Around the Block

Skateboarding is an Olympic event?

Commentary

Where have you gone, Jesse Owens, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you…woo, woo, woo.

As the 2020 Tokyo Olympics begins its inevitable wind down in August 2021 (my goodness, spanning two years, this must be the longest Olympics in history) I have a confession. In all the years NBC, and ABC before it, has been covering the Olympics on TV, I’ve spent less time, actually almost no time, watching these troubled games. In fact, the only coverage I’ve seen is when I’ve stumbled on some replays on a news show.

“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”*

*Emma Lazarus – 1883

Commentary

Never Mind!**

**U.S. Department of Homeland Security – 2021

Earlier this week I caught MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell in an exclusive interview with Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas . Both Mayorkas, and the Biden administration, have been under fire recently for the on-going, and escalating crisis, at the southern border.

To his credit, Mayorkas did a good job explaining to Mitchell that the mess they inherited from the previous administration required a complete rebuild of the process, procedures and facilities to get back on track, and that the department is fully devoted to getting there.

And then Mitchell switched gears and asked this:

Deadlines, newspapers and the way it was

Nostalgia

Reminisces of a 1950’s “media junkie”

One of the advantages of self-publishing is that there are no deadlines and no editors (although, I could use an editor to set me on the straight and narrow when my ideas start to meander).

Having said that, among the many (too many, perhaps) writing projects I work on is a column for my community’s monthly magazine, The Breezes, for which I have both an editor and a deadline. The deadline for the fall issue was July 5 and the editor’s remit was to try to write something based on the theme: “…fall teaches us that change can be beautiful…”

Here’s what I wrote:

I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore!

Commentary

The recent news has been mind-bogglingly frightful. And then…

Perhaps I subscribe to too many newspapers and magazines. Perhaps 24-hour cable news is too many hours. But, I don’t know about you and, with apologies to William Shakespeare, “there’s something rotten in the state of America.”

A sampling of recent headlines:

Cleveland Indians changing name to Cleveland Guardians

Commentary

C’mon Cleveland, is that all you got?

Multiple news sources reported today that the Cleveland Major League Baseball team is changing its name next season from the Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians. The name change comes after years of criticism that the current moniker is racist and disrespectful to Native Americans.

The name change comes at a time when many sports teams, including MLB’s Atlanta Braves, NFL’s Kansas City Chief and NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks are under pressure to adopt new names. It also follows the recent move by the NFL’s Washington franchise to discard their historical nickname, the Redskins. Unlike the move by Cleveland, the Washington team has not been able to decide upon a new name and has been known simply as the Washington Football Team for over a year.

Trump loyalists top McCarthy’s list of picks for the Jan. 6 inquiry, signaling a partisan brawl

Commentary

Truth, justice and the American way – GOP style

House Minority Leader Joseph McCarthy…er…Kevin McCarthy (sorry, Freudian keyboard slip) announced which of his members will serve on the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

The lawmakers are Reps. Jim Jordan (Ohio), Jim Banks (Ind.), Rodney Davis (Ill.), Kelly Armstrong (N.D.) and Troy E. Nehls (Texas).

Who would’ve thought the Kingston Trio could predict the future

Commentary

All they needed were a few lyrical updates

The recent headlines from America and, indeed, around the world, have been horrific. Apocalyptic, even.

A sampling:

Portland records all-time high temperature of 116, setting new record for third day in a row

Cancel Culture: County opts to honor Black professor, not slave owner

Commentary

We need to follow Johnson County’s lead and get real (and efficient) about “Cancel Culture” name changes.

I don’t know about you, but I’m conflicted about this “cancel culture” phenomenon, particularly the part in which public institutions are being considered for a name change because they’re named after an individual who is now considered unfit for the honor.

Poland, America, Racism and Anti-Semitism

Commentary

Systemic? Individual actions? When it comes to prejudices, it is, indeed, a small world, after all.

Poland holds a special place for our family.

Sharon’s father was born in Łomza, Poland, emigrating to America when he was seven-years old. Because he was originally a Polish citizen, after much research, several years of pulling documents together and finally employing a Polish immigration lawyer, Sharon and our two daughters received Polish citizenship and passports entitling them to full EU rights of travel and residency – I will have to get a Polish “green card,” I guess.

Beyond that, years of investigation and chasing down both leads and dead ends, we were able to trace Sharon’s Polish paternal family back to the early 19th century. We even created a presentation:

Education – then and now

Commentary

Then: Conquistadors were heroes; Now: Racism isn’t systemic; it’s just a bunch of individual racists.

I recently posted a column, “The revelations of a road trip,” which was sub-headed, “How a drive in Florida reminded me of what I learned and didn’t learn in school.” You can read the column here: https://around-the-block.com/2021/06/04/the-revelations-of-a-road-trip/.

Among the comments I received was this one from a reader named Laura who wrote,