Pro Sports – A Family Affair

With plenty of friends and family around this weekend, you’ll probably want to keep the conversation light. Sarah Palin’s sudden resignation should provide plenty of “fireworks” around the nacho platter, so let me set you up with a completely non-offensive topic – namely, the plethora of family connections in professional sports.

With the Williams sisters (Serena and Venus) squaring off in the women’s Wimbledon final on Saturday, the timing couldn’t be better.  Not only that, but Venus and Serena have also reached the doubles finals as well.

Just about every major sport has some combination of siblings or offspring excelling in the league. Currently, Peyton Manning and brother Eli Manning were the starting quarterbacks on two of the last three Superbowl champions. Furthermore, the Manning brothers are the sons of former Saints quarterback Archie Manning. In basketball, Kobe Bryant just finished winning his fourth NBA title. Bryant is the son of “Jellybean Joe” Bryant, a former NBA player in his own right.

The NHL is always brimming with connections along the family tree.  Brett Hull earned his way into the upper echelon of players over the past couple decades, but it didn’t hurt that his dad (Bobby Hull) was one of the greatest hockey players to ever put skate to ice in the NHL.  With SIX Sutter brothers in the NHL in the 80s, it seems there are more Sutters in hockey than Kennedys in politics.

Pro sports family-related trivia:
Wednesday night’s starting outfield for the San Diego Padres consisted of Tony Gwynn, Jr., Scott Hairston, and Will Venable.  All three players are sons of former major league ballplayers (Tony Gwynn, Sr., Jerry Hairston, and Max Venable).

Mess in Honduras

Political week continues at DinnerTopics.com:

Honduras is basically, to put it plainly, a big, fat mess right now.  What happened?

1. There was a coup on Sunday and the military forced the president, Manuel Zelaya, out of the country.  They dumped him into exile in Costa Rica.  World leaders, including President Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, condemned the move.  So did the UN and OAS (Organization of American States).
2. Later on Sunday, the Honduran Congress hastily met and voted Roberto Micheletti in as the new President.
3. As the Congress met, military troops moved through the city and surrounded the presidential palace and other government buildings.  Power, phone lines, international TV, and electricity were all cut off.
4. On Monday, Zelaya announced his decision to return.  Argentine President Cristina Fernandez and the head of OAS, José Miguel Insulza, said they would accompany him.  Leftist leaders Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela met in Nicaragua to defend him.
5. On Tuesday, the OAS (kind of like the UN for South and Central America) issued a resolution condemning the coup and stating that Zelaya must return to Honduras within 72 hours, or Honduras would be expelled from the OAS.
6. Other countries join in their condemnation:  Venezuela says it will suspend oil shipments, and El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua all say they will stop all overland trade.  Micheletti vows to arrest Zelaya if he returns.
7. Zelaya speaks at the UN General Assembly in New York, describing his arrest and calling for international support.

This is the first time in a very long time that something like this has happened in Central America.  This will be the first big test for the Obama administration’s policy of seeking a more diplomatic role in the region.  Obama does not want to appear like he is meddling.  Zelaya represents the Latin America’s Leftist movement, which has gathered strength in recent years and is often at odds with U.S. interests.  In Honduras, like in other Latin American countries, democratic institutions like universities and labor unions are weak, creating a vacuum for these Leftist/Marxist to take charge.
The 72 hours expire on Thursday.  What will happen next?  Will Zelaya return?  Will Micheletti let him?  Now that you know the basic outline, you can make sense of what you may be hearing on the radio, on TV news reports, and on television about these ongoing events.

Extra Credit:  What is the capital of Honduras?

Tegucigalpa, pronounced “tay GU chee GAL pah.”  It’s an Mayan word meaning, “Silver Mountain.”

Read on:

CSMonitor.com – Leftist leaders hold emergency meeting over Honduras coup

LATimes.com – Honduran president ousted in coup; replacement is named

WashingtonPost.com – Honduras Targets Protesters With Emergency Decree

Mexican Elections Forthcoming

There are currently two major parties in Mexico:  

1. The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI, as its initials are spelled when written out in Spanish), held long-term power in Mexico for 71 years until 2000. (PRI is pronounced “Pree.’)
2. The National Action Party (PAN, as abbreviated in Spanish) is the party of the current President, Felipe Calderon, who has held office since 2006. (PAN is pronounced “Pahn”.) Previous President Vicente Fox (2000-2006), was the first PAN presidential candidate to break the PRI institutional grip on the office since 1929. Fox held office for one, 6-year-term.

Some of the biggest issues thus far have been drug-trafficking, organized crime, and drug violence.  This is a first in Mexican society, which has preferred to keep this on the back burner and not addressed so overtly.  The PAN party is claiming moral superiority on this issue because, since 2006, Calderon’s PAN party has exponentially stepped up pressure on drug cartels.  In a controversial move, Calderon also gave police powers to the military, in order to have them fight corruption in local police departments.  Calderon and PAN are running ads featuring a popular wrestler named “Mistico” telling voters that “the president and the PAN are giving it their all, and we have to support them.”  Mexican election officials are stepping up enforcement of campaign finance laws to make sure the drug cartels are not illegally influencing the election: they are doing random checks of campaign records, investigating anything suspicious.  

This could backfire against PAN, however, because some Mexicans are tiring of the bloody violence that comes from the increased pressure on drug cartels.  Since Carderon took office in 2006, more than 10,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence.

Economic recession is another major issue in the election. Like most countries in the world, Mexico has been hit by the worldwide recession, and PAN has certainly been hurt by this.  Some political analysts predict the Mexican economy will shrink by more than 8% this year, the worst drop since the Great Depression.

Swine flu is another issue.  While one would expect PAN to have been hurt by the swine flu issue, thus far, they appear to have emerged unscathed.  Still, the swine flu has severely affected tourism for both vacations and medical procedures, as Americans and other world travelers opt to spend these dollars (yen, etc.) elsewhere.

To add one last interesting twist, former presidential candidate López Obrador, from a third party called the Democratic Revolution Party or, PRD), called on June 9 for a national boycott of the election.  He was joined by business groups, university professors, and former politicians who asked Mexicans to cast a blank ballot marked simply with an “X”.  He says the election will only benefit the two major parties, PRI and PAN.  “Voting for the least bad candidate is like buying the least rotten fruit,” says Jose Antonio Crespo, a well-known historian backing the movement.  “I prefer to leave a note saying, ‘Hey. All your fruit is rotten. I’ll come back next time and I hope you have something fresh and edible.’” ¹ 

For its part, the Catholic Church in Mexico has publicly rejected this movement, calling it “stupidity” and “irresponsible.” Some even wonder if the PRI is behind it, because a low turn-out would most likely help their candidates.

Stay tuned to the comments section for a review of what happens after the election, but, in the meantime, now you know the major players and the major issues!

Read on:

Yahoo! News – Once hush-hush, drug war plays big in Mexico vote

Angus-Reid.com – PAN Trails PRI Ahead Mexican Election

Mexico Portal Blog

Time.com – Mexico’s Election Rebellion: Just Vote No

Yemen Facts

A tragic plane crash in the Indian Ocean was recently reported, with 153 passengers on board a plane that departed from Yemen.  Amazingly, a 5-year-old child was found alive among the wreckage.  Before you start spreading the word about the story, you should know a few things about Yemen.

Located directly south of Saudi Arabia, Yemen is one of the poorest Arab countries in the Middle East.  With a population of 24,000,000, the country is about twice the physical size of Wyoming ¹.  Officially known as the Republic of Yemen, discord between North and South Yemenis ended when the country formally unified in 1990.  Since then, a concrete barrier has been formed by Saudi Arabia along much of the border to prevent any illegal cross-border activities.

The desert-like conditions don’t allow for much in the way of natural resources.  Oil is the primary export, but hardly a means to sustain the entire country.  Agriculture is the main source of employment.  The Yemen economy doesn’t have much going for it, and with piracy a very real threat along the water channel (Gulf of Arden) it borders, things don’t look to pick up anytime soon.

Read on:

USAToday.com – Yemeni Airbus crashes in ocean, toddler found alive

CIA.gov – Yemen

“See For Yourself” about Autopsies

With Michael Jackson’s surprising death and now the shocking news about the death of TV-pitchman Billy Mays (the guy with the loud voice, a penchant for cleaning products, and the blackest beard and hair you’ll ever see), autopsies are being performed to determine the causes of death.

For the general public, an autopsy (loosely translated from Greek to mean “to see for oneself”) seems commonplace thanks to celebrity deaths and TV shows, but it’s a fairly gruesome process.  On TV, a detective usually pops into a morgue where a wisecracking coroner with no fear of squeamish things bites into a sandwich as he stares at a dead, naked body.  Within a minute, he tells the detective how the guy died, ridicules everyone for not knowing, and everybody goes on with their business.  Needless to say, it doesn’t quite work that way.

There are two types of autopsies, which are a very graphic process.  The above scenario would depict the beginning of a forensic autopsy, the kind used for police investigation.  In those cases, extreme care and inspection is performed on the external portion of the body before any tampering.  Only afterward does the medical examiner open the body.

Clinical autopsies are performed by pathologists or physicians for research or training after a cause of death has already been determined. 

Both types involve severe internal inspection including sawing the chest cavity, removing the organs (either all or some depending on the circumstance), sawing of the skull, brain removal, and then somehow reconstituting the entire body for proper viewing if necessary.

Upon completion of an autopsy, cause of death must be put into one of five categories ¹:

• natural
• accident
• homicide
• suicide
• undetermined

While not the greatest subject to start the work week, at least you’ll be a little more equipped for conversation today than the guy who only watches Quincy reruns.

(above photo taken from http://lankie.com/billy-mays-here-for%E2%80%A6-insert-product-here/)

Read on:

HowStuffWorks.com – How Autopsies Work

Pathguy.com – Autopsy (excellent step-by-step explanation of the process)

FoxNews.com – ‘Infomercial King’ Billy Mays Found Dead in Home

Manatees – Like a Swimming Elephant

What weighs over a ton, is the closest living relative to an elephant, and may be as smart as dolphins?  The much lesser known manatee.

Mostly found in Florida or other warm water habitats such as the Antilles, manatees can live for up to 60 years in the wild, and, surprisingly, they continue to grow throughout their entire lives.  They typically move at a  relaxing 2-3 miles/hour, and spend much of their lives eating and resting in warm waters around 12 feet deep or less.   According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Joyce Kleen, manatees, though dumb-looking to the unschooled human eye, are actually extremely intelligent – perhaps as intelligent as seals and dolphins – and they also have razor-sharp hearing and vision skills.

These gentle mammals used to be highly endangered but have slowly staged a comeback thanks to stricter regulations.  But they are still at risk from coastal developments and from speeding boats.   According to Nick Jans of Defenders of Wildlife, “a majority of adult manatees bear the scars of repeated, often gruesome maiming from hulls and propellers; some dead animals show evidence of having survived more than 50 collisions. . . Some manage to live with ribs or even parts of organs protruding through their skin.”   For these reasons, the 2007 U.S. Geological Survey reported that manatees stand a shockingly high 55% of declining to only 500 individual manatees throughout the entire Florida and Gulf Coast within the next century if current boating and warm water refuge loss stay the same, and these chances rise to 95% if Florida continues to “enjoy” population increases (which is highly expected as the baby boomers retire).

As a state, Florida has stepped up its manatee awareness programs – including instructional videos, boaters’ guides, speed zone signs, and educational outreach.  Now you know the next time you see a swimming elephant in Florida, give it a little space.

Don’t Be “Shia” About Saying His Name

The new Transformers movie is out (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) starring up-and-comer Shia LeBeouf.  With prominent roles in some big blockbuster movies over the past few years and an early career as a Disney actor, you have undoubtedly seen him many times.  What you might not know is how to pronounce his name correctly.

Often butchered, even by the media, it’s pronounced “Shy-uh LeBuff.”  Now you’ll sound a little more in the loop when your kids are talking about the Transformers movie and you’re busy explaining how you had a Transformers toy as a kid that turned into a cassette tape.  When they ask what a cassette tape is, steer the conversation back to the movie and say the star’s name right.

(cassette image taken from: http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/cassettes.html)

Read on:

imdb.com – Shia LaBeouf

What is Happening With the British House of Commons?

“There’s something rotten in the [House of Parliament]. . .”

- William Shakespeare:  Hamlet Act I, Scene 4.

There currently is a scandal going down in the British House of Commons.  It was discovered that Members of Parliament (“MPs”) had been misusing public funds (appropriated to them for living expenses in their “second homes” they have in London when they are not in their districts).  They used them for extravagant expenses such as cleaning a moat, buying expensive furniture, or laying down manure in their gardens.  The public was absolutely disgusted and called for blood.

The Speaker of the House, Michael Martin, resigned.  His position, unlike the position by the same name in the States, is largely bipartisan and responsible for keeping track of Members’ fees.  So, by trying to cover up the Members’ extravagance, Martin was widely considered to have betrayed the public trust and had no choice, basically, but to resign.

However, some say that Martin was a fall guy, and the British media still clamored that the entire of “Westminster (this is a synonym for the Houses of Parliament) has sunk into a slough of despond.”¹  Other Parliamentary leaders are calling for administrative reforms aimed at breaking up the entire Parliamentary “clubby” atmosphere, “where the members make up the rules, and operate them among themselves.”²

But the party that was most tarnished was the party in the majority, the Labour Party (Tony Blair’s party).   For the last 12 years, Labour has been in the Majority and has seemed invincible, while the Conservatives were in political Siberia, but, now, this scandal threatens to upset the apple cart:  the public wants the old order out, and the new order in.  On June 4, there were elections for local offices and for EU offices, and the public used these to send a message to Labour how badly they want change.

Currently, the head of the Labour Party, Gordon Brown, is hanging by a thread.  Not only has he been battered by this scandal, but the economy in Britain, like the rest of the world, is weak, so he’s bearing up under pressure about that also.  On top of that, eleven members of his Cabinet resigned last week after the elections.  On June 22, a new Speaker of the House was elected, John Bercow; the Speaker usually comes from the majority party (Labour) but the British populace elected a Conservative this time to show the growing disgust they felt towards Labour.  (Interestingly, he is the first ever Jewish Speaker of the House in Britain.) 

Finally, there is increasingly more and more pressure for Brown to call for a new General Election.  This would make all the MPs go back to their districts and campaign in a new election in six weeks’ time, and give newcomers a chance to run, get in, and instigate change.

The Prime Minister says he is determined to remain in his job and does not plan to call for a General Election.  He says he has plans to announce initiatives on bank regulation, school rankings and choice, police reform, and local community safety.  He calls on all Labour MPs to go back to their constituencies during the summer recess and work to rebuild the public trust.

Will it work?  In the words of the ineffably English author Lewis Carroll, things are looking “curiouser and curiouser.” ³  Keep checking DinnerTopics and we shall keep you informed.

(Photo by Tom Corser www.tomcorser.com. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.0 England & Wales (UK) Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/uk/deed.en_GB)

Read on:

uk.Reuters.com – Martin’s exit fails to end clamour for clean-up

WashingtonPost.com – In Britain, A Desperate Brown Is Hanging On

Who is Perez Hilton?

Perez Hilton is this guy whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira.  Strange, isn’t it, because what I am remembering from high school Spanish class is that this last name sounds suspiciously like the Spanish word for laundromat — “lavandaria”?  So, does he work in the laundry field?  No, he just dishes news:  gossip, more like it.  Lately, Hilton himself has been part of headlines after an odd incident involving his judging a Miss USA 2009 pageant and most recently his altercation with a road manager from the Black Eyed Peas.

Senor Lavandeira gave himself the celebrity moniker “Perez Hilton” and started a website to dish about the stars.  On the website, PerezHilton.com (formerly known as PageSixSixSix.com… hmmm, that’s only a little bit scary), Hilton is best known for posting celebrity photos with his own pithy and sarcastic comments scrawled on top of the picture.  He is also famous for being open about his own homosexuality and for brashly outing in-the-closet celebs. 

Hilton frequently demands public castigation for celebrities who make homophobic remarks:   in 2006, he called for the firing of Isaiah Washington from Grey’s Anatomy after he called fellow actor T.R. Knight “a faggot,” and, after a long, drawn-out scandal in the bell jar that is Hollywood, ABC did announce in early 2007 that they would not be renewing Washington’s contract for the next season.

Sr. Laundry is originally of Cuban descent and grew up in Florida, attending Catholic school (Belen Jesuit Preparatory School.)  It surprised me to learn that he was born in 1978, which makes him 31.  I don’t know if I expected him to be older (kind of?) or younger (he does sort of act babyishly at times?) or basically have NO age at all, but, there it is:  he is 31.

Read on:

Wikipedia.org – Perez Hilton

PerezHilton.com

EW.com – Perez Hilton sues Black Eyed Peas’ road manager

FIFA Confederations Cup

In the United States, soccer is rarely headline news unless the subject is the outfit David Beckham’s wife was last seen in.  Wednesday, however, the U.S. made history by beating top ranked Spain in a semifinal game of the FIFA Confederations Cup.  You can read all about how large the upset was here, but first you need to know why they were playing in the first place.

The FIFA Confederations Cup is a tournament that began as the King Fahd Cup in 1992, then played again in 1995, then every two years until 2005.  Now, with FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) in control of the event, it is scheduled to occur every four years as a precursor to the World Cup the following year.  With eight teams competing, the tournament is held in the country scheduled to host the next World Cup so that organizers get a “test run” at one of the world’s biggest sporting events.

Read on:

Wikipedia.org - FIFA Confederations Cup

FIFA.com – USA joins list of great upsets

Powered by Wordpress | WP Premium theme by WP Remix
Copyright 2007. Dinner Topics. All rights reserved

• Home
• FAQ
• The Skinny