The World is Watching

By 1936 , Hitler's Nazi regime was in its days of glory. The Olympic games were to take place that summer. The atrocities the Nazis were committing upon their own people were known to the world. While it would attempt , on the streets of Berlin, to eradicate any sign of its decimation of the human rights of a portion of its own population,it could not hide from sight the plight of the German Jews. The German Olympic team was stripped of its Jewish participants in the weeks leading up to the games. This was a moment to demonstrate Aryan supremacy to the world.

There were no protests of the games that year. Rather, it was felt that the best way to show up the Nazis was to try to bust the Aryan myth on the playing fields. Led by one of the best black athletes in history, the United States would fight its fight at the games. Jesse Owens won 4 gold medals in those Olympics. 9 Jewish athletes from around the world won medals. Yet history shows that this did nothing to stop, or slow down Hitler and his myth of Aryan supremacy. It would be 9 years, and countless lost lives, before Hitler's regime was over.

In 1968, Harry Edwards was a young sociologist. A black man, concerned with the continuing plight of black Americans, he advocated a boycott of the Mexico City games that year. While his hopes of using the games as a forum to focus the world on the inequities in our society did not lead to a boycott, it did result in a memorable moment of protest. Tommie Smith and John Carlos were 2 young black American sprinters.Among the best in the world, they both medaled in the same Olympic event. As they stood on the podium to accept their awards, they slightly bowed their heads while each one raised a black gloved fist. It was their way of expressing black unity and trying to get the world to pay attention to the problems blacks continued to encounter. 40 years later , Barack Obama spoke eloquently about the hurdles still left to overcome.

In 1980, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan was in its second year. Led by President Carter, the United States , together with 62 other countries, refused to participate in the summer Olympic games . While our athletes stayed at home, the games continued in a diminished capacity. In unity, much of the world said it was watching Russia and was opposed to the atrocities it was committing. It would be 9 more years before the Russians were forced to leave Afghanistan.

In London and Paris, they have lined the streets by the thousands. In San Francisco they have had people climb up the Golden Gate bridge and hang banners of protest. It is now 2008 and the eyes of the world are upon China, as it prepares to host the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. As the Olympic torch makes it way around the globe, in its trek to its final destination at the Games, people everywhere are protesting the human rights violations of the Chinese in Tibet. In all likelihood , the scope of the concern will also encompass issues relating to the complicity of the Chinese in the ongoing slaughter in Darfur. Some have even extinguished the Olympic torch as it travels from country to country. Hillary Clinton has suggested a boycott of the opening ceremonies as a defining act of protest.

Yet , if there is one thing that history teaches us, it is that symbolic Olympic actions, while laudable, do little to effect long lasting change. It is incumbent on all of us that the light that shines on these atrocities during Olympic years not be extinguished as soon as the Olympic flame goes out. Our diligence in seeing and responding to the wrongs around us must be more than a one time effort. Change is a very formidable foe . It takes time and continuing diligence to make a difference in the ways of the world. While the protests of China's abuses are now occurring as we all turn our focus towards them, let it be our Olympic goal to keep the pressure on China long after the games have been completed.

Burning Bright

Jack Nicklaus won 18 major golf championships and finished in second place another 19 times. There are only 4 major championships in a season.. The chance for any of the best golfers in the world to challenge for a 'major' even once in their careers is a milestone achievement. For one golfer to either win, or almost win, one of these championships on 37 different occasions in a career is a staggering accomplishment.

Tiger Woods was born to play professional golf. At the age of 2 he appeared as a golfing wunderkind on the Mike Douglas TV Show, putting against Bob Hope. By the age of 3 he had broken 50 for 9 holes. He began winning junior world championships at the age of 8 and dominated those his age throughout a remarkable junior career. He was the first golfer to win the United States Amateur championship 3 years in a row. After turning professional at the age of 20 , he has continued to leave all competitors in his wake. Now , at age 32, he has won 13 major championships. He is closing in on the record of the great Nicklaus. Most believe that , if Tiger remains in good health and the competitive fires continue to burn, that the number 18 may be reached and surpassed.

Which one of these golfers is the best ever?

The pursuers of Nicklaus included some of the best the game has ever seen, from Arnold Palmer to Gary Player and later, Tom Watson. Jack was able to win a major championship at the age of 46, when most players would be happy just being able to compete on the same stage with the best. His longevity and his focus on the task at hand, are the stuff of legends.

Tiger has sustained his greatness from the first day he picked up a golf club until the present. In watching his exploits it has appeared that he is capable of greatness with every swing , every round all year long. Year in and year out, he has amazed me with his presence , his composure, his mind, as much as his God given talents. He seemingly wills himself to win, and win and win some more. Those who try to wrestle victory from Tiger know that it is not only his swing but his mental toughness that they must overcome. Given this combination , Tiger's sum is greater than the parts of all others. To be the best in the physical AND mental aspects of the game has made him an impossible opponent from the cradle onward.

At age 21 , Tiger won the Masters, one of the 4 major championships, by 12 strokes. At age 24 , he won another of the majors, the US Open, by 15 strokes. At age 25 , he held all 4 major titles simultaneously. At age 29 , he won the British Open by 5 strokes. At age 30 , he won the PGA championship by 5 strokes. At 31, Tiger improved to a perfect 13 and 0 when leading going into the final day of a major championship. When Tiger has you down, you don't get up. When he beats you, you stay beaten.

The Masters begins this Thursday in Augusta , Georgia. As always, Woods is the favorite to win this tournament. If he fails to do so, it will be a surprise to me, and most every other person watching. His dominance is unabated. The gap between him and the rest of the golfers on the planet seems enormous and unassailable.

For me, every swing Tiger Woods takes reenforces my belief that his star burns brighter than that of any other person who has ever played this game.

Polling

Mark Penn is being forced out as the chief adviser in Hillary Clinton's campaign. This is a person who has been very closely allied with the Clinton's since 1996. A co-founder of what became one of the most influential and well respected polling firms in the country, Mr. Penn has been involved in helping shape strategy on campaigns from Ed Koch, to David Dinkins, to Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton. From 2000 on , he has played an important role on Ms. Clinton's team. Now he is on the outside looking in. While still given a limited position through his polling company, Mark Penn is being demoted. With the Clinton attempts to derail the Obama engine having failed, it looks increasingly like a Clinton train wreck is inevitable. Mr. Penn is but one of its victims.

While we would like to think that every word coming from our candidates originates from their hearts , their minds and their mouths, we all know that this is more fiction than reality. For Senator Clinton, that seems to be the unfortunate centerpiece of her personality. While she may have interesting and insightful views, many of us get the uncomfortable feeling that every word she speaks is a result of analysis, dissection and discussion. This lack of spontaneity is a part of what many find troubling with her.

Senator Obama gave a stirring speech several weeks ago concerning the ongoing problems with race relations in our country. One of the reasons for its overwhelming appeal, was that the words appeared to be coming straight from his heart. We were told that these were the thoughts and phrases of the candidate himself. This was not coming from an analysis of the pros and cons of every syllable and its impact on a certain voter group, but from deeply felt personal beliefs. It was compelling in its frankness.

For Senator Clinton, the course laid out for her has had no such shining moments. While she spoke early in the campaign of finding her voice, I don't think many of us feel that she has done this . Through Mr. Penn , and others in her inner circle, she has not been certain of her approach. On occasion, she has forced the attack on Senator Obama, only to find that to be viewed with less than great enthusiasm. It has made her, at times, appear desperate and mean spirited. Her message has never seemed to find a home, and she has always seemed to struggle to be heard.

The blame for these failings has to fall on those trusted to help shape the candidacy. Chief among these for Senator Clinton was Mr. Penn. With the decision to sever at least part of the relationship with him, it is but another signal that times are becoming increasingly difficult for the Clinton campaign. When we find that , this late in the day, those central to her are being asked to step aside, the signs are unmistakable. We await the results from Pennsylvania before seeing if Senator Clinton will bow out of the race. Whether she does,or decides to stay and fight yet another day, it appears that the end is near.

Giddy-Up!

I had dinner with Ed, the 12 second man, last night. I had never met Ed before. I wondered if he was disclosing things to me better left unsaid. What goes on behind closed doors, stays behind closed doors. However, Ed was not revealing his deepest darkest secrets to me. Rather, he was discussing the world record he held in penning.

No, this is not a handwriting competition. Penning is an event undertaken by those of us who fancy themselves as cowboys . Don't count me among that crowd. Ed asked me about my horseback riding skills. I told him that the last time of note that I had been on a horse was when I was about 9 years old. I was at camp and was riding in a stable. I fell from the horse, got my foot caught in the stirrup and spent the next few seconds being dragged through a succession of manure piles. It was an unforgettable experience in ways one would rather not imagine.

For Ed, getting on horseback was far from my world of manure and disaster. Who ever could envision a middle aged, Jewish man, spending his weekends competing to see who could herd and corral a steer as quickly as possible? That is the endeavor that Ed voluntarily chose as his escape from the rigors of his everyday life. On most weekend days, you can find Ed saddling up his now 16 year old horse and either practicing, or taking part in various events, in which the goal is to demonstrate how skilled you are in his unique undertaking .

Ed explained to me, in detail, the world he inhabited on Saturday and Sunday. The events were either solo, or 3 man, competitions. If it was a solo event, you and your horse waited behind a designated line. 20 steer were placed in an area in front of you, about the size of a football field. Each steer was numbered. At the other end of the field from where you and your horse waited, was a pen, with a gate open. Your responsibility, whether it was an individual or team event, was to locate your steer as quickly as possible, separate it from the rest of the steer, and herd it into the pen. Ed had become a master at this task.

Can you imagine going into an arena and those around you staring and whispering to one another "there goes the 12 second man"? For Ed, it is his badge of honor that he wears proudly. Years ago, Ed and his horse were ,on one special day, the best there had ever been. 12 seconds after Ed began his ride, it was over, the steer safely in the pen. The record Ed set that day still stands.

So while you and I try , in more mundane ways, to put aside the concerns of the week, Ed still gets up early on weekend mornings, gets in his car and begins the journey that will soon find him trying once again to become Ed the 11 second man.

I have recently been informed by one of my friends that he no longer can play in our weekend golf games, because he is now fully committed to his weekend passion of being a harness driver. Whatever happened to coin collecting as a hobby?

Paths

I grew up the son of a lawyer . I loved and admired my father. I always thought there could be no better way to spend my career then sitting at my father's side. I would learn from him, and eventually, to the best of my ability, become what he was in his professional life. I never really got the opportunity to see that vision become reality.

My dad got sick in 1977, which was the year I became a lawyer. I spent the first year of my professional career employed as a law clerk in Bergen County. For one year, I listened to nothing but divorce cases. I absorbed what I could and moved on. I did not intend to,or see myself, devoting a good part of my future life in the pursuit of the best resolution of marital disputes.

When I went to work with my Dad in 1978, he was already in serious decline. He was no longer taking on new matters, and was unable to devote the time and energy to the practice that had been the cornerstone of his career. I was watching my Dad in a diminished capacity. Neither one of us was able to get the pleasure out of the experience that we longed for.

My Dad passed away in 1979. Unable to take over a sophisticated New York based real estate practice, I found myself marketing my only skill. I soon became a divorce lawyer. Over the next 15 years , most of my professional life consisted of listening to and trying to calm down, agitated and aggravated men and women. Wronged by their spouse, and uncertain of a system they did not understand and never intended to be part of, they were for the most part, polite to me and totally unhappy to be having to deal with me. I was an unnecessary necessity.

Slowly, the focus of my professional life began to shift. The real estate market in the latter part of the 1990's was booming. Opportunities seemed to abound in every direction. People were becoming brokers and doing nothing but listing properties. Many who had spent a lifetime trying to save a few dollars, now saw their net worth escalating by the hour. There was work for everyone in this exploding market, including me.

Over the succeeding years, I was able to move further and further away from my former career path. I found myself involved in many complex and sophisticated real estate transactions. I was actually moving closer to the vision of my professional life that I had contemplated in the 1970's. But the problem that I now began to encounter, with increasing frequency, was that the personality and psyche of my client base was not vastly different from those of the matrimonial clients. As the excesses in the market led to bad decisions and severe consequences, I too often found myself listening to and trying to calm down agitated and aggravated men and women. Wronged by a bad business partner, and uncertain of a system that they did not understand and never intended to be a part of, they were , for the most part, polite to me and totally unhappy to be having to deal with me. I was an unnecessary necessity.

So I now sit here and wonder where my professional life is headed. There are paths that I have gone down which were totally unintended. There has been a repetitive pattern to my professional existence that I could not possibly have envisioned. I have started doing daily postings on my blog, with no hope or expectation that it will lead anywhere. But if I have learned anything over the years it is that I cannot envision my future. I am going along for the ride and I can do no more , and no less, than go where it takes.me.

It Was 40 Years Ago Today

Martin Luther King Jr. would now be 79 years old. He had a vision of a world free of the shackles that held it down. The mountaintop would only be attainable when those shackles disappeared. If Dr. King is today looking down on us, is he looking down on us?

John McCain has come late to the party in celebrating the memory of Dr. King. His earlier opposition to proclaiming Dr. King's birthday a national holiday cannot be dismissed as an error made by one not fully informed. The prior actions of Senator McCain speak volumes. We still live in a world where, try as we might to hide it, we are often only comfortable when we foster policies that lead to separation and exclusion.

If we think the borders of our inclusiveness have significantly expanded, we are seriously mistaken.The inability to control our prejudices closes our national borders, fuels our wars and colors our opinion of our Presidential candidates.

If we could harness our brains, and focus on what is common rather than on what is not, our landscape would be altered forever. If preconceived notions that create dislike and distrust gave way to openness and unbiased examination, then hatred for hatred's sake might soon be no longer. If we permitted ourselves the freedom to judge worthiness , rather than pre-judge it, we would be able to respect the differences in us, and celebrate similarities we share.

Until that day arrives, color, religion,sexual orientation and a host of other prejudices will be barriers of the mind that prevent us as a society from reaching our potential. For Dr. King, looking down on us, the world won't be looking up unless this happens.

Arrested Development

Two Yankee season ticket holders attended the home opener the day before yesterday. At some point , they decided to take part of the Stadium home with them. Their attempts to carry out their nefarious scheme proved unsuccessful. They were caught stealing bunting and were arrested. Does anyone else see the incredible irony in their actions ? If they had planned it, they could not have possibly envisioned a more perfect metaphoric failure. Baseball terminology and real world collide and leave them out in the cold and in shackles.

There are certain parts of history that belong to all of us. There are buildings, like Yankee Stadium, that are more than brick and mortar, or whatever building materials that went into its construction. This is a monument that is being torn down.There are some memories that are meant to be shared and disbursed, without cost. There are some things that have no price tag and shouldn't. Yankee Stadium is one of our treasures and it is part of the public domain, not the possession of its temporary holders. The Yankees are merely the lucky ones asked to care for this monument during her existence.

When the time comes for the wrecking ball to perform its intended task, this should not be the signal for the Yankees to conduct an auction of its pieces. This is not to be a picking over the cadaver and an opportunity for the corporation that pays a quarter of a billion dollars a year to its players, to profit from our attempts to own our memories. Let this be a time when loyalty and passion are rewarded . Let this be a moment where charity begins at home. Let this be the day when the Yankees look back and say we gave a proper thank you to everyone who has walked into these hallowed grounds. Let this be looked back upon as the hour when the Yankees did the right thing.

There should be millions of items that can be given away. I don't need a seat from the Stadium, although I would dearly love one, to be thrilled with my prize.Memories can be preserved in the tiniest corners of our homes and still be kept as a cornerstone in our hearts. Just let me have something, anything , to look upon and know that this is my part of history. There is no money that can or should pass hands for my acquisition . Let the corporate engine show its heart and its recognition that it exists only because of what we have given it, and not the other way around.

So, as the Stadium nears its end, the scoreboard actually counts down to 0. When the Stadium is no more, then the time will have come, for better or worse, to take out the old and bring in the new. When we walk into a different home in 2009 let us carry with us a piece of what we leave behind. We will thank you for it , and you will be the better for it. We should not have to worry about whether we will get caught stealing bunting. For us, it cannot be stealing because it is already ours.

Lie Detector Tests

For all the bad that TV brings, possibly the worst is the show where you have to confess to the most horrible truths about yourself iin order to win the ultimate prize. To be the best, you have to bare your soul to the audience, consequences be damned. I have just thought how this horrendous , abusive concept can be turned into something good. Let's have the candidates running for President strapped to the machines and answer the tough questions.

We won't need any debates. We won't need 2 years, or 2 millenium, to try to figure out what each person is really saying, or what their position really is on the critical issues of the moment. There will be no parsing of words, or careful reflection. Tell the truth or you are gone.

I guarantee you that there will be the largest worldwide audience ever to watch a show. We will all be glued to our seats. When the first question comes out, it should be an easy one, like " do you love your mother". Let the candidates get comfortable, have some false moment of security, before the games really begin. As the topics became tougher, the ratings numbers will surely go through the roof. Everyone will be waiting to see which of the questions a candidate refuses to answer on the grounds that it may incriminate him or her, or at least cast them in a lesser light with their own party.

Wouldn't it be great if we only needed one night to decide who we really supported for President? It would be so refreshing to know that Truth or Consequences really did have some meaning.. At the end of the evening, we should all just cast our votes, like the nation does each week when watching American Idol. We would all have one hour to call in to 1-800 elect a President. When the votes are calculated, the winner would be sworn in and become the President of the United States. Along with this, he or she would win an all paid 4 year stay at the big building on Pennsylvania Avenue. The losers would be thanked for their efforts, left to deal with their lies, and shuttled off stage. If they are unlucky, their answers could lead them to places unknown, never to be heard from again. Now that would be the ultimate game show.

Safe at home

When we were little, we all had something, like a blanket or a toy, that we looked for to provide us with comfort and peace. Once that item was in our clutches, the sights and sounds of the rest of the world receded. My blanket is Yankee baseball.

At approximately 7:05 PM last night, my universe changed, at least for the next 6 months. I know that Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain are still out there. I know that the problems that are of concern to me in my own life, and in the lives of others, are not disappearing. It is just that they have been moved slightly to other regions of my brain. They will have to accept the fact that they have to share me with my first and most enduring love. With the first pitch thrown by Mr. Wang, everything else became of slightly less import.

I continue to find sustenance my shallowness. I wrote a piece about 2 years ago wondering whether I would ever grow up and focus my concerns on the important events of the day. I think I am beginning to do that. Yet I can't, and don't want to, break away from what has been a lifelong passion. I am not ready, and doubt I ever will be, to abandon my oldest and dearest friend.

The phone rang immediately after the last pitch of the game last night. My daughter was calling to recap the events of the game with me. She is out in Utah but had watched the game by getting it through MLB TV (or something like that). The bonds of baseball (not Barry) continue to bring us together, even as we are thousands of miles apart. Each night, the local 10 o'clock newscast begins by asking if you know where your children are. As of last night, and through the remainder of the baseball season, I know mine are safe at home.

Up Yours

This falls in the category of you can't make this stuff up. Today, a newscaster , reporting on the abuses in the credit card industry said:

If you default in 1 payment on your credit card, they can up your interest rate to 2 or 3 times the previous rate. Further, even if you miss a payment on another credit card, they can UP YOURS.

Were truer words never spoken?

In a system that seems to find everyone credit worthy, whether you be 10 years old or 100, or a tree stump, there appears to be no limit to the way customers get screwed. How many people, long deceased, have been sent a notice of congratulations on qualifying for a credit card? There is a boundless willingness to give, along with an even greater desire to take away. It is a cycle meant to entrap and engulf.

In the setting of an administration that has spent almost 8 years studiously avoiding regulation, except where it serves its own needs, the credit card fiasco has run amok. Any calls for reform now are too little , too late. While Nero has fiddled, Rome has burned. In the dying days of the Bush presidency, there is no reason to believe the music will stop.

We have been seduced by easy money in the mortgage and credit markets. We have been led to the brink, looked over the edge, and had no answers. While personal bankruptcy regulations have been tightened , we sit with empty pockets and unfulfilled dreams. We are broke emotionally and financially.

Credit card companies live in a world of revisionist history. If we do something wrong, we not only pay for it tomorrow, but we pay more for it yesterday. We have not only increased rates on prospective borrowing, but we now have to pay exorbitant rates RETROACTIVELY on monies we have already borrowed.We pay coming and going for our transgressions.

There seems no limit to the greed. We have come to a point in time where its repercussions threaten all of us , rich and poor alike. If the system remains unchecked, then in the very near term, we will find the results will have destroyed the haves as well as the have nots.. The uncontrolled forces that would take and take, will wake up to find they have not only screwed others but also themselves in the process. If that occurs, it will be the largest UP YOURS of all