Revolutions: Past, Present and Future

I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." - Thomas Jefferson

Perhaps the best known revolution is the American Revolution. It is best known by those people who know anything about this period for places like Valley Forge, events like the signing of the Declaration of Independence, people like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abigail Adams plus all those people whose names you may or may not know. Another Revolution that comes to mind is the Iranian Revolution of 1979 which came as a result of long-simmering anger over the United States and British involvement in their affairs.

Revolutions have at times cumulated in wars which have historically been fought with swords, guns, bombs, large armies and navies facing off. But wars have always had a political and moral side to them that ultimately determine who the victor is more than the military aspects. A classic example of this is the Vietnam War. The same is true with regards to the United States involvement in Iraq and its foreign policy in general. Before it is all said and done, I think the experiment called the United States of America will seize to exist perhaps within another generation or so. The idea is long overdue given the failed experiment in liberty that ultimately resulted in the Authoritarian government that we've had for the past 150 years or so.

Today, revolutions are being fought in another way with a technology that become available to the masses in just the past ten years or so: The Internet. Today, tyrants all over the world are more concerned with how many readers a blogger has or how many people subscribe to your newsletters than they are with how many bullets or knives you have. As always, they will urge more laws, restrictions or what have you done under the guise of protecting you, but where the true motive is to silence you. So, don't fall for the non-sense spewing from the mouths of dictators, authority figures, or talking heads that in order to have security, you must give up your liberties. If so, you will most likely wind up in a labor camp or a grave.

The nature of revolutions are changing, becoming more widespread, and are giving more people the opportunity to be involved. Guns, knives and armies will still play a role, but they will no longer be the determining factor in who the victor is.

In Sports, It Is About Not Getting Caught

I suppose in sports as in life, things aren't as simple as we are led to believe.
We are told that there is a clear sense of right and wrong, but in reality, everything is shades of gray. Just follow orders, obey the rules and don't question the laws, and you will get ahead in life they say. Of course, some rules and laws are hypocritical, targeted towards specific types of people thus failing to deliver due process or just plain insane. So there will be times in life when the rules should be broken or ignored.

I'm planning to major in Physical Education at Carson-Newman with the goal to get into coaching. I'm open to pretty much any sport, but I would enjoy either coaching football or baseball/softball the most.

Recruiting is a big part of college sports especially at the Division I-A level. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on coaches to win, and there is as high a expectation for recruiting well as there is for winning games. So while it may technically be wrong to cheat, it is usually considered to be fine so as long as they don't get caught. Of course, if they do get caught, the athletic department is usually fined, loses scholarships, a coach resigns or something along those lines. The NCAA for all its claims that it is a watchdog, they are actually pretentious and hypocritical.

The organization makes billions of dollars every year, yet goes haywire just because a student-athlete takes a summer job washing cars. It cracks down on violations, but that is only if not doing anything at all would result in a public-relations fiasco. They use a stupid computer rankings system to determine the "National Champion" in football while every other major sport, college and professional have a playoff system.
Nonetheless, while these issues have been around for a long time, it is likely they won't be solved anytime soon. It is just the nature of the beast.

It used to be a coaches job was simple enough: win enough games and some championships, and your job is secure. Now being a coach who wins much less wins championships is not enough. They have to be a salesman, public relations specialist, politician, the Energizer Bunny and just about a little of everything else. Coaching has always been a hard profession and even more so now. That is especially the case if the situation is not a good fit for a particular coach or they don't enjoy their line of work. While I acknowledge the challenges that come with coaching, I know in my heart I am cut out for doing it providing I keep a level-head even as I have to play the field at times.

My Future Plans

I am planning to attend Carson-Newman beginning this fall. I plan to pursue a bachelor's degree in Physical Education with the goal to get into coaching. I have already been in contact with several of the assistant football coaches. Upon further conversations with them, it turns out they are in need of a video coordinator to videotape their practices and breakdown film for offensive, defensive and special teams units.

In retrospect, I should have majored in Physical Education a long time ago. I have long been interested in a career in sports, but I was not sure how that would go since I didn't play in college and just a little bit of football in high school due to a small size and not much athletic ability. I got by more on determination and heart. It was a bit overdue, but at one time, my original career choice to work in television was doing well before the dot.com bubble burst. Also, my dream of working in movies at one time was perhaps unrealistic. The best movies ever made have already been done and there is no point in re-inventing the wheel. Plus, I am too much of a straight-shooter to make it long in Hollywood.

I have worked other jobs over the years and even went back to school with the idea of working as a paralegal. However, while I enjoy reading court cases and am well-versed in legal matters, I have changed a great deal. I am no longer crazy about having to wear a suit and tie everyday, prefer to be outdoors and I have too much energy to be stuck behind a desk all day.

So wish me well.

Summer Will Be Here Soon

I enjoy the Winter, Fall and Spring. I am not crazy about the heat and humidity that comes with Summer though. But no since complaining. I hope everyone has a good Memorial Day and a wonderful summer.

Say No To Horse Slaughter in Tennessee

We have made great strides at stopping horse slaughter in the United States, but we need your urgent help to make sure Tennessee does not roll back that progress and bring back cruelty to horses!

Unfortunately, even though the three existing plants in the United States have been shut down in Illinois and Texas, the foreign-owned horse slaughter industry is looking for another place to set up shop and they have set their sights on Tennessee. A bill (H.B. 1428/S.B. 1898) has been introduced to promote horse slaughter plants in Tennessee -- a wasteful investment since the federal government is on its way to banning horse slaughter nationwide.

This legislation has passed a committee and appears to be moving quickly. It is critical that your state legislators hear from constituents like you who oppose horse slaughter.

TAKE ACTION
Please make a brief, polite phone call to your state representative, Susan Lynn, at (615) 741-7462, and your state senator, Mae Beavers, at (615) 741-2421 to urge opposition to H.B. 1428/S.B. 1898.

Calling your legislators is easy; you will likely speak to a staff member who will take your message and pass it along to your legislator. Remember to be polite and professional, and leave your name and address so it is clear that you are a constituent. You can say:

"Hello, my name is [your name] and I am calling from [your city] to urge [your legislator's name] to oppose H.B. 1428/S.B. 1898 to promote horse slaughter in Tennessee. This legislation will bring an inhumane industry, negative economic impacts and environmental hazards to Tennessee communities. Thank you."

After making your call, please send a follow-up email to reaffirm your opposition to this bill. Finally, please tell your friends and family in Tennessee to take action, too.

Horse Haven of Tennessee
P.O. Box 22841
Knoxville, Tennessee 37933

I've Been Busy

I've not blogged as much lately because quite frankly I've been busy lately. I'm following up on a few job leads and hopefully something will come out of it. I'm also looking at possibly moving sometime in June. I will blog more within a few more weeks.

Are The Schools Setting Us Up To Fail?

"Several current teachers said they could not agree to have their name published along with their concerns because they feared for their jobs. Their complaints echoed recent blog posts and e-mails from other teachers."