Nukes, Climbs, Head-butts and Alternators

I have not gotten as worked up over the Iran and North Korea missile/nukes crises as I might have in the past. I understand the seriousness of both situations, but I am torn somewhat on how they should be handled.

As anyone who has followed world events even a smidge over the past few months is aware, Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. This is bad for many reasons, which include Iran being ruled by religious zealots, said religious zealots' admitted blood-hatred of a neighbor, the fact that nuclear weapons themselves are very bad and more of them on the planet is never a good thing, etc. With that being said, I have no problem whatsoever with Iran (and North Korea) wanting nuclear weapons - as they are the greatest deterrent against a potential invader, period, end of story. Iran knows that they are on the U.S. radar for action at some point. [editor's note: please forgive the ultra-simplistic explanation that follows] What is stopping the U.S. or Israel from encroaching on their borders and invading them at some point (other than domestic political pressure, costs, stirring the entire Muslim world into veritable rampage, etc.)? Right now, nothing. What are the chances of the U.S. or anyone else invading another country armed with working nuclear weapons? The chances are most slim. Iran and North Korea are working under the theory (one that I subscribe to, mostly) that the only thing that can guarantee a nation's sovereignty in today's world is access to nuclear weapons. Do I feel that they should, or should be allowed to, develop nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction? My problem with these pursuits have nothing to do with "shoulds" or "should nots" - my problems with these two nations in particular stem from them being run by complete maniacs.

I got to watch The Man Zachary by myself yesterday for a couple of hours and it was an eye-opening experience. My son is strong for a 10-month-old. And, he likes to climb. He likes to climb everything. He climbs onto foot-stools, he climbs over people to get to couches and then windowsills. He climbs onto chairs so he can climb onto t.v. stands. Frankly, it scared the crap out of me. Kim was relatively calm about this - much to my dismay. I understand that you cannot get rid of all living room furniture until a child can be trusted to sit on it rather than climb it - but I feel that a 10-month old is a little young to be left to learn life lessons by taking headers off of these objects. Stay tuned.

I am still getting a kick out of reading the myriad writings concerning the World Cup aftermath - an in particular, the Zidane head-butt and subsequent red card. Special thanks to Jordan for posting the exploding-head Zidane video in my MySpace profile comments! That rules! One article in particular on CNNSI.com got me rankled to the point that I had to respond to the author:

Mr.Taylor,

Why wouldn't Materazzi get a "free pass"? Unless anything he said to Zidane was racial in nature, what did he do that athletes all over the globe do NOT do in almost every contest?

If Zidane charged Materazzi with hurling a racial insult, then Materazzi should be investigated and suspended. That being said, if Zidane's account that it was his mother and sister who were insulted is true...one can only imagine how long he would last in the NBA or NFL before getting suspended for a violent response to a taunt. Might he make it through the second pre-season game? The third?

Taunting and trash-talking are not the acts of sportsmanship - but sadly they ARE a part of today's gamesmanship. Until that is changed, Materazzi shouldn't be held to scorn. Zidane overreacted, pure and simple. Materazzi is guilty of nothing, and should be remembered as what he is - a champion.

Today has been a bizarre day. It doesn't really feel like a Friday - as my wife has me painting all weekend. My entire body feels out of whack, and has since my hoops game Tuesday night. We played a bunch of rejects from Malibu's Most Wanted - and beat them handily. I scored 16 quick points in the first half, and only a bucket or two the rest of the way. I didn't really stretch or warm up, and I am paying for it now. I may have to cave and go to a chiropractor. I was in the midst of office-to-printer-and-back running around this morning when my battery light came on. The Blazer had been making a bit of a whining noise over the last few days - but I figured it would be okay until the weekend. Uh-uh. While trying to leave the printer (again) the car struggled to start. When re-starting for the next run, it gagged as it turned over, and once it did, all of my gauges were dead (speedometer, gas gauge, etc.). I dropped it off at the mechanic and can only wait with baited breath for what they find. I finally got a raise this week (more on this later), so it is fitting that everything that can go wrong will go wrong to offset my gains...

[Currently Listening: The Bluebeats - "Don't Get Crazy"]