I have not yet been a Nike customer.  I am a 65 year old Anglo woman who likes football, civil rights, and comfortable shoes, among other things.  I am so pleased to learn the Nike has included  Colin Kaepernick in their latest ad campaign.  I believe in the US Constitution, however imperfect a document it is.  I believe in the Bill of Rights, with the First Amendment in place where it should be:  First, protecting freedom of speech.  I believe that Colin Kaepernick was well within his right to freedom of speech in calling attention to racism, social injustice and police brutality to people of color. His kneeling during the "Star Spangled Banner"  was a respectful act of protest, and whether you are for or against his actions, he propelled this nation to a much needed dialogue about how we treat people in this country who are different from "the white privileged."  I applaud Mr. Kaepernick for his courage, and now I applaud Nike for their courage, and their awareness that Freedom of Speech, is still alive and well in the United States.

Westwind Concert Cut Short

The Sunday nights of June and several in July include a Westwinds Brass Band concert at Wagner park, sponsored by the Tech Terrace Neighborhood Association.  This past Sunday was their traditional "patriotic" concert.  It was cut short by inclement weather.  

I hope that they play it again this coming weekend. 

Free Speech

The First Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees free speech.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

It is generally established that some things are not done, the prime example often used is you cannot yell "Fire!" in a theater if there is not a fire. Otherwise, a common comment about the  First Amendment is generally something like "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend your right to say it."

Last year, Colin Kaepernick who used to play for the San Francisco 49ers in the NFL, set off a controversy by sitting or taking a knee during the national anthem, in protest of  the treatment of African Americans by police. This year, he does not have a job.  Others joined him in solidarity, but this has set off a storm. I believe he has a right to express himself, and his concerns are justified.  He is a Christian and walks his Christianity with acts of social justice and charity.

On September 22, 2017, President Trump set off a firestorm with his speech in Huntsville, Alabama.  He said the NFL should fire anybody who does not stand for the national anthem.  The NFL has backed its players right to free speech, and teams are demonstrating solidarity, with some players continuing to take a knee during the national anthem. The sports response, in my opinion, shows solidarity, maturity and patriotism in a way that the speech by President Trump does not.  Sports is a unifier, and Trumps continues to sow hate and divisiveness. I believe that Donald Trump has the right to free speech, but I believe the President of the United States has a responsibility to the United States to promote unity and justice, not racism and hatred.  Once again, I believe Donald Trump is not doing his job as President.  

Jazz at the Silent Wings Music

Yesterday on the news I heard about an event at the Silent Wings Museum https://www.mylubbock.us/departmental-websites/departments/silent-wings-museum/home in Lubbock.  It was in celebration of the "The Spirit of 45" http://www.historynet.com/keep-the-spirit-of-45-alive.htm which is a commemoration to remember the spirit of The Greatest Generation 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greatest_Generation.  I had not heard about The Spirit of 45 until this year.  The event included free admission to the museum, food trucks, a bounce house for kids and a jazz concert, of music from the World War II era, and in that style.

The jazz band was the Alma Quartet, but the drummer was not present today.  They did pretty good, the lead singer sometimes was a little tentative in his style, but sang well.
https://www.facebook.com/AlmaQuartet/photos/a.10154107320968321.1073741825.84610013320/10154107314883321/?type=3&theater.  It was an enjoyable presentation

 
In the past, when the Silent Wings Museum has had an event such as this it has been pretty much standing room only.  I am not sure if it was due to lack of publicity, or the timing, or that the musicians were not much of a draw, but there were not a lot of people present, and only a few stayed for the entire 2 hour show.

The highlight for me was that a woman came up to me and told how much these songs meant to her.  She said she is now from Dimmitt, Texas, and turned 94 today.  She said she lived in Memphis, Texas during the 40s, and every weekend, they drove the 30 miles to Childress, Texas to the Army Air Base, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childress_Army_Airfield for the dances.  She said every big band in the country came through.  How fine of her to share that with me!

The Star Spangled Banner

At the Fourth on Broadway today, the Westwinds Brass Band started their concert with The Star Spangled Banner, our national anthem, as they start all of their concerts. There were plenty of flags around, so we could "pick a flag" while the song played. The audience in front of the band stood, as did the audience across the street, in the shade. Some of us sang the song, as has become our habit at the regular Sunday Westwinds Brass Band concerts. The incidental passersby and festival-goers stopped, stood at attention, uncovered, and many had their hands over their hearts.  All except one person, who just wandered through, oblivious to what was happening, and he kept his hat on.  I felt sort of angry, but sort of bad for this person, because he was wandering around like he did not know where he was at or where he was going, but he wandered off.  I probably should have done something but did not even think about it at the time. I hope he is okay. 

Baseball Uniforms

So, the Red Sox are playing against the Rangers in Arlington, so I have been able to watch the games this holiday weekend, albeit on the Ranger network.   That is okay, because the Ranger announcers are always complimentary of the opposing team members when complimentary is due.  I have missed the national concert and fireworks, but the Red Sox are supplying the fireworks.  I noticed last night that the uniforms include something different this year, and this may have happened in years past, but I did not notice.  In the letters on the chest, and the numbers else where on the uniform shirt and hat, there are stars.  The Rangers are mostly red and white, but the Red Sox have used a red, white and blue theme, on gray uniforms.  The other thing that the Red Sox have done, is to have the right knee high sock be blue on top with stars in the blue, and red and white stripes on the bottom. The left knee high sock is red and white stripes. It creates quite a striking effect.  Seeing highlights of other teams, the same sort of theme with the stars in the numbers and letters is continued with the other teams.  Kind of neat! Go Major League Baseball https://www.mlb.com/. 

The Fort Bragg Game

I had not heard about this till I was checking out the baseball games on air today:  The Fort Bragg Game. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/187351764/first-base-fort-bragg-game-unprecedented.  It is what it says:  a professional baseball game on a baseball field at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.  This was an amazing event.  I was able to watch some of the pre-game activities and the beginning and end of the game. 

It was really special.  Thank you to Major League Baseball!  You are truly re-claiming the "national pastime" title.

Patriotic Concert

The Westwind Brass Band http://westwindsbrassband.org/index.php Concert series is a favorite of mine. July 3 was the night of the annual patriotic concert, in which they play mostly patriotic songs, include the recognition of the 5 branches of the armed services. This is a favorite of mine, and it always ends too quickly.

I love the patriotic music.  I love the fervor of the crowd. And the crowd tonight was very large. I am glad. It says something about how the community appreciates their performances. It is a special part of the Independence Day Celebration.

People Who Cry

I have not always been an easy crier, but for most of my life, I have been.  But mostly it was tears of sadness, or anger relating to my own personal life.   But in the last 5 or 6 years, my crying has changed.  I find I cry tears of joy more and more often, I cry tears of sorrow and sadness and pain, not personal pain, but pain for human tragedy. My tears are often bittersweet.  My tears are an expression of joy for others.  My tears are deep felt emotions for expressions of patriotism, expressions of concern for human kind, expressions of elation at the triumph of humanity over depravity, of right over wrong, of good over bad. 

I thought this article on crying was interesting. http://www.lifehack.org/333775/8-reasons-why-people-who-cry-often-are-actually-mentally-stronger?dgs=1

David Ortiz, Yeah Big Papi

So the very few regular readers I have know that I am a New York Yankee fan and a Boston Red Sox fan  http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/standings/index.jsp.  I am, in addition, a David Ortiz fan.  Big Papi is an icon and an idol in New England. Most recently, he was heralded for getting his 500th home run http://m.mlb.com/video/v493709683/tbbos-red-sox-honor-ortiz-for-500th-career-home-run/?player_id=120074.  Congratulations Big Papi! Well deserved honors.

Big Papi said it like it was https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGMJeVHXsL0 during the ceremony at the first game at Fenway Park after the Boston Marathon Bombing http://www.history.com/topics/boston-marathon-bombings. And the great thing was that the head of the Federal Communication Commission, Julius Genachowski 
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/21/us/massachusetts-fcc-ortiz/index.html did not disagree.

Big Papi "gets it."  Yeah, Big Papi!

So I Don't Subscribe to HBO

So, I don't subscribe to HBO, and I never saw the documentary Nine Innings from Ground Zero: The 2001 World Series.  Recently, as I was watching a New York Yankees game http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/ticketing/singlegame.jsp?c_id=nyy&y=2015&mlbkw=ma-x-89ZWEQd8 the sportscasters talked about this documentary. I put it on my Netflix http://dvd.netflix.com/MemberHome queue.

Tonight, I watched the video.

It was very moving, and very emotional.  It took me back to 2001, when patriotism in our country was overwhelming.

If you have not seen this, watch it.  It will remind you of the values we all acknowledged after 2001.  We forget about these values.  We need to remember. 

9-11

I did not intentionally do much to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/on-sept-11-anniversary-appeals-to-remember-as-time-passes/ar-AAeap4l?li=AAa0dzB?ocid=ansmsnnews11  I started the day very conscious of the anniversary, and did put my flag out. At the football game the team's uniforms honored the living and dead first responders, veterans, and military members.  But that was it.

But I often think about how 9/11 changed us.  Our nation's citizens had rights curtailed by virtue of the Patriot Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act which allowed The Department of Homeland Security http://www.dhs.gov/ and other government agencies extensive liberties in surveillance, wiretapping, data mining, and invasions of privacy in the name of looking for terrorists or terroristic activity.

Our language has change: 9/11; ground zero; first responders (which was used previous to that attack, but not as prevalently as after); Homeland Security, to mention a few.

Our way of looking at things has changed.  First responders are more recognized as heroes.  Or at least, people who put their life on the line.  The members of the military are honored, and it is not uncommon for someone to approach a person in uniform, and to say "Thank you for your service."

In my way of thinking, we as a country are more leery about immigrants and refugees. Yet, I think some people have gone out of their way to be more aware of diversity and learn about different cultures, countries, religions.   

I also wonder if some of the police on citizen violence does not hearken back to the changes caused by 9/11.  First responders were given more authority by virtue of the need to seek out terrorists.  But when someone is given more authority, it is easy to generalize that to any or every situation. And, minority profiling, whether intentional, by policy, or unintentional, does occur.  So it became easier for someone so inclined to abuse their authority in certain situations.  We know this has happened for years.  I don't know if it has become worse recently, or we are just more aware of it, attuned to it, and seeing more unbiased evidentiary reports about it.

Of course, security at airports and the borders, even with our neighbor to the north, Canada, and to the south, Mexico, has increased. 

I wonder what exactly Al Qaeda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda hoped to accomplish by these attacks.  To bring the United States down, in some way, shape, or form.  To my thinking, these attacks made our country stronger.  It started with Flight 93, when people did what they could.  Instead of being helpless victims on a skyjacked plane, they fought back, realizing they might not live, anyway. I think in many ways even though we have a lot of divisiveness in the country, we as a citizenry will rally together against any outside attach.

I think the public response to the Boston Marathon bombers, Boston Strong https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Strong, was a symbol of how the people of this country come together against outside attacks.

I personally am not sure how 9/11 changed me.  I have reflected that in the last few years, I am more conscious of thanking members of the military and first responders. I attend memorial services, and find myself tearing up when I hear patriotic music. I have passively accepted "security measures" while wondering if I should oppose the infringements on my rights. I feel stronger about wanting to defend my country. I feel stronger about wanting the wrongs in my country to be righted.

I fly very little, but do not find the impositions of searches and security measures that intrusive, partly, I think, because I work on a prison and search and investigation of personal effects is a regular experience. Except that the searches add so much time to the flight. But, I would rather drive so I can throw whatever into the car, even if I end up not needing it. Internet security is a problem, but it always was.

I think we have just settled into the "new normal" without realizing what we have lost or gained.   And that is the worst outcome of 9/11. Not being aware of what he have lost or gained.

Honor Flight

I am not sure when the concept of Honor Flight http://www.texassouthplainshonorflight.org/about/ originated, but it is several years old.  It involves raising community funds so that World War II, Korean, or even Vietnam War veterans can travel to Washington, D. C. without charge to them, to view the memorials, especially those dedicated to them.  The priority is to send the World War II veterans first, given their age and fragility. 

Why is this important?  Well, think about it.  The veterans from these wars sacrificed so much for our country, and were variably honored upon their return.  You could say the veterans from the Vietnam War were not honored.  But memorials have been built to them in Washington, D.C. How better to acknowledge and honor a veteran, than to give that veteran a chance to view the national memorial erected on behalf of that veteran. And, to allow that veteran to travel to see the memorial at no cost to the veteran.

I think this is a community activity that demonstrates dignity and respect to veterans, shows that they are honored, and gives them a special recognition. It also shows the dignity and respect of the community towards the heroes that protect our country.

Go, Honor Flight!

Baseball Season Starts Sunday

The Major League Baseball season officially starts Sunday, April 5, 2015.  Looking at the national broadcast schedule http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/broadcasts/national.jsp?tcid=mm_mlb_schedule, there are a lot of New York Yankees games scheduled for national broadcast.  Why is this, you ask, since the Yankees did not do well last year?  Well, Alex Rodriguez http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rodrial01.shtml ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Rodriguez is returning to the Yankees line up after a year-long suspension for Performance Enhancing Drug violations.  Alex Rodriguez is a highly paid, high profile baseball player.  He succeeds in making headlines and bringing publicity, good and bad, to the Yankees.  It is my guess, since it is early in the season, and the national broadcast channels do not have favorites, or front runners to focus on, they concentrate on teams that have headline or controversial stories regarding their play.  And the Yankees do meet this criteria.

The Boston Red Sox will be in a few nationally televised games. As is traditional, the Red Sox will be playing a late morning start day game on the celebration of Patriot's Day, April 20, 2015 http://mlb.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=bos#y=2015&m=4&calendar=DEFAULT.  Red Sox baseball and the Boston Marathon are all a traditional part of Patriot's Day. I am surprised this will not be nationally televised, as the trial of the Boston Marathon bomber will have been recently decided, and would make good national interest background information during the game.  But maybe Major League Baseball wants to stay out of that.  We know the Red Sox were hugely involved in support of B Strong after the tragedy of the bombing http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/20/david-ortiz-speech-boston-red-sox_n_3124187.html.

As an outcast from the regional broadcasts of both teams, I will have to count on the national broadcasts, and the online reports that I will access.  Internet has made following these teams much easier than counting on the newspaper.

Go Red Sox!

Go Yankees!

Go Baseball!

The Air Force Band of the West

Tonight I went to the concert performed by the Air Force Band of the West http://www.depts.ttu.edu/museumttu/pdfs/USAF%20Band%202014.pdf  at the Texas Tech Museum .  Ostensibly, this was a Veteran's Day celebration.

I have been to several concerts at the museum over that last couple of years. For the first couple of concerts, the museum grossly under-estimated the seating needs, and was ill prepared to bring in extra chairs.

For this concert, the museum had over estimated the seating.  Having said that, there was a very good crowd, and we were very appreciative of the band, including giving them more than one standing ovation.

This was a very good concert.  It was a blatant commercial for recruiting to the armed services, but that is what I would expect. The caliber of the performance far out-weighed the marketing message.

Things Happen for a Reason

I am reading The Men Who United the States http://simonwinchester.com/books/the-men-who-united-the-states/ by Simon Winchester, who by the way is not a native born citizen of the United States.  I am nearing the end, and read the section on NPR http://www.npr.org/, which by his reporting was initially thought of as a radio system to unite the country. 

It started me thinking about what unites this country.  Before September 11, 2001, I was unaware of people approaching uniformed (military) strangers in public places saying "Thank you for your service to our country."  Although it was something I thought people should be proud of, I never thought to thank any one, including a police officer or fireman or EMT.  Now, it is appropriate and very acceptable to thank the military and first responders for their service.

The first time or two I said as much to a stranger, I felt I was reading very stiltedly from a cue card. Not that I did not mean it, but it felt strange.  Now, when I say thank you, I frequently have a catch in my throat.

Our nation has always celebrated historical and memorable events, anniversaries and holidays.  But as I get older, and I know I have said this before, I pay more attention to those celebrations for their meaning, not their fun.

Tonight I watched The Star Spangled Spectacular http://video.pbs.org/video/2365312956/  celebrating the 200th anniversary of The Star Spangled Banner.  I am wondering if an extravaganza like this would have occurred before 9/11, and more to the point, would I have cared if it did.  I think back to the late 1970's, early 1980's when I was lectured on proper national anthem and flag etiquette by someone who grew up in the south, and who's family still refers to the War between the North and the South as the War of Northern Aggression.  I knew proper flag etiquette, and national anthem etiquette, but had grown away from it, from caring.  From believing even.  That was a  lesson I will never forget. 

But being patriotic then was not popular. It was okay, but not for the ceremonial, the honor and respect, but for the celebration and hoopla.  I am thankful we have brought the honor and respect back into the celebrations.

The attack on this country brought us together in a way no president, no social policy, no educational program could.  After 13 years we still remember. 

I know, with time, the emotional and reverential attitude will dissipate. It took a long time, but it did, after Pearl Harbor. And it did after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  But we can preserve and kindle it for as long was we can.

Major League Baseball - The National Pastime

The Major League Baseball Season is opening http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/03/mlb-opening-night-dodgers-padres-opening-day/.  The first opening games were the ones that the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks played in Sydney, Australia.  I get it that MLB is trying to expand the appeal of Major League Baseball. They have done other opening games outside of the United States, such as in Mexico, (which makes a lot of sense to me) and Japan, which (as with the games in Australia) really screws up opening day because of the time differences.

Maybe we should just face it that Major League Baseball has reached its saturation point in the United States. 

I think MLB revived itself after 9/11, and really (hopefully sincerely) capitalized on its standing as "the national pastime" by all of the patriotic and commemorative activities it has done, including the singing of God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch during weekend games, special games, and I believe, all New York Yankee games.

Also, the Boston Red Sox tribute http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/21/us/massachusetts-fcc-ortiz/ after the Boston Marathon bombing last year was another act of solidarity with the nation.

Tonight I am watching the game between the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20140330&content_id=70465642&notebook_id=70465648&vkey=notebook_sd&c_id=sd.  The Padres are wearing camouflage shirts with the American Flag patch sewn on the sleeve, and JC on the sleeve as a tribute to their now deceased but long time announcer, Jerry Coleman.  Jerry Coleman was a World War II veteran, and a Korean War veteran, and his rank was colonel, so the military aspect of the commemoration is an acknowledgement of his service to this country. This is fitting. 

I hope all the commemorative activities of Major League Baseball is sincere. It is good marketing, and I understand that. But I hope it is sincere.

Major League Baseball has a commemorative history: the National Baseball Hall of Fame, retiring numbers, honoring special players while they are still alive, Old Timer's Games, player days, All Star activities.  How much of this is sincere and how much of this is good marketing.

Yes, Major League  Baseball has some shrewd marketers.  I think an activity like the Boston Red Sox tribute after the Boston Marathon was as much sincerity as marketing.  But on a national level, I am skeptical.

Sorry.l  Iove baseball, but I am not naive.