NFL and back in America

Today I'll just give a few thoughts on Sundays Chargers game. The game began with a little deja vu, a kick return for a touchdown on the very first play of the season. It's hard to think that this could be an aberration. As a result, Kaeding is out for the season. It is really hard to pinpoint what is wrong here, but hopefully its a one time thing as most NFL teams manage their special teams with bench players without issue. However, the tone set by this play was apparent in the poor play by the Chargers in the first half. The half was punctuated by Rivers being upset on a 4th and 20 play that Turner was afraid to give the go ahead to Scifres to kick the field goal. The second half proved different, the defense looked better, and despite a pedestrian game for Rivers usual standard, they pulled of the W. The turning point may as well have been Scifres kicking and ugly looking, but good field goal from about 40 yards out. Hopefully this is a sign that the Chargers will be able to handle adversity this season as opposed to fading when it counts. Coach Turner is on the hot seat, and should be on his team to keep their heads in the game. My heart says yes he can, but my brain says no. Lets hope the Chargers show some heart., AND play with their brains this season.

We don't need no education

Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" came up in my iTunes today. I lead me to think about how rebelling against the constrictions of education, in the era that song was written, was an expression of free thought. Today in contemporary America, I feel the tables have turned. Now the people railing against education are typically conservative Christians and libertarians. Pink Floyd sings "we don't need no thought control," indicating that in school, kids are forced to think a certain way, and as a result become little automatons to serve whatever overlord reigns supreme over the education system. The anti-public education right seems imply on the other hand that we don't need no critical thinking. We have everything figured out; there is no need to analyze society, science, or superstition. The claims are based mostly on the creationism vs. big bang/evolutionary theory conflict for conservative Christians, and based on some sort of socialist career decisions by the libertarians.
I bring this up because, when I reminisce, my personal experience was that the public school system 'opened my mind.' If I was to be educated by the cultural institutions of where I grew up, for example, I would not know that condoms existed. It was a select few teachers that, while running school in the draconian manner teens despise, implanted feeling of critical thought over the decisions that were being impressed upon you. Can we blame the free thinking anti-educations movement from the past for bringing us to where we are today, where there is a contempt for the education system, even by those who don't subscribe to right wing ideology?

Colbert's De-mock-cracy

I found the entire Steven Colbert SuperPAC transgression of events highly amusing, and impressively, politically relevant. The opinion of (presumably liberal) commentators is that the decision in Citizens United v. FEC, regardless on the constitutionality of the actual campaign finance law, will allow unimpeded growth of the influence of corporations on the political process. This can be done through unlimited spending from Super Political Action Committees, (SuperPACs). I have not read the decision, but I agree with this sentiment. However, a bunch of whining about the results of the decision will have effect. Colbert, TV's out sized mock political pundit, has found a far more effective way of combating this growth. After clarifying his relationship with his employer, Viacom, he was able to start his own superPAC.
What can the conceivable point of this be? He is collecting money from fans of the show, and in return, the donors get their name scrolled on the bottom of the screen. This can be seen as a nice publicity stunt. However, when looking at the write in Rick Parry, with an 'A', commercial campaign, we can establish that Mr. Colbert has done more to shine light on the critical part of this issue. By using the superPAC funds to confuse the democratic process, he is successful in showing us what no one else has been able to; these superPACs have the ability to make a complete mockery of our political process. Those with the most money can subvert, mislead, or simply 'out shout' the other side. While Colbert's mockery makes for good comedy, other mockery can have a much more sinister purpose.