I found this paragraph in a notebook of poems, thoughts, and other random musings. It was written 2/19/2008. Not sure I want to expand on it, but I wanted to post it here to maybe foster some deep ponderment.

We worship sport like gods. Football our Mars, basketball our Venus, etc. The rise of sport and industrialization pulled us apart as a nation and drove us into small affiliations. Only fitting then that the battles of sports, the cut-throat of industrial capitalism, and the vile polarization of politics spawned from our civil war. It is not over – we only re-channeled our nation’s natural-born aggressiveness. Sports and political vitriol are releases of the hostility and societal pressures borne from our precious democratic industrial capitalism.

Richard Reid Blues

Shoeless Joes march complacently
Assembly line government guarded
Step right up
Now your flying

Greatest show above Earth
Makes as much sense as smoking AstroTurf
Leave your water in the car
So you can pay 12 dollars at their coffee bar
Corporate permeation
Bed, breakfast, booze, and aviation

This book is too important to sit on my shelf for years. I had to read it as soon as possible.

A few disclaimers:

1) Theories of International Politics and Zombies is written for academics, students, or practitioners of international politics.  Although Drezner provides background on the different theories of international politics, enjoyment of the book is most likely proportional to knowledge on the subject. Being that I have never worked in the international field, Drezner used a lot of terms that I haven’t seen since grad school.

2) I am a huge Dan Drezner fan. I’ve read his blog since 2007, at first when it was on his own site, and then I followed when he went to the Foreign Policy web site. If I thought international theory study could be lucrative and working in the field could provide a retirement to beaches of senoritas and margaritas, there are few professors I would want to study under more.

3) I am not much of a zombie fan. I think their utility in film is vastly overrated. They have zero personality and are the crutch of far too many uncreative filmmakers.

Now that I have that out of the way, Theories of International Politics and Zombies was very enjoyable. Drezner uses the simpleness of zombies as the constant against various political theories. He writes about how responses based on realism, liberalism, American neoconservatism, and constructivism could be used to counter an emerging zombie threat. He also writes about how domestic politics and American bureaucracy could both help and hinder anti-zombie efforts.

At only 120 pages of text, Drezner only tears the flesh of large-scale anti-zombie processes. As I was reading, I thought of a few measures he doesn’t cover. One is the idea that a stronger nation could possibly attempt to herd zombies and utilize them as a un-living border patrol. Allowing autonomy to a group in exchange for providing a buffer between a nation and what they perceive as problematic neighbor has been done at various times in history. Imagine a five mile swath between the US and Mexico populated by thousands of zombies. Although there would be a huge initial investment, while US military forces monitored the fence and the zombies (who I doubt would complain about persistent monitoring), this borderland would provide an increased deterrent against illegal immigration.

In his domestic chapter, Drezner fails to mention what I believe is one of the most important laws in America: Posse Comitatus – the limiting of military forces in domestic law enforcement. Since the United States lacks the uniform citizen military ideal seen in Israel or Kurdistan, there is no way private arms, local police, or even the National Guard could coordinate enough force to counter a zombie threat. Posse Comitatus would have to be suspended and that would lead to a major political dispute in at the national level. I would have liked to seen Drezner at least mention this issue.

Another important point I think Drezner missed is the politics of resources. Sometimes even a powerful nation should logically use a capability created by another nation to fight a threat, but they don’t due to politics and the impression of strength – even if it costs the stronger nation money and casualties. One of example of this scenario is the Russian fire fighting plane Ilyushin Il-76 which sat on runways while fires burned in Asia, Africa, and South America.  Drezner mentions the need to create international organizations that would work to migrate a zombie catastrophe, but he doesn’t mention how difficult it would be for these organizations to sequester the necessary capabilities.

As I mentioned, Theories of International Politics and Zombies is a quick read, but it is well-written, fun to read, and I think it is the precursor of an army of undead academic-themed literature that will soon swarm bookstores everywhere.

By The Time I Get To Tucson:

At a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized – at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we do – it’s important for us to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds. – President Obama, January 2011

This Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I can almost guarantee hip-hop fans, civil rights advocates, and people who believe in fighting the power will be viewing, linking, liking, or sharing Public Enemy’s hip-hop masterpiece “By The Time I Get To Arizona“. In the wake of the attempted assassination of Representative Gabrielle Giffords, I say watching PE this year is the wrong answer.

The American media has spent the last week preaching the need to increase civil discourse. Analysts of all ideologies have proclaimed that we must stop the yelling and try to talk out our issues. Arguing and belligerence is not the answer, and neither is violence.

The first reaction after Rep. Gifford’s attempted assassination was to blame Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and the rest of the right-wing media for the actions of Jared Loughner. Right-wing phrases such as “re-load” and “2nd Amendment solutions” made Palin and her ilk the target of intense national discussion. Whether or not Loughner was influenced by these phrases was irrelevant, but the fact that there could have been linkages was the point of debate. Yet those same violent innuendos permeate the video for “By the Time I Get To Arizona”. Within the first minute, we see Public Enemy frontman Chuck D leading a posse of people carrying M-16s, practicing karate, and shooting in a gun range. Even Chuck D’s lyrics advocate violence as a political solution.

Until we get some land
Call me the trigger man
Looki lookin’ for the governor
Huh he ain’t lovin’ ya

.

.

The cracker over there
He try to keep it yesteryear
The good ol’ days
The same ol’ ways
That kept us dyin’
Yes, you me myself and I’ndeed
What he need is a nosebleed

Of course, supporters say “By The Time I Get To Arizona” is political art, not unlike Ice-T’s “Cop Killer”. It tells the story of a person fed up with being disrespected because of his or her skin color and their desire to see the sacrifices of their heroes acknowledged in by the Government of Arizona. I completely understand that, and the freedom to create art – no matter how it could be interpreted – should never be infringed.

However, celebrating Chuck D’s message, especially in light of what happened in Tucson last week, is not the way to go. If “rap is the black CNN“, as Chuck D once said, then “By The Time I Get to Arizona” is The Glenn Beck Show. For the impressionable, Chuck D’s lyrics and images are no different than the words of any political shill who drums up ratings by spouting off controversy. Repeated daily in a medium that promotes itself as a provider of news and educated opinion, these words are not art, they are calls to action. And unfortunately action words – those of anger and emotion – sell more commercials than voices preaching calm and discourse.

(Of course, rap voices are persecuted more frequently in the media than other form of communication, as Davey D of AllHipHop.com writes in this post. Although back in the day, music was how the black community communicated it’s message of frustration – through rap, blues, or spoken word poetry.)

Just because the song’s subject matter is about Martin Luther King, Jr. does not mean it should be played every MLK Day. It’s meaning was important and relevant when it was released in 1991, and it should be remembered and respected as a voice of dissent during a very difficult time, but today, in the words of President Obama:

“let us use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our hopes and dreams are bound together.”

Let’s leave a farewell letter on the door in Arizona and move on to higher ground.

(Interesting note: The classic country song “By The Time I Get To Phoenix” starts with the image of a man leaving a note on the door of his lover. Martin Luther posted the “Ninety-Five Theses” on the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenburg, Germany, beginning the Protestant Reformation in 1517.)

In case you’ve never seen it, here is “By The Time I Get To Arizona”:

Two years after “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was enacted, I turned 18 and I joined the military. One of the things I remember most about my recruiting process was a question on one of the final questionnaires.

“Are you a Communist?”

Yes/No

Before I could answer the question, the recruiter snatched the form from me and scratched out the question.

“We aren’t allowed to ask that,” he said.

Apparently, answering “Yes” meant automatic denial of enlistment. The Army didn’t want no stinkin’ Commie pinkos in its ranks.

I always thought “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” was created along the same lines, to limit recruiters from discriminating and limiting the ability to serve based on one lifestyle question.

The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to me means recruiters can now ask whatever they want about the sexual lifestyle of a potential recruit. That’s not fair.

Following my recruitment, I did three years in a combat unit at Fort Hood, Texas. One of my fellow soldiers was very flamboyant, frequently did the downward wrist bend action, and sometime in 1998, the common rumor was that he was found in bed sleeping with another male soldier.

After the rumor died down and the novelty wore away, the popular consensus was that no one cared.

Now that’s just one soldier in one unit. I have no idea how things were/are anywhere else. But what scares me now is that some prick recruiter can screen recruits by asking a question about their sexual proclivitity.

Somewhere a platoon of Commies smiles.

What has interested me the most, however, is the reaction of the US Government to the information contained on WikiLeaks – namely the thousands upon thousands of classified files available for download. According to US officials this material remains classified even if it is public. It is still proprietary information necessary for the security, stability, and success of the United States. The US Government says so, so right-doing citizens should obey.

I find the US Government’s call for morality interesting.

To me, it seems the US Government is attempting to counter the popular philosophy that barring copyright, once something is on the internet, it is public domain. It doesn’t matter if it is a drunken picture of someone, a cat playing poker dressed as a viking, or a song. If it is out there, and millions upon millions have downloaded it, the cat (with the viking helmet) is out of the bag and containing the information is a lost cause.

(John Naughton of the Guardian has an interesting article on the US Government’s dilemma on this point. Naughton states that putting a finger in the pike can not stop the flood of the internet. Either the governments of the world band together and severely limit the web or they should live with the consequences of a world of free-flowing information. Once a piece of information gets in the current, like a goldfish in the rapids, it’s gone.)

So far, in other realms of information, our culture hasn’t quite agreed with the US Government’s philosophy on intelligence media. For example, if the latest Lil Wayne song is stolen from his studio, uploaded, and downloaded by the masses, Weezy will have to suck it up and get tighter security. That’s just the reality. Score one for the fans who didn’t have to pay.

But of course most people think “stealing” from record companies is acceptable because record companies are successful. They are “The Man” and the consumers are people who are just trying to make an honest living and enjoy the music we like with paying an arm and a leg. Sounds fair enough.

But it is still illegal.

This also applies to movies, TV shows, other forms of entertainment, and even computer programs. If you are lucky to pirate a bootleg copy of Microsoft Office, more power to you. Bill Gates didn’t need that money anyway.

But it is still illegal.

The only type of information that comes to mind that carries the negative stigma the US Government hopes for in the case of WikiLeaks is child porn. No matter how someone finds it, or whatever they do with it, creating, owning, uploading, or downloading child porn is illegal. Everyone knows that. It’s disgusting and revolting and anyone who even goes to those sites is a filthy, disgusting pervert who should be put behind bars. Hackers don’t defend child porn sites with attacks.

But what makes downloading child porn different from stealing a song or movie?

For those with an interest in either, after breaking the law acquiring the data, why are the two categories of media different?

The difference is in the victim.

Both stealing songs and downloading child porn are victimful crimes. Downloaders are taking either the hard earned labor from the record company and the artist or the stolen innocence from the child. In the former, we don’t mind because the record company is more powerful than we are, nevermind the fact that it could be a starving artist and a mom-and-pop record label. In the latter, the child is far less powerful than we are, so we sympathize and condone any actions that may support the dominance or exploitation of the child. To include downloading, viewing, or in any way, shape, or form manipulating media of the child.

Most times we tend to think of the US Government as more powerful than we are. They are definitely more powerful than the record companies. We’ll steal a government pen, claim an extra benefit, even try to cheat on our taxes. Because, like the record companies, the government will survive.

(It will also be interesting to see if the government tries to claim that the information contained on the WikiLeaks document is “property”. Under that logic, if someone steals my social security number, have they stolen my property, and I could press charges. I’m definitely not a lawyer, but I’m not sure that holds water.)

In the case of WikiLeaks, the US Government is trying to change perception. They are trying to convince the world that they are powerless against the information available on WikiLeaks and that, like child harmed by pornography, their right to life or innocence is at stake and anyone who sees, supports, uploads, downloads, or generally doesn’t help in the fight is at fault.

The question is: will the US Government succeed in creating a social stigma around the WikiLeaks content? Surely, not as many people are concerned about US relations with Uruguay as they are about Lil Wayne’s hot new release. But the US Government and their media blitz are not taking chances as even college students are being warned about their surfing habits.

In a world where information flows constantly and genies don’t go back into bottles, will people rally around the cause and denounce users of WikiLeaks?

Or will popular consensus shrug and go back to downloading illegal Lil Wayne songs?

Could the popular opinion surrounding WikiLeaks carry over to the other forms of downloading, changing a culture and providing ammunition for government entities attempting to shut down other less intelligence-focused piracy sites?

End note: A web site called Scattered Speculations has a very interesting piece similar to this entitled “Informational Governmentality: The Politics of the Leak“. They also discuss the idea that the US Government could try to influence cultural responses to “leaks” – be they intelligence or entertainment – by framing them all as dangerous to our way of life. I recommend checking it out.

Vintage Political Posters (via Pink Tentacle.com h/t Global Voices Online)

On the morning of the first big weekend in college football, I figured I would make my triumphant return to ScalpEm with an idea that has been marinating in my head for the last few months. This probably should have been written sooner, but I had to make sure my research was correct.

Before the season, I was thinking about how important this season is in the annals of Florida college football history.

Being an international affairs major and a bit of a history aficionado, this season reminds me of a very interesting point in 20^th Century world history. Feel free to disagree, but I think the 2010-11 State of Florida college football season is very similar to post-World War I geopolitics. Now this may be the craziest thing you have ever heard, so let me explain:

Prior to World War I, empires still controlled much of the global geopolitical scene. During and immediately following WWI, the three of the biggest of these – the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the German Empire (a fourth being the Austrian Empire) – were still relevant and had much sway on the discourse of nations.  Entering the discussion, but not yet in the class of “Empire”, was a small upstart power called the United States.

For many years, the Florida college football season was likewise dominated by three major players. Like the post-World War I empires, the Florida Empires each face different challenges as they enter the second decade of a new century. And as they confront their own internal identity issues, a new power is slowing emerging, growing every year in strength and confidence.

In matching empires to Florida college football powers, one of the easiest connections to make is that of Florida State to the Ottoman Empire. From 1299 to 1922, the Ottoman Empire covered a vast stretch of land spanning from Algeria to Iraq, Hungary to Ethiopia. During that time, the empire was ruled by a Sultan, who doubled as the Islamic Caliphate, or religious leader. Although power was dispersed, the sultan was still the “supreme monarch”.

Kinda like Bobby Bowden.

Continuing the analogy, during the final few hundred years of its existence, the Ottoman Empire was in a state of stagnation, again not unlike Florida State during the 2000s. Although many believe a portion of the Middle East is still suffering from this malaise, the nation of Turkey recovered from the destruction of the empire thanks in part to new leadership and a new national philosophy. Whether or not new head coach Jimbo Fisher can guide the Noles back up after the plodding rule of Sultan Bobby I has yet to be seen.

The second empire analogy is the University of Miami to the German Empire. Here the comparison is more valid in the years following World War I, when Germany was stripped of many of its national privileges, including the ability to build a military-industrial complex. They also could not export or import at the rate they did prior to the war. Eventually, they looked inward, to a leader who invoked the brightest confidence in glory days gone by. A man who, despite his evilness, promoted an increase in German pride.

Please note, I am not comparing Randy Shannon to Adolf Hitler, AT ALL. However, the hiring of Shannon and the emphasis on his pro-Miami background was done to return a sense of pride in the Hurricane players. The idea that the name “Hurricanes” means something once again to the players is what is important. Team pride is on the rise in Miami thanks to Shannon and slowly they are rebuilding the war machine in an attempt to establish a new Reich.

Unlike the German Empire, which would rebuild and rise from the ashes of WWI and aspire for world domination a generation later, the British Empire was all but deflated after the First World War. According to the Almighty, All-Knowing Wikipedia, World War I crippled the British psychologically more so than physically. Will the University of Florida face a similar fate? Will the years of domination and competition combined with the loss of their most esteemed athlete ever cause UF to slip from the ranks of the elite? It is very possible that the UF fanbase could fall off the immense high they have been on for the last four years and end up like the bored and disinterested Red Sox Nation.

Besides an effect on their national standing, British prestige also took a hit after the Great War. Slowly those who saw allying with the British as the only way to go began to reconsider their options. This phenomenon is not unlike the most recent recruiting class, particularly the decision of highly touted running back James Wilder to attend FSU over UF among others.

Last, but definitely not least, is the University of South Florida. Not considered a major power until recently, USF’s rise to relevancy is similar to that of the United States. An outsider in global geopolitics immediately after the war, the US found itself on level ground with the Empires after the war due to circumstances and opportunity.

Unfortunately however, the United States withdrew from discussion and practiced isolationism for several years until the Great Depression and the Second World War thrust them back in the spotlight. Unless USF loads up their schedule with powder puff cupcakes and focuses only on the Big East, I do not see them taking an isolationist route. Only time will tell if their strategy of taking on the old empires head-on is a wise one, but I think new Head Coach Skip Holtz will carry the tradition of his predecessor and heritage and continue the stampede.

Of course, there have been many other changes throughout college football leading into this season. In the past few months, the headlines have proclaimed tales of new alliances, scandals, reloading, and rebuilding. Across the nation, programs have flexed their muscles (Texas), and had their muscles taken away (USC). But nowhere is the presence of change more prominent than in Florida. And now, as each major program in the state faces its first huge challenge of the year, fans can only watch as a new era of college football in Florida begins.

However, buried in one of the articles on Morris’s capture was a little segment that made me worried.

According to the St. Pete Times,

Meanwhile, in the sprawling Kenneth Court apartment complex that Morris used to frequent, the police remained a constant presence through Friday.

“We all feel like prisoners, like we are being held hostage,” said Sherell Mitchell, 24. Seven months pregnant, she was seething about the hours she spent Wednesday afternoon with her two young children, locked out by a police barricade. “They said, ‘No one’s getting in and no one’s getting out.’ ”

Told of residents’ complaints, McElroy said, “it’s certainly not our intention to inconvenience or harass the people of this neighborhood.”

Notice there was no actual reporting there. Just claims. I’m not sure if the St. Pete Times actually did any investigation or merely put the quotes in to raise eyebrows. But the fact remains, did the cops inconvenience people as they searched for Morris? Personally, I don’t know. I don’t live in that part of town, nor was I anywhere near during the situation.

If these claims are true, it does open up the possibility of worsening public relations between the people of Morris’s community and the Tampa Police Department. There was no doubt Morris needed to be caught. He was public enemy number one. But I hope following the investigation, there was some motion to assuage relations between his community and the authorities.

Something tells me this wasn’t and isn’t the case.

The picture in this post is from an organization named the Black Peoples Advancement and Defense Organization (BPADO). According to their web site, BPADO’s mission is:

The mission of the Black Peoples Advancement & Defense Organization is to: protect and defend poor people, in Hillsborough County and the City Of Tampa, from every aggression of The State, great or small, intentional or accidental, by any means necessary, and educate, organize and mobilize people, in Hillsborough County and the City Of Tampa, in a way that will enable us to control our tax dollars, as well as the government officials responsible for those dollars, and make them work for our greater good, instead of our oppression.

I know Tampa has struggled in the issue of race. Few southern cities haven’t. In the four years I have lived in the area, I have noticed the city celebrates it’s pseudo-pirate culture and it’s legitimate Spanish culture far more than it does any other. It seems the African-American community has struggled here as much as they have in many other places in the south. The Wikipedia article on Tampa Riots, for example, is full of stories of people lashing out against authority, to include a 1987 riot after the police who arrested then-New York  Met pitcher Dwight Gooden were cleared of racist charges.

Has there been overreaction by African-American community leaders nationwide to perceived incidences of racism? I would say so. Jesse Jackson’s involvement in the LeBron James saga is a perfect example.

Have there been incidences where public movements have been essential to garner the fair treatment of people? Absolutely. That is the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr..

Although Dontae Morris is innocent until he gets his day in court, he didn’t come from the best part of town. His neck of the woods was where drugs and crime are higher than average in Tampa. However, security through citizen manipulation is not the answer, nor can it be allowed to be the perception. My hope is that somewhere between extreme action (or the perception thereof) and extreme reaction (or the threat thereof) there are people in the different communities of Tampa who can work with each other and build bridges of cooperation.

If not, we will continue to see reactive organizations such as BPADO emerge.