Nigger: Just a Word, or Something More?

A Philadelphia Police Officer is in some hot water today thanks to racial comments he made while escorting a college student journalist. It brings to the fore a legitimate question: are words such as 'nigger', 'spic', 'gook', 'harp', 'nip', 'chink', 'fag' or 'gook' simply that, words, or are they more? I've heard this argument made any number of times, that these are just words, and if people are going to keep getting offended by words like 'nigger' then they are setting themselves up for a lifetime of taking offense. True enough in that any discussion on this issue, be it in the local newspapers, at the office water cooler, in an interview room at a police facility, on the internet, or in the halls of Congress or the United Nations is not going to change people's habits. It is not going to stop people from using these words, either in their most benign sense or their most derogatory. I have also heard the argument made that questions why, for instance, black people are so offended by the word 'nigger' when it is uttered by a white man or anyone from any other race, and yet they toss it around with ease among one another. 'Yo, he my nigger' or 'You one stupid nigger' or many other usages too numerous to mention come to mind. I have heard black people use these exact phrases among one another without anyone taking offense and without an eyebrow raised. For a long time in my life, I just didn't get it either. I thought that it was just another way for a black person to try to gain sympathy, to feign victimization by the white man, to play the race card. If I tried to list for you how many times in my life that I was called 'honkey' or 'whitey' or 'white boy' or 'cracker' or 'mick', it would fill a book. If I listed for you how many times those words offended me when used towards me, you could count those times on one hand. So I just didn't get it. Then one day about a dozen years or so ago I was involved in a conversation about this very topic with a fellow police officer who happened to be black. At the end of the conversation, I said to him "So your people can toss that word around all you want, can call one another 'nigger', can use it any way you want, but if I call you a 'nigger', that's wrong and you're offended?" His simple one-word response: "Exactly." Why it took a smart fella like me three decades of his life to understand a simple concept that was summed up by this cop's one word answer is fodder for another entire article. But the simple idea is this: some words offend people of ethnic, racial, or sexual groups. Period. They just do. And the fact is that those of us who may not be in their particular group will never, ever understand the emotions behind those feelings. But we don't need to understand the raw emotions. All we need to know is that these words offend, and so we should refrain from using them in most circumstances. So does that mean that we can never, ever use pejorative terms or slang words? No, of course not. Everything has its place. For instance, so far in this article I have used the word 'nigger' nine times, counting the headline and that last mention in this sentence. Using any word in a legitimate intellectual discussion is appropriate. There has been a major copout in today's society where people from Oprah to Obama use the phrase 'the N word' in public, but then aren't afraid to use 'nigger' in private conversations. Failing to use the word itself in an intellectual discussion helps to raise the word above it's meaning. It is the meaning that lies behind the word when used in a derogatory sense that releases its true negative emotional responses. This is particularly so when it is uttered by a member of one group that has historically been in a position of power and influence against some member of a group that has been historically deprived of that power. Now just because of my own personal enlightenment, don't take that to mean that I have never used the word 'nigger' in conversation, I have. And so has almost every single person who is reading this article: cop, lawyer, judge, politician, factory worker, businessman, whatever. It is one of the reasons that we all knew instinctively that Mark Fuhrmann was lying in the O.J. Simpson case. The man is a big city police detective and was asked if he ever used the word 'nigger', and replied that he had not. You might as well have painted a huge word 'LIAR' across his forehead in capital letters after that. He could have been, and probably was, telling the truth about most every other aspect of the case and his involvement. But no one was going to believe him after this point, particularly after the defense made a concerted effort to prove that he had lied about this issue. One thing that I can say for sure is that I have never used that word directly towards any black person, or in the presence of any black people, in any derogatory way. Even if I felt that I was in the presence of someone that I felt comfortable with and had no fear that they would take offense, I wouldn't use that word in that way simply out of respect. Now understand this, most cops are very comfortable around other cops. That thing about being white, black or yellow, but when the uniform is on we are all blue? That isn't just talk most of the time, that is how most cops genuinely feel. We toss around racial and sexual and other slang phrases and profanities among one another that would make a sailor blush. But we also know our place. We know when we are among friends, when we can let our hair down, and can toss around the bullshit without having to worry about anyone taking offense. The officer in the particular case that has broken in the local news was not among friends, and should have known better. He was driving a reporter around with him who was doing street-level research for a story that she was going to write. Was he trying to impress her in some way by acting tough and hard and macho? Who knows. Who cares. The fact is that this young rookie cop was stupid to make those comments to anyone, let alone a college journalism student writing for her newspaper. Now some would say that this officer should be off the police force simply for having those feelings. I disagree. We all bring a wide variety of personal experiences and backgrounds to this job. None of us can help the way that we were raised, what we were exposed to, or what was our 'normal' for a couple of decades before we ever considered police work as a profession. What we can do, however, is grow, mature, and learn how to set aside any personal prejudices and perform a professional job for all citizens, regardless of any background of theirs which may be different from our own. The young officer in question works in a tough area of North Philly, an area where he is exposed to a great deal of crime, hurt, pain, and even death on a daily basis. It is an area that is mostly black, and where most of the murder, drug dealing, and crime is perpetrated by blacks against other blacks. It is not hard to become jaded by all of that. For some white people who hear about blacks feeling oppressed by the 'man' or the 'system', that is a hard pill to swallow, that blacks in these areas expect more from us than they do of their neighbors. But they, and I believe the officer in this case, have it all wrong. Most of the people in that area are not bad people. They don't deal or use drugs. They don't rob folks. They don't expect more from white people, or the system, or the man, than they do from their neighbors. They expect their neighbors to treat them with courtesy and respect and perhaps even affection, and they have a right to expect these things. As always, it is the few who make it difficult for the many in these neighborhoods. There just happen to be more of those 'few' in that particular neighborhood for any number of reasons that are not the fault of those 'many'. So to white people everywhere, get it for once. You can't call a black person a 'nigger' at all. You can't use the term 'niggers' in regards to black people in any public discussion or forum where the term is being used in a derogatory manner. It doesn't matter how many times blacks use it among themselves, it is simply different, and you need to understand and respect that as a simple fact. The same goes for any other derogatory slang word for any other group as well. Words like 'nigger' are not just words, they are indeed something more.

Islamism Series: Back to Afghanistan

For a land-locked nation that is basically a pile of rock and sand, Afghanistan holds some serious sway in the international community. The reasons are many, but they are sometimes difficult to graps until you look more closely.

Afghanistan is bordered on the west by an Islamic nuclear-power wannabe ruled by a mad President in Iran, and on the east by the already nuclear-powered and increasingly fractious Pakistan. There is even a small slice of northeastern Afghanistan that borders up against a Communist behemoth known as China. Along its northern borders lie a trio of former Soviet states in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Its land-locked status means that it has virtually no natural water supplies. There are no seas against which it borders, no rivers running through it, no lakes in which water has gathered. In short, there is very little of the life-sustaining, not to mention economy-sustaining water that is necessary for a country and people to survive, let alone thrive.

The median age is less than 18 years, which might make you wonder where are all the adults? Many of them are simply dead, as the average life expectancy is only a little over 44 years. Because of the poor economic conditions there is a high risk of infectious diseases and wide-scale problems with other illnesses such as malaria, typhoid fever, hepatitis A, and 'bird flu' influenza strains. So why does everyone care so much about a country that is so desolate and so inhospitable? Simply because of its strategic location as a 'buffer zone'.

Afghanistan was founded in 1747 when Ahmad Durrani was able to organized the native Pashtun tribes into one people. For a long time it served as a buffer between the Russian and the British empires before gaining independence from Britain in 1919.

In the 1970's, the Soviets propped up a Communist government there, and then directly invaded the country in 1979 to put down rebellions from various native Afghan tribes and groups. This led to a decade-long war in which the rebels emerged victorious thanks to aid from the international community, most notably the United States (see the film 'Charlie Wilson's War'.)

In the aftermath of the Soviet-Afghan war there was continual civil war in the country, with the Taliban finally emerging with control in the mid-1990's. The population is 99% Muslim, and the Taliban demanded observance of a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. They also allowed the use of Afghan territories by Osama bin Laden and his radical Islamic followers, which al Qaeda used to operate terrorist training camps.

Following 9/11, the U.S.-led coalition invaded, destroyed the terrorist camps, and drove the Taliban from power. This began a process of attempting to install a democratic government and elected leadership, which ultimately led to the current democratically-elected government of Hamid Karzai (pictured). Many felt that the U.S. lost focus from this important rebuilding program when it switched gears and invaded Iraq.

With the Afghan situation appearing under control, President Bush redeployed many American forces to topple the regime of dictator Sadaam Hussein in Iraq. As noble as removing the evil Hussein from power may have been, it did allow the Taliban to begin slowly regrouping and regaining some influence in Afghanistan.

The new American President Barack Obama inherited both the Iraq and Afghanistan situations when he took office. It is his position that Iraqi defense forces and the Iraqi government are becoming strong enough that they will soon be able to stand on their own, and is planning to slowly draw down U.S. presence in that area. At the same time he plans to increase the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.

There is an upcoming international conference on Afghanistan that will take place at The Hague and which will be attended by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton along with leaders from all of the world nations having a stake in Afghanistan's short and long term future.

With both the historical and current instability in that region of the world, and with their significant strategic locations, successful democracies in both Iraq and Afghanistan are worthy and important efforts. The Afghans absolutely need and deserve more U.S. support, not just military but also economic and in other areas. But the Iraqis cannot be abandoned to fend for themselves to the point where the loss of 4,000 American lives over a half decade ends up being for nothing.


President Obama is basically taking us back to Afghanistan, and that is a good and necessary thing. But at the same time we need to be very careful in the process of drawing down in Iraq. In the 'big tent' meeting at The Hague, two groups with a stake in Afghanistan's future which will not be represented are the Taliban and al Qaeda. But the groups who do meet should not forget their presence or their interest.

Radical Islamic forces are still fighting in both countries to undermine the American-led efforts, convinced that if they just wait us out we will eventually retreat to our own homeland and leave these Middle East countries with little defense against their continuing Jihad.

NOTE: This is a continuation of the Islam Series, all items of which can be read by clicking the below label of that name.

Extreme Thing 2009

This past weekend was the Extreme Thing in Las Vegas. Extreme Thing is an annual event promoted by a major LV radio station. Each year there is a BMX comp ran in conjunction with wrestling, roller derby, skateboarding, and live music. Bad Religion headlined this year and the crowds were insane. I rolled out there with Chris Raceles and Pete Demos. Chris shot some cool video but slept most of the time in his full clothes, and Pete shot some amazing photos. Here's how our trip went...

We rolled in to Vegas about 7pm on Thursday, checked into our hotel and headed straight to Anthem Skate Park. It was a blast but really windy. I ended up OTB and with 5 stitches above my right eye which was pretty cool. Even better was being at the clinic til 1:30am getting them. Friday morning was a big session at TJ Lavin's yard. A lot of guys showed up and made for an all day riding session. You can see in the picture of Nastazio below just how rad TJ's yard is right now. Lines every where. It's BMX paradise.

After we rode all day we headed to go see Steel Panther which is an 80's hair metal cover band/comedy show. The guys play old Motley Crue and talk all kinds of trash about randoms in the audience between each song. They're amazing and you should check them out if you have the chance.

Saturday was the event which turned into an all day gig. There were two rounds of qualifying with over 50 guys entered in the contest. Ryan qualified first which was rad. The final was pretty insane, we had 2 video cameras so look out for a web edit coming soon. Everyone was going big. Ryan tried a huge transfer in his final run and bailed, his bike took out a camera man who was in a bad spot between the jumps. I got it on video which was pretty amazing. Thankfully both Ryan and the photo guy were alright. When the results were in it was Darden with the win and Nyquist with the second. Pretty cool. Cory had a couple crash runs in qualifying and didn't make the final but he still rode good. Below are some photos of the event and the jam at TJ's the day before. Click on any of them to enlarge. -dB

Steve Woodward Web Vid SD!!!!!!!!

Check out the super smooth Steve Woodward sessioning his local spot on afternoon in SD.

See More BMX Videos at VitalBMX.com

Googling through your past?

The internet has had a profound effect on the way our lives are chronicled and how we interact with family, friends and associates. For instance, Facebook allows one to catch up with long lost friends, and even those you really don't want to remember. A photo you post on a website is indexed in perpetuity, thanks to Google. While my generation's memories and the footprint of our lives are still predominately "analog", with photos and artifacts scattered in boxes or albums, the lives of our current youth will be recorded as "digital" entries stored away on various servers around the world.

While I certainly have no idea how we'll deal with the evolution of these personal digital archives and Google's role in preserving our life activities, a recent message from a long lost associate got me thinking about this. With one gmail and a few links that I was provided, my early years of being a type face designer brought many memories back to top of my mind. Similar to defragging your hard drive, everything about my years of design suddenly became clear again.

While the links to the ITC typeface I designed appear to be still active, the article from Publish magazine apparently is too old for Google to have scanned, and therefore my friend sent me photocopies.

My point in posting this has nothing to do with ego, but simply to show how the internet will change the way we chronicle our lives and it's something we all should consider. If anything, the most disturbing part of this rediscovery is how old I am now versus when Publish did the article in 1988!

Conquering Fear

Just one week until Palm Sunday, and just two until the glory of Easter Sunday. For those Christians who go to church next weekend and receive their palm branches, do you know what it is that they are supposed to help you recall and what they represent? The palm branches are representative of those waved by the adoring crowds at Jesus Christ during his triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem in the days prior to his arrest, persecution, sacrificial death, and His rising from the tomb. Before any of these events had taken place, there was a true sense of excitement and urgency among many of the people as the sacred occassion of the Passover approached. The Passover itself is the perhaps the single most important event on the Jewish calendar. It is a rememberance of the night that God struck down the first-born of Egypt in a show of power that led directly to the deliverance of the Jewish people out of the bondage of centuries of slavery. As the angel of death moved about the nation taking the lives of those Egyptian first-born, it passed over those houses whose doors were marked with blood, a sign that God had told Moses to pass along among his chosen people so that they might be distinguished and saved. It became a great custom among the Jews to travel to the great city of Jerusalem in order to celebrate this day, and in fact an entire great festival had been set up around the feast. As the time came, many wondered whether Christ would even show up in Jerusalem at all. It was well known among the people that the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, that person should inform them, so that they could place Jesus under arrest. Jesus had been involved in his public ministry for a couple of years at this point, and his teachings and reputation had grown so strong among the people that the traditional Jewish leaders felt severely threatened. There was talk that Jesus was going to become a king, and was going to establish a new kingdom, something directly threatening to the power of the Jewish leaders, but which would also possibly bring the wrath of the Roman empire down on them should these events leak out. The Jewish leaders wanted greatly to eliminate the threat which they believed Jesus was becoming, either by debunking him or, if necessary, killing him. The final straw came when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, a feat that overwhelmed even those who had already seen Christ perform any number of miracles in the previous months. The scribes and Pharisees saw the swelling numbers and the passion of his following, and plotted to eliminate him as a threat. This word reached Jesus and his disciples, and they went 'underground', no longer moving about in public. So as the Passover feast arrived, the people wondered whether Jesus and his followers would indeed challenge the authorities and come out in public. They got their answer in a big way. Not only did Jesus arrive at Jerusalem, but he arrived in the manner that had been foretold for centuries by the prophets, entering the city while riding on an ass and through the city gate that had also been prophesied. The great crowd which had already begun gathering for the Passover celebrations heard that Jesus was arriving, and they rushed out to meet him, waving palm branches as he passed them. The palm branch was the traditional item used to hail the arrival of a conquering hero from a triumphant battle, and this was how many of the people were beginning to view Jesus. His message of love and peace was taking root. His message of conquering fear and even death itself was spreading like wildfire. The Bible says that one of the Pharisees on seeing this outbreak of affection said to the others "You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him." This is how large and emotional and affectionate the crowds were as they jubilantly waved their palm branches at him and shouted among one another "Hosanna!" which meant "Oh Lord, grant salvation!", a true sign of how they viewed Jesus. Just after Christ entered into the city a group of Greeks came wishing an audience with him, and to them he spoke plainly: "Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." The message was clear to all. Jesus was a wanted man in the eyes of the authorities, a threat to their rule, and perhaps a threat to the entire Jewish nation if the Romans found out about his coming 'new kingdom'. But he entered into the great city not through a back door, but through the front gates in a manner indicating that he was the Messiah, the promised Savior, the coming new king. He entered publicly, and on entering he proclaimed that the current ruler would be driven out. He showed no fear. He had conquered fear, he had raised a man from the dead, and in just a matter of days he would rise and conquer death itself. Many among even the ranks of the authorities began to believe in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not acknowledge it openly for fear of being expelled from the synagogue. They preferred human praise to the glory of God. It is the overcoming of this worldly fear that Jesus Christ showed in his triumphant entry in Jerusalem. It is the overcoming of this fear to which he calls us all. You should not fear shame in publicly declaring your Christianity, in publicly celebrating your belief, and in publicly calling others to salvation in Christ. Conquer your fear as Christ conquered it, directly and loudly and openly, and envision the palms waving around you in triumph as you receive them next weekend.

Potato, green bean, kidney bean curry

Whenever my son announces he wants to cook dinner I'm delighted because I know we'll be having great food. He doesn't use recipes in a conventional way or measure ingredients, so it's usually hard to pin him down on just what he's added; but this time he was inspired by a recipe from one of my favorite Indian cookbooks, and I grilled him on what he did, so I could share his interpretation of the recipe.

He started with "Spiced Green Beans" from Lord Krishna's Cuisine: The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi and David Baird." With this recipe as inspiration, he changed spices and added ingredients to come up with a truly delicious main course dish.


Potato-green bean-kidney bean curry

• 1 – 2 tablespoons oil (or half oil and half Earth Balance margarine)
  
• 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 12 ounces fresh green beans, stems trimmed
• 12 ounces canned chopped tomatoes in their juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 small potatoes, cubed and steamed until half cooked
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• handful chopped fresh cilantro
• salt to taste

1. Heat the oil and fry the cumin seeds and mustard seeds until the cumin seeds darken and the mustard pops and turns gray, about a minute.
2. Add the onion and saute until it softens, about a minute or two. Add the green beans and cook about 2–3 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and simmer about a minute.
4. Add the water, potatoes, turmeric and kidney beans, cover and simmer 10 minutes.
5. Add the sugar, some cilantro and salt to taste, cover and simmer about 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked and the sauce reduces and thickens.
6. Garnish and serve with brown basmati rice.

Levi says "Hello World"!!!!

Right before going in.



I got to work... haha jk



9lbs 9oz, 20" long, He's a big boy and healthy. I can't describe how happy we are now, definately the best feeling in the world.

He'll be shredding a Z-10 in no time!

Ben-

Nyquist and Nasty in Vegas

Nyquist and Nasty are competing this Saturday at the Extreme thing event in Vegas.
Go check them out if your around.

Cheer on Nasty's for his first contest riding a Haro!

Quick post on my continuing affair with granola

Affair? Yes. I've fallen in love with granola. I've been making granola pretty regularly - I'm obsessed, actually - ever since I posted a recipe. I've revised the recipe slightly by adding a cup of raw walnuts, which toast up to crunchy perfection. I also mostly use regular rolled oats instead of instant (or a mix of both) and I've changed my mind about the chocolate chips. The first time I added them I thought it was daring — now I think it's necessary! Sometimes I add an extra cup of oats (7 instead of 6) so it will last a little longer, and I tried using dried apples instead of dates. Dates are better. I've gotten lazy about the stirring, too. I recommend stirring in from the edges every 10 minutes, but I only did it every 20 last time. I actually look forward to getting up and eating breakfast when the granola is in the cupboard. Who knew that was all it would take...


Buffy says hi

TCU Exclusive: Ben Hucke Interview.

New Interview via-thecomeupbmx.net check it out HERE!


<3

Vegan Pad Thai

We went to another cooking class last weekend but this one wasn't vegan. It was a Chinese spring roll, scallion pancake and won ton soup class. I checked with the instructor beforehand, and he promised to include some vegan friendly versions. He did make a vegan (and a shrimp and a chicken) spring roll, and the pancakes were vegan, but our samples were pretty meager compared to the rest of the class, who got to sample everything, including pork won tons and soup. Oh well. It was great to watch his technique for rolling up spring rolls and folding won tons. And the pancakes were excellent. I admit that I find it incredibly exciting to watch a professional chef mince garlic and ginger, whether I get to taste the results or not, and our teacher minced the garlic so fast you could barely see the knife move. (Is my life too sheltered?) He gave us recipes but he didn't actually measure anything himself as he cooked. He said he had a "feeling" about how much to add, which makes perfect sense to me. I know that feeling. I'm itching to go make scallion pancakes right now without a recipe, but then I won't be able to post about it. (We had scallion pancakes in Seattle but they were much greasier than these.) I'm sorry to say I didn't take any pictures. Honestly, the food didn't stay on the plates long enough to photograph it - there were some very hungry people in that class! The teacher will be doing a vegan Chinese class in May. Woohoo.

I don't have anything to post yet from the class (I may make the pancakes), but I do have something from the last class we took. I'm finally going to post a recipe for vegan pad thai, but first a few words about tamarind. I've been reading about the tamarind fruit and I can't quite figure out how to describe this ingredient correctly - there are so many versions. I've only experienced two of the forms, so I'm limiting myself to those. The tamarind in our class came in a can and was pre-mixed. It was a "cooking" tamarind rather than the sweeter dessert kind of tamarind. We just opened the can and poured it out. That seemed to work. At our house we have a small jar of something called tamarind concentrate. It is actually from India, not Thailand, and is quite thick and tart with a little jab of sweet. If this is what you have, I'm recommending you mix a teaspoon into 1/4 cup of water and the juice of a lime for a little extra tang. Add judiciously, until it seems right to you. You may need all of it or not, depending on personal preference.



Pad Thai (adapted and printed with permission)

• 2 limes, one juiced and one cut into wedges or half moons
  
• 1/2 cup canned tamarind paste (look for "cooking tamarind" rather than sweet tamarind) or 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate in 1/4 cup water and the juice of one lime
  
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground dried chilies (more to taste)
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1/3 cup agavé syrup
• 3 tablespoons tamari
• 1 package Thai rice noodles (1/4"-wide flat noodles)
• 2 tablespoons veg. oil
• 8 green onions, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 2/3 cups bean sprouts (half will be cooked and half used for garnish)
• 1 large carrot, cut into 1" x 1/2" x 1/8" thick (or whatever small size you want)
  
• 2 cups broccoli, cut small (I'm sure I used much more than 2 cups. Who measures broccoli?)
• 8 ounces firm tofu, small cubes (optional)
  
• 1/3 cup chopped peanuts, toasted (best if you toast them yourself but pre-toasted will do)
  

1. Soak the rice noodles covered with warm water in a large bowl until they are limp and white, about 20 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook until golder, about 1 minute. Add the carrots, broccoli and tofu (if using) and stir-fry about 4 minutes.
3. Drain the noodles and add to the wok. Add bean sprouts, green onions, shallots, tamari, tamarind, agave and chilies. Toss until the noodles are heated through and the veggies are cooked.
4. Sprinkle with peanuts, bean sprouts and raw green onions and serve immediately with a slice of lime.

AIDS: Serious Problem Requiring Serious Solution

In July of 2008, the World Health Organization in conjunction with the United Nations released a report which stated that approximately 33 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS. With a world population of over 6 billion people, that means the percentage of human beings with this illness is about .0055 of the total world population. In other words, while we may be talking about a lot of people, we are not talking about a significant number. Better than 99% of the people on earth do not have this illness, and there is a reason for that. The reason is that it is spread in its greatest numbers by far through irresponsible sexual practices, and the greatest number of those by far in the advanced world come through homosexual practices. By far the highest numbers of AIDS cases in the world can be seen in sub-Saharan Africa, that area of Africa below the Sahara desert, where approximately 2/3 of all the cases on earth can be found. It is highly likely that this area of the world is where the AIDS virus first found its way into the human population. There are serious problems in this part of the world largely attributable to poverty and a lack of education, which themselves are perpetuated by the autocratic and despotic governments. At the individual and familial level the results are involving shortcomings in personal hygeine and the overall lack of cleanliness, combined with the social problems of acceptance of multiple sexual partners at any one time. In short, AIDS came out of Africa and remains at its strongest there, and around the rest of the world it has spread largely due to irresponsible and deviant sexual practices. Anyone who tells you anything else is simply perpetrating a fraud on you. Is it possible to get the AIDS virus from a bad blood transfusion or some freak exchange of bodily fluids? Sure, but that possibility is extremely low so as to not be nothing more than a smoke-screen when discussing the best ways to attack the spread of AIDS and to begin putting it into reverse. This past week, Pope Benedict visited the African continent in a tremendously successful mission to his flock. Catholicism and an acceptance of Jesus Christ in general is growing on the Dark Continent, and the Pope went to personally deliver Christ's message of love to these people knowing that Christianity can inspire hope there as it has the world over. On the flight to Africa, the Pope was asked about the AIDS problem and specifically the Church's position that condoms are not the answer. There are many around the world who scoff at this assertion, and who truly believe that condoms save lives. These people either do not understand the position of the Church on this matter, or do not care. The Pope reiterated his position on the flight, saying that distributing condoms was "not the answer to the problem of AIDS", and that instead the best strategy is the Church's efforts to promote "sexual responsibility through abstinence and monogamy." Kudos to the Holy Father for so succinctly expressing simple, basic truth. The usual array of European nations and homosexual groups fired back at the Pope, but the truth is that the world needs to follow this simple, straitforward, moral message. A message that will, if followed, in fact work as a realistic solution. Let's try on this hypothetical, just for arguments sake. Every homsexual male on earth stops having sexual intercourse with a member of the same sex. Every human being on earth who is diagnosed with the AIDS virus stops having sex completely. And finally, every human being on earth decides to commit to a normal, healthy, monogamistic relationship for child-bearing and family-building purposes, if in fact they decide to have any sexual relationship at all. Now pardon me if I haven't run the numbers through the WHO computers, or past some expert from the U.N., or especially past the gay leadership, but my bet is that AIDS cases would eventually plummet to the point where the illness was almost a non-factor. The simple fact is that the Pope is right. The answer to AIDS is not in keeping people perpetuating the same old practices that helped spread the illness to begin with, but in educating them in the direction that God has set for them to a higher calling. Far too many of us who are not involved in an AIDS-related lifestyle fall into habits or even just the occassional incident that is immoral. If we all simply would allow ourselves to understand the beauty of the true meaning of sex, its true importance, its sacred role in our lives, then not only would the world be a better place, but it would be a more AIDS-free place. Sex was meant by God to take place in a loving and committed relationship between married persons for the purposes of procreating and sustaining a loving familial relationship between the couple. That is a lesson that it has taken me personally a long time and a few hard times to learn. But it is one that the entire world needs to learn in order to truly overcome the AIDS virus. Someone once said that serious problems require serious solutions. The bandaid of a condom is no solution at all. Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church's message of abstinence and monogamy is just that serious solution that is needed.

Bike Check, Check, Check!

Ben Hucke Bike check from Scott McMenamin on Vimeo.

Ben-

Conspiracy, Betrayal, Denial

We are now just three weeks away from Easter Sunday, which along with Christmas Day is the celebration of one of the two greatest events in the history of mankind. On that day of Easter we will celebrate the great victory of Jesus Christ over death, his rising from the grave into which he entered as a repentance for the sins of man. But besides that sin for which his death was payment, there was a human process of actual conspiracy and betrayal that served as the mechanization leading to his crucifixion. And near that end there were a series of denials from his most beloved and respected friend and follower. As the Bible tells it in the New Testament gospel of Luke, with the Passover festival about to begin the chief priests and scribes were looking for a way to put him to death. They feared Jesus' popularity among the people, and that many of his teachings were outside the bounds, some directly in conflict with, the tenets of the Jewish faith. The Gospel of Matthew tells that they assembled in the palace of the high priest, Caiaphas, and consulted on how best to effect his arrest and eventual execution. Their initial plan was to have this plot carried out after the festival was over, because as both Matthew and Mark tell us, they feared "a riot among the people", such was Jesus' popularity. Their plots against him came together more suddenly than they wanted because the fact is they were not in charge of things. As Luke tells it, Satan "entered into" one of Jesus' twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, who approached the temple guards and the chief priests with an offer to betray Jesus and turn him over to them in exchange for money. When the chief priests agreed to pay him 30 pieces of silver, the conspiracy was in place, and Judas began to seek an opportunity to lead them to Jesus when there would be no crowds around to cause a disturbance. When the time came to celebrate the Passover meal, Jesus gathered with his disciples in the large upper room at the home of a Jerusalem man who was a supporter of their group. During the meal, Jesus instituted the Sacramental expression of the sharing of His body and blood. In breaking bread and passing it among his friends he said "This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me." After they ate, the Lord then took the cup of wine and said to them "This cup is the new covenant of my blood, which will be shed for you." As they further celebrated the meal, an argument broke out among them as to who was the greatest of Jesus' followers. Rather than select anyone of them, Jesus instead told them that true greatness comes not from lording it over others, but through service, saying "I am among you as the one who serves." When his closest follower and dearest friend, Simon Peter, told Jesus that he was prepared to go to prison and die for him, Jesus replied that "Before the cock crows this day, you will deny three times that you know me." He also told the twelve friends that one of them sitting among their group would betray him saying "It would be better for that man if he had never been born." As we know through history, late that very night while his followers slept in the garden at Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives, Judas saw the opportunity to turn him over. He led a group of soldiers to that location, approached Jesus, and identified him to the soldiers by kissing Jesus on the cheek. Jesus was taken into custody and brought before the Sanhedrin, the council of elders, chief priests and scribes who would begin the process of a sham legal proceeding leading to his death. While Jesus was in custody, three different times that day his friend Peter was approached and accused of being one of Jesus' followers, and all three times Peter denied that it was so, just as Jesus had foretold. As the celebrations of Easter approach we should all be reminded of these moments when the very Savior of mankind was conspired against, betrayed, and denied by his very closest friends and followers. We need to remember that while our friends and family are important, no one is beyond Satan's grasp, and no one is beyond doing the exact same thing to each of us. In the end, we hope to count on the people in our lives at the most important moments. But the fact is that in the end the only one whom we can really count on is Jesus Christ himself. He was the one who stayed faithful to us. He is the one who went to the cross so that your sins would be forgiven. He was the one who suffered and died for each of you reading this. Do not turn your back on him as his followers did. Use the approach of this holy and blessed season to set your lives on a path that draws you closer to Jesus Christ.

2009 World Baseball Classic Reaches Finale

While many sports fans are preoccupied this weekend with the opening rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament and their own bracket pools, another big tournament is coming to a conclusion. The 2nd-ever World Baseball Classic has been taking place over the past two weeks, and the original 16 competing nations have been whittled down to a Final Four through two rounds of play. Opening round drama was provided by a tremendous pair of upset victories by the Netherlands in eliminating the powerful team from the Dominican Republic. In this past week's 2nd round, it was a dramatic 3-run rally in the bottom of the 9th inning by the U.S. against Puerto Rico that enabled the Americans to advance into the semi-finals. Meanwhile the Cuban team was eliminated, meaning that for the first time in almost five decades they will not reach the finals of a major international tournament. Advancing into those semis which will take place tonight and tomorrow night are the United States, Venezuela, Korea, and the defending WBC champions from Japan. While the game of baseball was invented in the United States and became our 'National Pasttime', and while the depth of talent in America remains far above that in other nations, the fact is that the rest of the world has caught up at the top levels of competition. The team rosters in Major League Baseball are now made up of 40% players from nations outside the United States. Teams from the South American nations such as Venezuela and Mexico, from the Caribbean such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominicans, and from Asia in Japan and Korea, as well as the team from Canada are all highly competitive and most are now capable of winning any international competition, even one involving professional players. In today's first semi-final, Korea will battle the Venezuelans. The Koreans advanced to the semis back in the first WBC in 2006, and used that success as a springboard to winning the gold medal at last year's summer Olympics in China. They have just one Major League player in young Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, and have perhaps the youngest team in the semis. They also have the best defense in the tournament and a pitching staff that is sporting a 3.05 ERA. Their offense is led by third baseman Bum Ho Lee, who is hitting .375 with 3 homers and 6 rbi and first baseman Tae Kyun Kim, who is hitting .364 with 2 homers and 9 rbi during the tourney. Venezuela is loaded with 21 players from MLB, including stars such as Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cabrera, and Melvin Mora. They have the best offense in the tournament, hitting .309 as a team with almost half of their hits going for extra bases. It is a classic matchup of great pitching and defense against big bats. The pitching matchup will feature Carlos Silva for Venezuela against Suk-Min Yoon for Korea. Yoon has not yet allowed a run in the tournament. The other semi-final will take place on Sunday night pitting the United States against defending champion Japan. The Japanese are fully capable of winning again with a veteran cast of formidable players led by living legend outfielder Ichiro Suzuki and two of the best pitchers in the world in Daisuke 'Dice K' Matsuzaka and young phenom Yu Darvish. The Japanese team suffered a serious blow in their last game when slugging first baseman Suichi Murata, who was hitting .320 with 2 homers and 7 rbi, suffered a torn right hamstring and will miss the rest of the tournament. His loss takes most of the power from Japan's lineup, but they still have the pitching, speed, and experience to win it all. The Americans' 9th inning rally against Puerto Rico advanced them to the semis after missing them in 2006. This year's squad is led by third baseman David Wright, shortstop Derek Jeter, and a pair of Phillies in Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino, along with a number of other familiar big leaguers including Ryan Braun, Brian Roberts, Brian McCann, and Evan Longoria. The depth of American talent has allowed them to overcome injuries to Chipper Jones, Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis. The semi-final pitching matchup will be one of talented veterans, with the Red Sox ace 'Dice K' going for Japan against Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt for Team USA. The weekend's semi-final winners will advance to the championship game of the WBC on Monday night. Whichever teams are involved, it will surely be a baseball classic worthy of your attention. In the 2006 WBC, the Japanese offense opened up on Cuba for a 10-6 win that ended a classic three-week period of play, and this year has been no less exciting. So while you follow the NCAA basketball tourney this weekend, remember too that on the next three nights you can also follow the best that international baseball has to offer with the conclusion of the 2nd-ever World Baseball Classic. NOTE: The games of the WBC can be followed on ESPN and ESPN2, and the title of this story is a link to further information on the topic, in this case to the official WBC website complete with video, stats, and feature columns.

Spinach and tempeh pie from Celine

Not exactly pie-shaped pie a la Mr. X (read on...)

I printed out Celine's recipe for spinach and tempeh pie because it looked so delicious, and imagine my surprise to pass by the kitchen to find "Mr. X" (identity protected due to content) preparing to make it for dinner. Seeing mutilated oranges on the counter top, I paused to observe. "Is orange zest the white stuff inside the skin?", he inquired. "No, it's the orange stuff on the outside — not the white stuff," I replied. I returned a short time later to observe Mr X trying to scrape off the zest with a pastry crimper. "Here, use this zester, it will be easier," I suggested, offering a quick zesting demo. Everything under control, I was off again, expecting to be called back for the crust-making. Mr. X had never made any sort of pie before. The next time I passed by the kitchen, Mr. X could be seen intently scraping dough out of the food processor with his fingers. "Be sure to use a light touch with the dough," I said. Mr. X is lacking the "light-touch" gene when it comes to baking. He's been known to produce cake with the texture of a yoga mat. But I went away, thinking it was probably too late anyway. And I'd had such high hopes for making this savory pie.



The next time I saw the pie was when it came out of the oven. Mr. X baked it on a piece of waxed paper instead of parchment paper, as called for in the recipe (which could account for the burning smell in the kitchen). He also shaped it kind of like a loaf of bread instead of a pie, but in spite of everything, IT WAS GOOD! And the crust, though perhaps a little harder than intended, was delicious in texture and taste. You should definitely go to this blog and get the recipe so you can make it, too. But don't use waxed paper!

p.s. The crust is made with spelt and tahini.

Be sure to visit Ricki's brand new blog location (Diet, Dessert and Dogs), and enter her contest to win a bottle of wonderful maple syrup! If you live in the Toronto area, you can also win a fabulous custom made chocolate layer cake. Click here.

AIG: Angina-Inducing Greed

For those of you who may have just read the headlines and listened to the featured story blurbs on the news with passing interest, I will try to give you a simplistic version of what all the ruckus has been about 'AIG' and explain why you should care. Let's start with the basics. Who or what exactly is the American International Group. Well, AIG is by their own information "a world leader in insurance and financial services" and "the leading international insurance organization with operations in more than 130 countries and jurisdictions." Heady stuff, right? I mean, we are talking about the worldwide leader in insurance services and one of the largest financial services organizations on earth as well. We are talking here about the real money. Not just big money, but 'real' money. The kind of money that moves governments and shakes nations. The folks at AIG are just one of many financial services companies that have undertaken huge losses and faced dire straights as the American economy has gone into reverse over the past year. They blame their particular problems largely on what are called 'credit default swaps" (CDS) in the industry. Now a CDS is basically a financial instrument representing the exchange of risk that some entity will default on their debt. For instance, you own company 'A' and it is at risk of defaulting on its debt payments because the economy is turning sour and your business is drying up. Now some other company 'B' owns a bond investment in your company, they see you are in bad shape, and they want to hedge their risk against you going belly-up. So they go to the operator of a 'hedge fund' and basically purchase insurance, the CDS, against you defaulting. A 'hedge fund' operator is someone who takes on the risk of a company defaulting in the hopes of making a profit, since most companies over time have historically not ended up actually defaulting. They get that profit as the managers of company 'B' will pay interest to the hedge fund operators. Should your company 'A' never actually default, then the hedge fund loses nothing and gains all of the interest it has been paid by that 'B' company. If you do actually default, then the hedge fund loses because they have to pay the full amount of the CDS to company 'B' covering the loss in their investment with you. The worse position that your business 'A' is actually in, the higher the interest rate that the hedge fund will demand from company 'B' for that CDS insurance. So with the AIG situation, they basically said that there were huge amounts of actual defaults, massive losses, and that they would collapse without government intervention. This would mean the loss of one of America's and the world's major suppliers of capital and insurance funding, and what some said would be a major blow to the national and world economy. Of course there are many others who dispute this, who believe in the free market system, and believe that if you run an operation poorly or with risk that is too high, then you pay the price when you lose just as you make great profits when things are going well. The theory is that even if you do collapse and disappear, someone will emerge to step into the breach and take over that business need. But those of us free market individuals are not in charge right now. The power in America has shifted to a more socialist viewpoint espoused by new President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. So rather than allowing AIG to collapse and pay the price for its riskiness, they decided to give it a 'bailout', or what was spun in positive terms as part of a 'stimulus' package. The government basically gave AIG the money to cover its losses and stay in business. But then AIG kept adjusting the amount that is said it had lost, and the government ended up bumping up the payments twice, until our government had given AIG a total of $180 billion dollars. Listen to that in the voice of Doctor Evil: "One hundred and eighty billion dollars!" From the government. That means from you and me, because the government gets its money from us in the form of taxes to begin with. So now you and I, 'We the People', literally own approximately 80% of the American International Group. So when AID got all that money to prop up their business and stay afloat, what did they do with it? Begin to invest it safely back into their operations and the markets, making them and the entire system stronger? Put it out into the world financial system and kick-start a recovery? Uh, no. Within days of receiving their first government funds, AIG sponsored a little company weekender bash at a swank California hotel with a price tag on the soiree' of nearly a half million dollars. Now this is a direct slap in the face to the American people, but it wasn't nearly the worst of AIG's greedy spending spree. The company then began to dole out hundreds of 'bonuses' to individual employees totaling approximately $165 million dollars. Bonuses! Most them going to employees in their financial products division, the exact same people with oversight of the very products that allegedly drove AIG into this mess in the first place. Now correct me if I am wrong, but people usually get a bonus for doing something good for the company? Something profitable? The theory being that any bonuses are coming out of that increased profit, right? Okay, just wanted to make sure that I did actually understand what a bonus was supposed to represent. So that is what has been happening in all the headlines that you have been seeing and hearing regarding AIG. On finding out about these bonuses, politicians and the media have shown righteous anger. You should care, and you should be angry as well. Because it is into your pockets that President Barack Obama and his Democratic Party cohorts are about to dig in order to get the money to pay for all of this 'Socialism', the government takeover of what should be private industry business. If you voted for Obama because you wanted 'Change', I hope that you knew exactly what that meant. It didn't just mean a change from Bush, who you hated. George W. Bush was leaving office anyway, his term was up, there was going to be change in any event. But the type of change you voted for was to change the very fabric of America, from a world-leader in a capitalist system to just another experiment in socialism, which has always failed everywhere it has been tried. The people at AIG are simply greedy and were looking to get nice chunks of your money out to their top executives as quickly and quietly as possible. They likely felt there was so much floating around that no one would really notice. We did notice, and now we should demand that at the very least the 'bonus' portion of the monies be returned to us. Of course this whole thing could have been avoided had we just not given them the money in the first place.

Steven Cisar drops in

One of our racers, Steven Cisar, dropped by today to build one of our new sample Race frames. The frame weighs 3.4lbs and is a 21.25" top tube. Fully integrated head tube this time around and a new slim drop out. Come by the Haro tent and check this frame out in Bakersfield next month. Legit.

Click photo to enlarge.

Vegan Thai recipes (Tom kha, Thai apple salad)

Tom kha as prepared at the cooking class

You know how when you go to a Thai restaurant and ask about the fish sauce they say, "We don't put fish sauce in that." If you're like me, you're probably always kind of wondering if that's really true. We recently attended a vegan Thai cooking class and one of the instructors said when he was offered that "no fish sauce in here" assurance at a restaurant recently, he added that he was extremely allergic to fish and would become very sick very fast if he ate any. The waitress went off to the kitchen, engaged in a long conversation, and returned to inform him that all the sauces were created from pre-made mixes, and they all contained fish sauce and MSG. She added that all Thai restaurants use these sauces and anyone who tells you differently is lying. I'm not saying that's an absolute fact, but it makes me wonder.

It reminds me of a similar conversation I had a few years ago with my son. He had a friend working at a popular and esteemed Thai restaurant whose staff had assured us many times that we were not eating fish sauce. This friend said that all the sauces were made from mixes that contained not only fish sauce, but many other items that we would certainly not want to eat. I know when I go to a restaurant that all may not be as it appears, and I'm making a choice to trust the restaurant to tell me the truth about the food they serve. But I'm feeling a bit uneasy. We don't have any vegetarian-only restaurant choices where we live (this will change when we move) and if we want a night out without cooking, we have to take our chances.


Pad Thai photographed at the cooking class

Most of the time we cook our own food, and we just took a cooking class at Willy Street Coop to get some pointers on making Thai food, one of our favorite cuisines (except for the fish sauce!) at home. In the cooking class, taught by holistic health counselor Carrell Casey, we learned to make three very easy and delicious Thai dishes. We made Tom Kha, Pad Thai and Thai apple salad. The soup (tom kha) and pad thai were too salty for me, though they really tasted good. I'm making a few changes to get the sodium level down. The original soup recipe had 1/2 cup tamari, and regular vegetable broth. There was also red curry paste which contains salt. I'm using low-sodium vegetable broth, and much less tamari. I also added a green vegetable (bok choy) to the tom kha. I'm going to print my slightly revised recipes, and you can further revise them to suit your personal preference. The salad was tangy, refreshing and so simple to make. I'm not changing that at all!

I'm going to start with the soup and dessert and post the pad thai later, as we still have a few kinks to work out of the recipe. Although the pad thai worked perfectly in class, it hasn't worked so well at home. The first try was horrible looking and not so great tasting. I think we had a little problem with the tamarind. The second version tasted and looked fine, but was not very authentic, as several of the ingredients were missing. When we get it right, I'll post it. In the meantime, try the tom kha and the surprising apple dessert. (You can control the spiciness of the soup by adding more or less chili and curry paste.)



Tom kha (adapted and printed with permission)

• 1 can light coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons red or green curry paste (Thai Kitchen makes a vegan version)
• juice of 1 lime
• 3 tablespoons tamari
• 1 tablespoon agave syrup
• 2 fresh green chilies, minced (less if you don't like spicy food)
• about 10 mushrooms, sliced
  
• 2 carrots, sliced into half moons
• 1 large or 2 small onions, diced
• 2 cups low-sodium veggie broth
• 1 package firm tofu (16 oz.), sliced into thin triangles or cubes
  
• 1 bunch bok choy, shredded roughly

1. Saute onions and carrots in a soup pot or wok. When soft, add mushrooms and saute for a minute or two. Add bok choy and saute about 1 minute.
2. Add veggie broth and coconut milk (Keep heat medium so milk doesn't burn.)
3. Add curry paste, lime juice, tamari, agave, tofu and chilies. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Thai apple salad from the cooking class

Thai apple salad (printed with permission)

• 4 large apples, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon agavé syrup
• 1 green chili pepper, chopped fine
• pinch of salt
• 6 cups torn leaf lettuce or whole romaine leaves

1. Mix lime juice, agavé, chili and salt in a bowl.
2. Cut apples, add to bowl and toss to coat.
3. Serve over a bed of lettuce.

Think "dairy-free" means "no dairy?" Think again. Our cooking class included information on food labeling from a vegan perspective. Here's a link to how to interpret food labeling terms.
http://www.exploreveg.org/resources/ingredients.html

Nasty Racing in Phoenix

Ryan Guettler put some footage together from the race in Phoenix about 2 weeks ago.
Nasty rocked his Convert frame complete gyro and all, no need for a race bike! Look at his pick up style on the jumps...
These guys just did it for fun, and it looked fun. Vans TM Jerry Badders was on a Haro also.
Mackay

Guettler Racing BMX from Ryan Guettler on Vimeo.

Heaths Uninvited Jam thats on all the other sites...

Nyquist, Nasty and Dennis get involved with the 3rd Heath Pinter/Paxtons Jam in Cali.
I added this vid because Nyquist displays his new one foot flatty 3 technique and Dennis has the ender... Nice one boys..

Wish i was there!

Mackay

See More BMX Videos at VitalBMX.com

Another Ben Hucke Webby

Ben's been busy with filming lately, this ones dedicated to his new Osiris Shoes deal.
Here he bangs out some sick spots in Portland to what seams to be some Christmassy music..

Osiris - Ben Hucke from Osiris BMX on Vimeo.

Mackay

Nasty to Greenville?

Rumor is Nasty wants to come out to Pro Town, Greenville NC real soon.
Should be epic!

Mackay

DA*55 Photos of San Jose Del Cabo

My short trip to Baja, Mexico coincided with the annual Festival in the Centro Historico downtown area of San Jose Del Cabo. San Jose, founded in 1730, is the oldest city on the Baja Peninusla.

The festival gave me an opportunity to try out the new DA*55 lens with my K20D. While I only spent a few hours on two different afternoons walking around the festivities, I tried to test this lens shooting a range of different subject matter and in different lighting conditions.

Original images all shot in RAW and converted using CS3 to jpegs for posting on Blogger. Other than setting my white and black points (levels) on several images, I did not do any additional processing to these images.

Click on any of these thumbnails to see a larger image file.