest jackpot in American history. My initial reaction to this was, "here we go again." But the longer I thought about it, the more I connected it to our discussions of success in class.

The craze over the Lottery to me indicates that Americans would much rather get their money in a way that requires absolutely no work, rather than working hard doing a job they love. This fantasy of winning the lottery coerces people to buy a lottery ticket. The interesting thing to me is that the odds of winning are so minuscule, yet thousands upon thousands of people still buy tickets. 

The odds of winning the Jackpot were at 1 in 176 million. That is such a ridiculously small chance of winning that I would think it would turn some people off from buying the tickets. Boy was I wrong about that. Anyway, I found this hilarious Times article that compared the odds of winning the lottery to the odds of other funny, random things. Here are some of my favorites:

Chances of dating a supermodel: 1 in 88,000

Chances of dying by falling off of a ladder: 1 in 2.3 million

Chances of drowning in the bathtub: 1 in 840,000

Chances of dying by getting hit by a vending machine: 1 in 112 million

Despite these odds, Americans don't cease to buy a ticket for a chance to win. This tells me a couple of things about Americans: Like I mentioned earlier, they would rather have to do no work to get an absurd amount of money that they have no need for. Second, that they care more about money than doing what they love. 

Do you think this is the case with all Americans - do they worship money? Or is it just a craze due to the lottery?

Fiscal Cliff

The fiscal cliff is approaching. And if a deal isn't made before January 1st, our economy will be doomed. There will be spending cuts all across the board in all different sectors of our economy - the defense sector, welfare, etc. This will devastate the economy, the most important possession that the US has.

What intrigues me is how important money is to the US. We care less about fighting in wars, or our troops dying, or anything else really. All that we care about is that we have enough money to sustain those wars, or invest in new technology or infrastrcuture that isn't necessarily essential to helping our country grow stronger.

What also interests me is the vast difference in ideologies between the Republicans and the Democrats in the fiscal cliff negotiations. The Republicans are most concerned with increasing taxes on the wealthy, whereas the Democrats are more concerned about programs like welfare. How does one nation produce such different ideologies when it comes to the economy? What is most important to America right now? Are those priorities correct? Feel free to comment below.

Kyrsten Sinema

The name may be unfamiliar to you, but Kyrsten Sinema is breaking precedents in Arizona. Although the elections are over, and it seems that almost everyone is tuned out of politics for the next 4 years, I am not. Sinema just recently got elected to the House of Representatives after all of the votes were finally tallied, 6 days after the polls closed. She came out on top, and is now not only a rare Democrat elected in the generally red state of Arizona, but is also the first bisexual congresswoman to be elected.

This groundbreaking achievement of Sinema's is quite important. This victory may lead the way to equal rights for those who are a part of the LGBT community. It is hard enough to win an election as a Democrat in a generally Republican state, but when you defy all odds and win it is even more amazing.

What kind of implications does this victory have for the future of equal rights? Will this boost the chances of other LGBT people who run for Congress' chance of succeeding? Why or why not?

If you want to learn more, here is a two minute video on Sinema.

Defining Success

Earlier in the week, Mr. O'Connor brought up an idea about how people who live around here quantify success. Not to generalize, but I think it is fair to say that most people around here would define success as getting the best grades, going to the best college, and making the most money. This brief conversation that we had got me thinking about the reasons I put so much effort into getting good grades in school.

Success should me measured by doing what you love, not how much money you make doing it. If it was just about making money, an astonishing amount of people would be failures. I think that this measure of success is inherent in most Americans. This is true because of the troubling economy, and the general understanding of the American dream. The American dream is to find a great job and make money.

I now disagree with the concept of success being monetarily interpreted because it is an arbitrary way to assign someone their true worth. Where did this definition come from, and why is it still stuck in so many of our heads?

Sandy Breeds Scammers

As you all know, the "superstorm" Hurricane Sandy devastated the states along or East/Northeast border. Tons of damage was done to houses, buildings, and nature. What's left to do is cleaning up and helping those who have no home, power, or clothes. In order to help the people who are in need, tons of companies and organizations are accepting both monetary donations and clothes donations. I myself have donated sweatshirts and fleeces in hope that I will help somebody stay warm.

With all of these ways to donate and help out, there are some serious scams going around as well. After Hurricane Sandy, over one thousand websites opened up. Some were websites that truly did intend to help - lawyers, construction companies, etc. But others, such as a site that accepted PayPal donations to help victims in Jamaica, could not be confirmed as an honest site. The site that I mentioned above was looked in to by SANS Security, a site that checks other internet sites for validity. SANS was not able to confirm that the donations received by the site that collected donations for Jamaican victims actually were given to those in need.

What struck me was how in times of serious need, some people choose to take advantage of the situation for their own personal gain. Is this something that America stands for? How can we ensure that things like this don't happen in the future?

And if you plan to donate, here is a link that gives you legitimate help sites. Make sure you know where you donate, because 70% of Americans do not.

Iran Sanctions

As you all know, we have had presentations for the past week or two relation to civil liberties in times of peril. Whether or not you think that we are currently in times of peril, I think that the situation that is going on in the Middle East currently is a direct threat to our national security. Due to the instability in Iran and Israel too, there is no doubt in any leaders’ minds that a conflict in the Middle East could escalate quickly, and that the US may have to get involved in one.

To contain an outbreak of conflict in Iran specifically, the US has sanctioned Iran’s economy. The US feels the need to sanction Iran because they are afraid that Iran is planning on using its fissile nuclear materials for nuclear weapon capabilities. Some think that sanctioning Iran economically will decrease their will to build and use nuclear weapons. There is a different effect occurring in Iran, however.

The sanctions have been so powerful that it has affected the economy to such an extent that medicine prices have skyrocketed. This means that businesses can't buy enough medicine to supply its demand. Specifically, a drug that helps curb the effects of cancer is diminishing in Iran. This is causing six million patients in Iran to be treated insufficiently. How can we justify these sanctions when it is effecting the regular population? Are these sanctions too effective perhaps, why or why not?