Positive Experiences build character

What makes someone either happy or sad? How are some so positive in the worst situations where others who have one little bump in the road become devastated and almost end up becoming a shell of the old self? Positive people are more successful in life, love and relationships. Being positive is infectious and I strongly believe that.


I have watched people who have been in the worst situations almost will their pain away by keeping positive. I have also seen people’s negativity ruin not just themselves but others who are around them. Take for example, University of Kansas officials are willing to talk with former players about allegations of abusive behavior by football coach Mark Mangino - and two former players had plenty to say on Thursday.

Former Jayhawks receiver Raymond Brown recalled how in 2007, after his younger brother was wounded in a shooting near his home in St. Louis, teammates gathered around and warmly pledged their support. A few days later, Brown said, an angry Mangino ordered him to the sideline during practice and made a shockingly insensitive comment.

"He went off on me yelling, which is fine," Brown told The Associated Press. "I kept saying, 'Yes, sir, yes, sir,' to everything he was saying. A teammate asked me what happened. Then he started on me again and I said, 'Yes, sir,' and he said, 'Don't you 'yes sir' me. I'll send you back to St. Louis where you can get shot by your homies."'

This is a disgusting way to motivate college athletes if this is true. When I coached I was very firm yet always understanding. Coaches should be great actors, hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Your attitude is infectious on young adults.

Brown and another former player also told the AP that Mangino made insensitive comments about a player's father being an alcoholic.

A spokesman said Mangino, who needs three victories to become the winningest coach in school history, was not returning calls Thursday. He has said he has done nothing wrong.

The university this week confirmed that it is investigating allegations of verbal and emotional abuse by Mangino, the 2007 national coach of the year.

The probe by associate athletic director for risk management Lori Williams began Sunday after senior linebacker Arist Wright complained to athletic director Lew Perkins that Mangino had poked him in the chest while chewing him out.

Positives in life never get media time. Sports should bring out the best in your athletes. In fact you should relate to the players approximately as you do to your own children and as the parents of your players relate to their own son. Being positive all the time will not get the room cleaned up and the homework done. Kids need tough love. Fundamentals are nice. You have to teach fundamentals when it comes to the rules, safety, and the basics of various football actions like holding onto the football, keeping your head up, and so on. But most youth coaching books, and most youth coaches, spend far too much on fundamentals to the neglect of more important things like making sure the kids know their assignments. Discipline can teach so many different things, when it is done with a positive spin.



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Pirates of the Sea

Did anyone really expect to have real pirates attacking ships after the Pirates of the Caribbean movies? Somali pirates attacked the Maersk Alabama on Wednesday for the second time in seven months and were thwarted by private guards on board the U.S.-flagged ship who fired off guns and a high-decibel noise device.


Pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama last April and took ship captain Richard Phillips hostage, holding him at gunpoint in a lifeboat for five days. Navy SEAL sharpshooters freed Phillips while killing three pirates in a daring nighttime attack.

Four suspected pirates in a skiff attacked the ship again on Wednesday around 6:30 a.m. local time, firing on the ship with automatic weapons from about 300 yards away, a statement from the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain said.

An on-board security team repelled the attack by using evasive maneuvers, small-arms fire and a Long Range Acoustic Device, which can beam earsplitting alarm tones, the fleet said.

Pirates have greatly increased their attacks in recent weeks after seasonal rains subsided. On Tuesday, a self-proclaimed pirate said that Somali hijackers had been paid $3.3 million for the release of 36 crew members from a Spanish vessel held for more than six weeks — a clear demonstration of how lucrative the trade can be for impoverished Somalis.

Phillips told the AP last month from his farmhouse in Vermont that he was contemplating retiring from sea life after his ordeal. He's been given a book deal and a movie could be in the works.

Phillips was hailed as a hero for helping his crew thwart April's hijacking before he was taken hostage, but he says he never volunteered, as crew members and his family reported at the time. He says he was already a hostage when he struck a deal with the pirates — trading him for their leader, who was taken by the Maersk Alabama's crew.

Today's pirates are mainly fighters for Somalia's many warlord factions, who have fought each other for control of the country since the collapse of the Siad Barre government in 1991.

Their motives? A mixture of entrepreneurialism and survival, says Iqbal Jhazbhay, a Somali expert at the University of South Africa in Tshwane, as Pretoria is now called.

"From the evidence so far, these primarily appear to be fighters looking for predatory opportunities," says Mr. Jhazbhay. They operated "roadblocks in the past, which were fleecing people as a form of taxation. Now they've seen the opportunities on the high seas."

Initially, one of the main motives for taking to the seas – working first with local fishermen, and later buying boats and weapons with the proceeds of every ship they captured – was "pure survival," says Jhazbhay, explaining that armed extortion is one of the few opportunities to make a living in lawless Somalia.

"It's spiked more recently because of a spike in food prices," he says.

Now it has become a highly profitable, sophisticated criminal enterprise hauling in millions of dollars in ransom payments.





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Weekly Thought Bonanza Nov 14th

On Sunday/Monday, I produce a column called “The Weekly Thought Bonanza”. The column is based on all of the random thoughts that run through my head all week, and trust me there are a plethora of them. I will try to share as many of these thoughts as I can, so each one of my readers can think just a little bit extra over the coming week.


It is never ok to flip the middle finger at anyone when you’re driving. When you get the ole’ dirty bird from a lady who is at least seventy five years old, after she cuts you off in your lane on the highway, is just disturbing.

I really enjoy Meatball Subs. D’Angelos has a pretty good one.

The best defense is a good offense in any sport, but I must say the offense of the Cleveland Browns is absolutely pathetic. Which leaves me to believe their defense is not any good either. My dislike for Eric Mangini, the head coach of the Browns, is the biggest jackarse in the NFL. Even though I love Brady Quinn, I hope Cleveland loses every game 100 to zero.

The Chai Tea from Kuerig for your machine is two thumbs way up.

The Winter Olympics is almost upon us and I for one cannot wait. There is such excitement when the Olympics are on television in my household. Since the US Hockey team won the gold in 1980, I have always been partial to the winter games.

The New Apple commercials dissing Windows 7 is too funny.

I am hoping that this holiday season will be the real stimulation the economy needs to get it back on track. If we just try and spend that little extra this season it might be the nail in the coffin for this prolonged recession we are in. Christmas commercials are on way too early this year, however.

Armored, the new movie with Matt Dillon looks like a winner.

Maybe it is just me, but the price of a laptop has dropped to about three hundred and fifty dollars. Everyone school age child should have one. There is where the stimulus money should have been spent.

Does anyone remember Y2K? The decade is about over and I cannot believe how fast it went by.

Do Hybrid cars perform like they are promoted to be? Hybrid, Hybrid, Hybrid, I am tired of hearing Hybrid. How about just making cars that use synthetic gas? We did put a man on the moon didn’t we?

Can we come up with a better way to get rid of trash? I see these landfills that have mountains of piled trash and it makes me extremely sad that we are ruining the landscape of this nation.

The New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football cannot get any better.

The Weekly Thought Bonanza thought of the week: There must be a cap on the amount of money that the government can borrow. The Federal Reserve Bank wants Congress to increase the debt limit from 12.1 trillion dollars. How much does this administration want to spend?

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Mass shootings can be stopped if we treat the conflicted

Mass shootings bring a myriad of emotions to me. First of all, sorrow that innocent people who were going about their daily business were mowed down, and all the lost potential and grieving for their families that mass shootings cause. Secondly, anger - it always seems that there were clues leading up to the incident, and no one cared enough to act on them, or else they felt it was futile to try, because our laws prevent acting on them.


Federal legislation should be tightened in the subject of threats - threats to family members, disputes within the community, etc. How often have we heard of a tragedy, but the law could do little to protect the victim because no crime had actually occurred previously?

A threat IS a crime, and should be treated as a serious one. My anger also includes our too-liberal "patient rights" laws, which allow mentally unstable people to carry out harm to others, because they're not in their right minds. We've all seen in the news examples of (not exclusively, just as an example) schizophrenics who are off their medicine (and a hallmark of this condition is that they don't want to take their medicine, as they think it's everyone else who has a problem) harm or kill someone. If prevention is disallowed and all we can do is mourn after the fact, we have a situation that needs to be remedied immediately.

Mass shootings are more common than in the past, because of today's mobility, greater population, gun culture, and general violence. No one likes intrusion of privacy, but these crimes merit having the law's ability to monitor, control and prevent such clues, threats, etc. that are usually present before a mass killing.

We are failing as a society to help the individuals who have mental illnesses. We do not have the resources allocated to help to stop these people who act out their fears. Mental illnesses can take many forms, just as physical illnesses do. Mental illnesses are still feared and misunderstood by many people, but the fear will disappear as people learn more about them.

Mental illness is common. Statistics show that one in every five people will have a mental health problem at some point in their lives. Mental illnesses account for a large percentage of hospital stays every year. Yet, in spite of the fact that every Canadian knows someone who has been, or will be, affected by mental illness, few people know very much about it.

It is human nature to fear what we don't understand. As such, mental illness is feared by many people and, unfortunately, still carries a stigma (a stigma is defined as a mark or sign of disgrace). Because of this stigma, many people hesitate to get help for a mental health problem for fear of being looked down upon. It is unfortunate that this happens because effective treatment exists for almost all mental illnesses. Worse, the stigma experienced by people with a mental illness can be more destructive than the illness itself.

People with mental disorders are, many times, not described accurately or realistically in the media. Movies, television and books often present people with mental illnesses as dangerous or unstable. News stories sometimes highlight mental illness to create a sensation in a news report, even if the mental illness is not relevant to the story. Advertisers use words like "crazy" to convey that their prices are unrealistically low and to suggest the consumer can take advantage of them. This is part of the bigger problem, people will not seek help if they are stigmatized in the media.

All of us can help the way people think about mental illness.

Start with yourself. Be careful about your own choice of words. Use accurate and sensitive words when talking about people with mental illness. Your positive attitude can affect everyone with whom you have contact.

Try to influence all the people in your life constructively. Whenever you hear people say things that show they do not really understand mental illness, use the opportunity to share with them some of the information that you have.

We have already changed the way we refer to women, minorities and people with physical disabilities. Why stop there? Maybe if we can avert one mass killing, it will be worth it.

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Abolish the Death Penalty

The mastermind of the deadly "Beltway Sniper" attacks that terrorized the Washington, DC, area seven years ago was executed last night.

John Allen Muhammad -- who directed one of the worst outbreaks of crime in the nation's history -- died in Virginia's death chamber as some of his victims' relatives looked on.

While I wish Muhammad spent the rest of his days experiencing the hell he gave to his victims and their families, I did not wish that he would perish by the hands of lethal injection. There was a time in my life that I believed in the death penalty for crimes of murder and rape, I do not now. Taking a life as a way of a punishment is not only inhumane it is downright wrong. We do not live in the Wild West anymore. We cannot just string someone up by the nearest tree and expect to gain justice from it.

The American Civil Liberties Union believes the death penalty inherently violates the constitutional ban against cruel and unusual punishment and the guarantees of due process of law and of equal protection under the law. Furthermore, the ACLU believes that the state should not arrogate unto itself the right to kill human beings – especially when it kills with premeditation and ceremony, in the name of the law or in the name of its people, or when it does so in an arbitrary and discriminatory fashion.

To have a “ceremony”, where the victims’ relatives watch the death penalty being carried out is not a way to end their grieving.

Capital punishment is an intolerable denial of civil liberties, and is inconsistent with the fundamental values of our democratic system. Therefore, through litigation, legislation, commutation and by helping to foster a renewed public outcry against this barbarous and brutalizing institution, the ACLU strives to prevent executions and seek the abolition of capital punishment.

I for one have never believed that I would have anything in common with the ACLU. I do agree with their position wholeheartedly. I am a practicing catholic and the death penalty is against catholic doctrine, but it not just my faith that guides my feelings. How can someone be pro-life and be pro-death penalty?

A majority of governments in the United Nations General Assembly voted on November 15, 2008 to support a global moratorium on the death penalty, over the objections of the U.S., China, Iran and Sudan.

The non-binding resolution, adopted by a vote of 99 members in favor, 52 against and 33 abstaining, asks all governments in the world body to “establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.” The measure says the death penalty “undermines human dignity” and that there is no conclusive evidence of its deterrent value.

The use of the death penalty places the United States in an uncomfortable position, since most of the other countries that use capital punishment are, at best, only marginal democracies. International human rights discourse generally assumes a right not to be executed by the state. The death penalty is wrong and it needs to be abolished.

Recently, opponents have focused on the possibility of mistakes in the application of the death penalty, which might lead to the execution of an innocent person. Advances in investigative technology have bolstered their argument. While none of the individuals actually executed has been retrospectively proven innocent, a number of inmates currently awaiting execution have had their convictions thrown into doubt.

The Supreme Court recently halted executions of the mentally handicapped, and this year extended the ban to those under 18 years of age at the time of the crime. These rulings were partly in response to public disapproval of such executions, but also stimulated by the perceived U.S. deviation from international norms. The Court has chosen to manage the death penalty at the margins, rather than directly challenge the process. How can we as a people on this earth make putting a person to death arbitrary?

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How to become popular the wrong way

Do I understand the Oprah Winfrey phenomenon? Absolutely, positively not. I do not understand many of the things that get people to become fixated on a person or a television show or why people who have little talent become the most popular people in pop culture. I started thinking about this today as I watched Dr. Phil discuss parenting. I would take Lucy’s advice from the peanuts before I would listen to Dr. Phil.

David Letterman has never been funny, yet he gets 6 million people to watch his show every night.

Tim McCarver from Fox Sports is the second worst baseball announcer on television. Joe Morgan from ESPN is without a doubt the worst. How these two individuals are allowed in our living rooms is just amazing.

Wanda Syke’s has a new television show coming out on TBS. Can anyone remember the last time she did anything worth watching? Yeah, me neither.

Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie, and The Kardashians, shall I say any more?

How about how Celebrity Rehab? Can you imagine watching a show about D-list actors who spend most of the day wondering why they are where they are? I was a ball player before I was a professor, I could have just packed it in when my ball playing days were over, but I decided to get a better education instead of doing drugs and putting on weight to get on Celebrity Fat Camp. Oh, god!

Bruce Jenner was an Olympic hero; Brody Jenner is a no talent reality “star”. Better thank dad for all of those Wheaties boxes he appeared on.

Wesley Snipes was an actor with a great career until he took on Uncle Sam and was charged with tax evasion charges. Now he just plays in B-movies and his once budding career is a thing of the past. People now only care about his fall and never care about the actor, why?

Brittany Spears is a talented performer and she is a train wreck of a person. Lindsey Lohan is a talented actress and just as big a train wreck, if not worse. They let their lives personal struggles get in the way of their careers. Yet we watch them intently become the anti media darlings for the wrong reasons.

Jose Canseco was the first 40 homerun and 40 stolen base man in Major League Baseball history. We no longer speak of his five hundred home runs; we only speak of his steroid use and his Celebrity Boxing. Canseco’s book, Juiced, outed the steroid use in professional sports and put baseball into the limelight for all the wrong reasons. Not until the congressional hearings was baseball’s steroid use handled in baseball. Canseco was right on the money with his steroid allegations, but off the mark with his career.

We are fixated on the rise and fall of individuals and it is a terrible shame when a former star becomes the punch line for late night television jokes. Maybe if we decided to read the classics, watch National Geographic specials, or better yet, worry about our own lives; we can spend less time reading Star magazine and more time being productive every day.


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