Hope springs eternal

The day has finally come. Spring is finally here.

And no, my friends, it's not because the thermometer deludes us into believing that the 65 degree weather is here to stay.

But the countdown clock has finally struck zero and the catchers and the pitchers have finally arrived.

Ah, the blessed sight of men in baseball uniforms playing catch can mean only one thing: the start of the baseball season is upon us. And if you think anything else (short of falling madly in love and being swept off my feet into the world of happily-ever-after) can make me feel any more ecstatic, overjoyed, euphoric, and put me in a state of simple bliss, then you're sadly mistaken.

Pathetic, you say? I don't care. I've waited 4 long months for this day. It's finally here, and I want it all.

I want Opening Day on April 3.
I want a no-hitter.
I want a Subway Series sweep.
I want first place.
I want a pennant.
And I want a championship.

I want the 162-game package plus.

I want it all.

Hope springs eternal come February and March, and this year, I have more to expect than years past.

Ah, the blessed sight of men in baseball uniforms playing catch and swinging the bat, and the voice of Gary Cohen narrating the 7 month story in the background, as the Mets beat their division rivals and win a championship 20 years to the day since their last. It can't get any better than that.

Let's play ball!

BPPV

Or, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.

Apparently, it's what I got. And it's not fun.

I thought I was getting better. In fact, I had a pretty good week following last Sunday and my recovery days of Monday and Tuesday. Then, I went up Thursday night to NY to see my new nephew, Aiden Yisrael (more on him later!). In the car on Friday morning, as we were driving to Livingston, NJ, to see him, I got sick. The nausea set in so quickly and painfully, there was no way I was able to enjoy the lovely breakfast in the synagogue after the circumcision ceremony. (They had bagels, lox, cream cheese, omlets, french toast, and more!) By the time Amtrak got me back to DC Friday afternoon, I was feeling better. The weekend came and went, and I was fine. Then I get on the metro Monday morning. And the nausea came back with a vengence. By the time the blue line got to Pentagon, I couldn't take it anymore, and I had to get off to reorient myself. Thankfully I was with a friend at the time, but the dizziness returned by 11am and I had to leave work for home at 3pm.

I've heard from people who have experienced this that it can take months to fully recover and feel 100% again. I don't want months. I don't want weeks, and I certainly don't want days. I want it now. This is so disrupting to my normal routine. I can't work. It's difficult to concentrate when an episode sets in and I just lose all desire and ability to get anything done. It just puts a downer on everything and it's difficult to reset until the next day. Worst of all, I don't want to eat, because of the fear that it may just come right back up again. Yuck.

It seems like this is something I'm going to have to get used to for now. Excuse me, God, but I don't seem to remember ordering this one. Can you take it back, pretty please?

Eureka!

I should slap myself for not thinking about this on my own.

Last week, President Bush unveiled a new initiative for math and science education in the United States during his State of the Union Address which he dubbed the "American Competitiveness Initiative." In it, he talked about doubling the nation's basic research programs in the physical sciences over the next decade, presenting successful science students as the future of the country. He spoke boldly about being competitive once again with the world's science superpowers, like China, India, and others. Part of the initiative calls for training thousands of new science and math teachers. Apparently, the United States ranks 25th in the world with only 5.7% of 24-year olds with science degrees.

Stephen Colbert (no, Comedy Central isn't my ONLY source of real news) pointed out last night that students have all the sciences open to them and should enthusiastically learn the fundamentals:

Biology (but not evolution);
Genetics (but not stem cells);
Climatology (but not global warming);
Geology (but nothing that occured over 5,000 years ago); and,
Atronomy (ditto!)

And you wonder why we're lagging behind so many other countries when it comes to science.

As I was lying in bed last night, waiting for the dizziness to go away so that I could get some sleep, a thousand different thoughts entered and exited my mind. Weirdly enough, one of those thoughts was a response to David's post regarding the uproar over the Mohammad comic (see, "Third, politics:"). One quote struck me in particular: "We should not sacrifice the principle of free speech on the alter of accomodationism, and we should stand by those fighting the good fight."

Most of the response from Western countries are basically saying the same thing: we won't stifle freedom of expression just because a comic hurt someone elses feelings.

Now, ever since this story broke, something hasn't sit right with me. The violence is indeed repulsive, there's no question about that. But, as difficult as it is, put that aside for a moment. Forget for a second that violence did erupt, and instead there were just massive, peaceful protests. I've been wondering: if the cartoon in question were instead depicting someone so blasphemous, so insulting to another religious or ethnic group, say perhaps, Jews, would Jewish communities worldwide call on the rest of the decent world to condemn the cartoon and boycott the country from where the cartoon originated? And would Jews worldwide be angry, incensed, and appalled that the world is sitting idly by, while this reprehensible country is defending its cartoonist behind the guise of free speech? Free speech is a terrific ideal, they may say. Sure, we should all be free to express our beliefs, without fear of retribution, but not when it's so ugly, insulting, denigrating, and wrong!

Is it the same thing? If not, why?
Where is the line drawn between free speech and hateful speech?
And just because you have a right so say something, does it mean that it's actually right to say it?

Just a few questions to help look at this critically. The violence that has ensued is wrong and disgusting, bottom line. But it shouldn't blind us from taking a look at what all this is really about, and then remember our reaction to this once we're the ones who are insulted. Because, I'm sure it will happen again at some point or another.

Rolling Stones

No, not the ones that "performed" at the halftime show of the Superbowl.

Did you know that we got stones in our ears?

Yup, we do. And apparently, a few of mine decided to dislodge themselves at some point between 1am-8am Sunday morning. And this dislodging of the stones was no small annoyance. It landed me straight in the ER of the George Washington University. The dizziness and nausea that it caused (and still is to some extent) was incredible. I couldn't move- not my body, my head, or even my eyes- without feeling like my entire world was spinning way out of control. Not a fun experience, lemme tell ya.

So instead of hosting a kick-ass Superbowl with my 37" flat screen TV, I spent 5 hours in the GW ER, feeling sick to my stomach. After spending 3 days this week shopping and preparing buffalo wings and chicken strips for the big day, I couldn't enjoy any of it. Oh well. Thankfully though, the party was hosted elsewhere, and I was still able to be surrounded by friends and laugh a bit before remembering that I actually feel like crap. Thank God for small favors.

Baby Rothschild

At 5:17pm Friday February 3, a dashingly cute, albeit small-- 5 lb. 15 oz. small! -- baby boy was born into the Rothschild clan.

Mother and baby are doing well.

Name and pictures to come soon.

:-D

A tale of two shirts

Last night before the President was set to give his 5th State of the Union address, Cindy Sheehan was arrested for refusing to cover up an anti-war t-shirt she was wearing in the House gallery. The t-shirt read: "2,245 dead. How many more?" According to House rules, demonstrations are not allowed in the galleries.

Today, Bill Young (R-Fl) spoke on the House floor, irate that his wife was kicked out of the gallery last night too. What for? Wearing a t-shirt that said: "Support Our Troops."

I'm glad that the rules are being applied equally and without discretion.

Young said, "She has a real passion for our troops, and she shows it in many, many ways...And most members in this House know that, but because she had on a shirt, that someone didn't like, that said, 'Support Our Troops,' she was kicked out of this gallery while the president was speaking and encouraging Americans to support our troops. Shame. Shame."

Here's my question. If Young's wife wasn't wearing the shirt, would he have taken to the House floor as irate about Sheehan's arrest for the same violation?