On a serious note...

Things to think about, part one:

This is Albert Ebosse.  A Cameroonian by birth, he played for a team in the highest soccer league in Algeria. He was a team leader in the 2013-14 season, scoring 17 goals.  He was poised to be a big star in the just started new season.

Now, he's dead.  His home fans were mad that their team, his team, got beat 2-1 in the second game of the seasons.  They decided to throw rocks at their team; one of them struck and killed the 24-year-old player.

You don't get that much in the US of A, where a more civilized (usually) kind of sports fan dwells.  But even here, we've seen fights in the stands, knifings in the parking lots, men taking swings at women.  And outside of criminal or civil proceedings, what have we seen the teams themselves do?

Why, they've banned all purses, backpacks, etc., except for the clear bags THEY sell.  Wow.


Now, for perspective, let me tell you what ALGERIA did.

- ALL soccer stadiums in the nation are closed indefinitely.
-The season at ALL levels is suspended indefinitely.
-The family of Ebosse will be paid the full amount of his contract, plus EACH of his teammates will be donating one month's salary.
-If the culprit is caught and he was indeed a fan of one of the two teams, that team might well be expelled permanently.
-The Interior Ministry will be investigating WHY a stadium that was in the midst of construction maintenance (hence the availability of broken pavement to throw) was open in the first place.


I wonder how long they will be without the season before one of the "good friends" of the perpetrator turns him in?

Point being, American sport has been willing to give hand slaps thus far just because we don't tend to do these things.  Oh, we can strip an owner of HIS property for saying the "N" word in private, such a heinous crime!  But pull over the Pittsburgh Steelers' top two running backs ( and a young lady) for DUI and marijuana possession, and three days later the ESPN headline is coach Mike Tomlin "might suspend them".  How is it a nation with such idiots in the fan base is enlightened enough to bring down a harsh and necessary punishment, where in the US of A, a team is only TRULY punished if the crime is PC enough?  Because death is just part of the game, but "God forbid" if a game is started with prayer.  Or an owner feels he can express his private thoughts without worrying about a wire taping him in his own home.


Things to think about, part two:



We hear a lot of people say about Muslims: if they aren't all bloodthirsty terrorists, why do we never here any of them stand up against Hamas, al-Qaeda, ISIS?

Well, listen:


CAIRO—The top Islamic authority in Egypt, revered by many Muslims worldwide, launched an Internet-based campaign Sunday challenging an extremist group in Syria and Iraq by saying it should not be called an “Islamic State.”
The campaign by the Dar el-Ifta, the top authority that advises Muslims on spiritual and life issues, adds to the war of words by Muslim leaders across the world targeting the Islamic State group, which controls wide swaths of Iraq and Syria. Its violent attacks, including mass shootings, destroying Shiite shrines, targeting minorities and beheadings including American journalist James Foley, have shocked Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shawki Allam, previously said the extremists violate all Islamic principles and laws and described the group as a danger to Islam as a whole. Now, the Dar el-Ifta he oversees will suggest foreign media drop using “Islamic State” in favor of the “al-Qaeda Separatists in Iraq and Syria,” or the acronym “QSIS,” said Ibrahim Negm, an adviser to the mufti.
This is part of a campaign that “aims to correct the image of Islam that has been tarnished in the West because of these criminal acts, and to exonerate humanity from such crimes that defy natural instincts and spreads hate between people,” Negm said according to Egypt’s state news agency MENA. “We also want to reaffirm that all Muslims are against these practices which violate the tolerant principles of Islam.” (From the Epoch Times)



Next time the subject comes up, why not ask Brian Williams, Scot Pelley, or Chris Mathews why they don't report stories like these?  Answer- Giving any Muslim a break is not good ratings news.  You get a lot more viewers in this, or any, story by focusing on the loud, noisy, nutball minority.  Thus you never here about your Hometown Baptist Church's latest food drive, missionary sending, or VBS week, but PLENTY about Westboro Baptist Church and their never ending quest to mock everything good and pure in the service of Christ.  Notice I grabbed that story from a non-traditional news source- actually a pretty balanced source built by Chinese immigrants in NYC.  Watch network news, CNN, even FoxNews if you want to see what plays on sweeps week.  For truth, you need to get past the sound bites and be more aware.

Recently I unfriended someone on Facebook who thought his opinions were the well thought out, be-all, end all, while I was a member of the "Flat Earth Society" and was "Well programmed".  Moments after I unfriended him, another commenter on the post said to him to the affect, "Last time we had this discussion, you cited MSNBC as credible because a large network news channel surely thoroughly vettes their stories."  Needless to say, I laughed.

Be warned- I do research beyond the mainstream.  I don't hold that up as being always right, but it does give me the right to tell anyone who says I'm "programmed" to go shit and fall in it.  At least in Bob Radil's case, I was nicer than that.

I told him to "have a nice life."