RIP: John Wooden (1910-2010)

We lost one of the greatest sport coaches of all-time, maybe the best ever. The Wooden Pyramid should be on or near every coaches desktop. This link shows how much the great minds do think alike. Some wisdom from Wooden, Lombardi and Ben Franklin to boot.


http://www.squidoo.com/coachjohnwooden

Contemporaries

Lombardi and Wooden

I hesitate to include this, but Lombardi quarterback Bart Starr has written that the philosophies of these coaches of different sports were "very much the same." (A Perspective on Victory, Follett Publishing Co., 1972). Wooden did not give pre-game motivational speeches; professional football coaches may need to; reportedly, at the close of the following speech, inebriated middle-aged businessmen in the 1960s were ready to take the field or run through a brick wall.

From When Pride Still Mattered by David Maraniss (Simon & Schuster, 1999) (pp. 397-406)


February 8, 1967
New York
Speech to American Management Association
Vince Lombardi

Block One
The Meaning of Football


Football is a game very much like life, a game which gives 100 per cent elation, 100 per cent fun, when you win, yet demands and extracts a 100 per cent resolution, 100 per cent determination when you lose, a violent game and to play it any other way but violently would be imbecilic, a game played by millions of Americans, yet completely uninhibited by racial or social barriers, a game that demands the Spartan qualities of sacrifice, self-denial, dedication and fearlessness.

I have been in football all my life, and although I sometimes wonder why I stay in an occupation as precarious as football coaching, I do not feel particularly qualified to be part of anything else.

Block Two
The American Zeal


Over the years I have grown increasingly worried about the lack of interest in competition, particularly athletic competition among our young people. Men need the test of competition to find their better selves, whether it is in sports, politics or business.

I need no greater authority than the great General MacArthur, and I would like to quote some of the things he said to me. Namely: "Competitive sports keeps alive in all of us a spirit of vitality and enterprise. It teaches the strong to know when they are weak and the brave to face themselves when they are afraid. To be proud and unbending in defeat, yet humble and gentle in victory. To master ourselves before we attempt to master others. To learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep, and it gives a predominance of courage over timidity.

Block Three
A Man's Personal Commitment to Excellence and Victory


While complete victory can never be won, it must be pursued, it must be wooed with all of one's might. Each week there is a new encounter, each year there is a new challenge. But all of the display, all of the noise, all of the glamour, and all of the color and excitement, they exist only in the memory. But the spirit, the will to excel, the will to win, they endure, they last forever. These are the qualities, I think, that are larger and more important than any of the events that occasion them.

Block Four
Abuse of Liberty


For most of the twentieth century, we as individuals have struggled to liberate ourselves from ancient traditions, congealed creeds and despotic states. Therefore, freedom was necessarily idealized against order, the new against the old, and genius against discipline. Everything was done to strengthen the rights of the individual and weaken the state, and weaken the church, and weaken all authority. I think we all shared in this rebellion, but maybe the battle was too completely won, maybe we have too much freedom. Maybe we have so long ridiculed authority in the family, discipline in education, and decency in conduct and law that our freedom has brought us close to chaos.

I am sure you are disturbed like I am by what seems to be a complete breakdown of law and order and the moral code which is almost beyond belief. Unhappily, our youth, the most gifted segment of our population, the heirs to scientific advances and freedom's breath, the beneficiaries of their elders' sacrifices and achievements, seem, in too large numbers, to have disregard for the law's authority, for its meaning, for its indispensability to their enjoyment of the fullness of life, and have conjoined with certain of their elders, who should know better, to seek a development of a new right, the right to violate the law with impunity. The prevailing sentiment seems to be if you don't like the rule, break it.

Block Five
Discipline


It could be that our leaders no longer understand the relationship between themselves and the people they lead.

That is, while most shout to be independent, they at the same time wish to be dependent, and while most shout to assert themselves, they at the same time wish to be told what to do.

Block Six
What Makes a Great Leader?


Leaders are made, not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.

A leader must identify himself with the group, must back up the group, even at the risk of displeasing his superiors. He must believe that the group wants from him a sense of approval. If this feeling prevails, production, discipline and morale will be high, and in return he can demand the cooperation to promote the goals of the company. He must believe in teamwork through participation. As a result, the contact must be close and informal. He must be sensitive to the emotional needs and expectations of others. In return, the attitude toward him should be one of confidence and, possibly, affection. The leader, in spite of what was said above, can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk, as it were, a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control that he must exert.

Block Seven
Character and Will


The character, rather than education, is man's greatest need and man's greatest safeguard, because character is higher than intellect. While it is true the difference between men is in energy, in the strong will, in the settled purpose and in the invincible determination, the new leadership is in sacrifice, it is in self-denial, it is in love and loyalty, it is in fearlessness, it is in humility, and it is in the perfectly disciplined will. This, gentlemen, is the distinction between great and little men.

The love I'm speaking of is loyalty, which is the greatest of loves. Teamwork, the love that one man has for another and that he respects the dignity of another. The love that I am speaking of is charity. I am not speaking of detraction. You show me a man who belittles another and I will show you a man who is not a leader; or one who is not charitable, who has no respect for the dignity of another, is not loyal, and I will show you a man who is not a leader. I am not advocating that love is the answer to everything. I am not speaking of a love which forces everyone to love everybody else, that you must love the white man because he is white or the black man because he is your enemy, but rather of a love that one man has for another human being. Heart power is the strength of your company. Heart power is the strength of the Green Bay Packers. Heart power is the strength of America and hate power is the weakness of the world.

A Precursor

Thirteen Virtues of Benjamin Franklin

Legendary coach Pete Newell quoted Ben Franklin to explain his own philosophy, "Want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge. For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost, and for want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for want of care about a horseshoe nail." It sums up John Wooden's philosophy as well.

From The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin:

1. TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. MODERATION. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10. CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

11. TRANQUILLITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12. CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

13. HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

Which path should we be taking?

THE DEMOCRATIC PEACE CLOCK
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/DP.CLOCK.HTM

Now is the dawning of a new world. The democratic peace has kicked in and global violence is waning; and nearly five hours to universal peace and security.

What is the democratic peace?

It is the web of factual propositions that:

Democracies do not make war on each other.
The more two nations are democratic, the less their mutual violence.
Democracies have the least foreign violence.
Democracies have, by far, the least internal violence.
Modern democracies have virtually no democide (genocide and mass murder)
Putting all this together, democracy is a method of nonviolence. And therefore, the democratic peace.

Sounds good to me.

But wait there's more.

What is the democratic peace clock (DPC)?

This measures democratic progress in the world and thus, how close we are to eliminating war and democide (genocide and mass murder), and minimizing other forms of collective violence. Each percent increase in the percent of the world population democratic is an advancement in the clock of 58.2 seconds--virtually a minute. Midnight, the darkest time of night, was when there were no democracies and thus, violence and turmoil encompassed the whole world. High noon will be when the sun shines full on the world, and when the entire world will be democratic, and therefore, the world will be at peace. In 1950, 31 percent of the world's population was democratic, which was not yet a sufficient percent to effect world peace as a whole. On the DPC the time was 3:43AM, still a time of deep night. In 2000, however, there were 120 electoral democracies, or a democratic world population of 58.2 percent, more than half the world, and this was now having a great positive force on world peace (to be shown empirically below). The DPC was at 6:59AM, and it's dawn. As of 2001, The Gambia entered the list of democracies, raising the number to 121 electoral democracies out of 194 countries. There are 86 liberal democracies enjoying civil and political rights.

NOTE: I have updated the clock and count of democracies to mid-2006 here. By then the clock had advanced to 8:15AM.

From Democratic Peace Blog:

Political Freedom vs. Economic Freedom and Wealth

http://democraticpeace.wordpress.com/tag/economic-freedom/

Obviously, there is a close relationship, as by theory there should be. One cannot dominate a free market with a government dictated economy without destroying freedom in the process. Note that even the so-called “people’s republic of Sweden” is indexed as being economically free in the Heritage Foundation/Wall Street Journal index. So is Denmark, and so-called “socialist” Israel is indexed as mostly economically free.

Then, what about the economic development, or what I prefer to call the wealth of a nation, and welfare of a people. The next chart shows the close relationship between the Freedom House ratings and various measure of wealth and welfare.

There you have it. Political and Economic freedom not only go together, but also they are an engine of a people’s wealth and welfare. Add this to the fact the democratically free countries never have had a famine, virtually never murder their own people, have the least internal violence, and never any wars between them, and you have freedom as the closest thing to a general solution to humanity’s ills.

Three cheers for freedom. Okay, you freedomists out there, to work.

I would just ask myself, on which path do we appear to be headed?

More free or less free?
More wealth or less wealth?
And if wealth is linked to our welfare and security, then why shouldn't we be concerned about the direction we are heading?

And what are the future consequences?

and further,

”Testing Whether Freedom Predicts Human Security and Violence (2001) By R.J. Rummel, Appendix to Saving Lives, enriching Life: Freedom as a Right and a Moral Good
In this appendix, I did a variety of mathematical and statistical operations to test the hypothesis that freedom predicts to human security and violence. The conclusion:

For all nations 1997 to 1998, the human security of their people, their human and economic development, the violence in their lives, and the political instability of their institutions, is theoretically and empirically dependent on their freedom–their civil rights and political liberties, rule of law, and the accountability of their government. One can well predict a people’s human security by knowing how free they are.

Moreover, just considering the violence, instability, and total deaths a people can suffer, the more freedom they have the less of this they endure. This is to say:

Even if we just improve the human rights of a people, even if we promote some democratization of their political institutions, it will improve their human security, and reduce the violence that inflicts them.

These blogs are run by a fellow by the name of Rudy (R.J.) Rummell, who is a a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Hawaii.

One of his blogs mentions that he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

I suppose one can only wonder--after reviewing some of his work--why he has not actually won a Nobel Peace Prize. Maybe after seeing whom they choose to waste their time honoring and the narrative of Rummels' views (pro-democaracy, pro-America), perhaps wonder may be suspended.

According to Rummel, that there is a correlation between political power and democide.
(He defines democide as murder by government).

Political mass murder grows increasingly common as political power becomes unconstrained. (Again what path are we on? Are we there yet?).

At the other end of the scale, where power is diffuse, checked, and balanced, political violence is a rarity.
(Oh yes, checks and balances, it seems like I heard about that once in school. Maybe when we learned about the Constitution and how a bill becomes law and all that those other brilliant, founding concepts that todays group of criminally corrupt and morally and ethically bankrupt politicians seem to want to trample over or ignore.)

"The more power a regime has, the more likely people will be killed. This is a major reason for promoting freedom."
(Good reason)


He concludes: "Concentrated political power is the most dangerous thing on earth."
(Amen to that brother!!)

To where the alternate path may lead, I don't know. But why take any chances?

--------

"With all [our] blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens--a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities." - Thomas Jefferson: 1st Inaugural, 1801. ME 3:320

"Repeal that [welfare] law, and you will soon see a change in
their manners. ... Six days shalt thou labor, though one of
the old commandments long treated as out of date, will again be
looked upon as a respectable precept; industry will increase,
and with it plenty among the lower people; their circumstances
will mend, and more will be done for their happiness by inuring
them to provide for themselves, than could be done by dividing
all your estates among them." - Benjamin Franklin

SPEAKING WORDS OF WISDOM

"It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations." - Sir Winston Churchill
(That's why I post this feature, thanks Winnie...hey, wait a minute!@#$)

If you call a tail a leg, how many legs has a dog? Five? No, calling a tail a leg don't make it a leg." - Abraham Lincoln
(my wife like this one because of the accounting subtext)

"Ability will get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there." - Abraham Lincoln

"Trickery and treachery are the practices of fools that have not the wits enough to be honest." - Benjamin Franklin

The vision of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) who rose from penniless immigrant to the wealthiest man on earth was to create "an ideal state in which the surplus wealth of the few will become, in the best sense, the property of the many." Carnegie created schools, a peace endowment, NY's Carnegie Hall, and 2,811 free public libraries with his lifetime "accumulated wealth".

"The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them." - Mark Twain

"There is certainly no absolute standard of beauty. That precisely is what makes its pursuit so interesting." - John Kenneth Galbraith

When faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof." - John Kenneth Galbraith

"Pleasure is the greatest incentive to evil." - Plato

SPEAKING WORDS OF WISDOM...some words that echo in my ears

In a large sense we are engaged right now in a struggle that is far more fiercely contested than any game. It is a struggle for the hearts, for the minds, and for the souls of all of us, and it is a game in which there are no spectators, only players..... The test of this century will be whether man mistakes the growth of wealth and power with the growth of spirit and character. - Vince Lombardi (1913 - 1970)

"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy..." - Alexander Fraser Tytler, Scottish lawyer and writer, 1770

----
some old-school wisdom from Charactercounts.org

FEBRUARY 1, 2010
Eighteen Random Rules of Life 656.2
I love maxims, those concise capsules of worldly wisdom. I collect them and write them and, of course, love to share them. Here are 18 random rules of life worth posting on your mirror or, better yet, using as dinner-time discussion starters.

Find the lesson in every failure and you’ll never fail.
The likelihood that you’re right is not increased by the intensity of your conviction.
Real friends help you feel worthy and make you want to be better.
When you’re in a hole, stop digging.
Don’t confuse fun with fulfillment or pleasure with happiness.
Refusing to let go of a grudge is refusing to use the key that will set you free.
Hating hurts you more than the person you hate.
Counting on luck is counting on random chance. Your odds are much better when you plan and work.
Being kind is better than being clever.
Don’t underestimate the power of persistence.
The easy way is rarely the best way.
It’s much easier to burst someone else’s bubble than to blow up your own.
You can’t avoid pain, but you can avoid suffering.
Self-pity is a losing strategy. It repels others and weakens you.
Shortcuts usually produce short success.
Control your attitude or it will control you.
It’s more important to be significant than successful.
The world is waiting for you to heal it.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.

Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
– King Solomon, Proverbs 22:6

----

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE - AN OPEN LETTER TO THE LEADERS OF THE DAY WHO JUST DIDN'T LISTEN

Some old-school wisdom from the Founders:

An open letter from Thomas Jefferson to what were then his country's leaders after a series of grievances that resulted primarily from the leadership not responding to or quashing the will of the people.

I especially like the part where it says:

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security"

They say that history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. -- Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

Then he proceeds to list a series of grievances against the crown that led to this action.

And in conclusion, a course of action.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. -- And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

-- John Hancock

Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry, Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery, Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott, William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean, Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton, William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

9.11.2001 - NEVER FORGET

“Our enemies have made the mistake that America’s enemies always make. They saw liberty and thought they saw weakness. And now, they see defeat.”
- George W. Bush, President of the United States


"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
- Former President of the United States Ronald Reagan



"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin:


"Currently the road most Americans seem to want to take is the road to government control in the belief than government can give them more security without diminishing their liberty. Of course, that is not true. If Americans turn to government to secure their freedom at the expense of the constitution they will lose it. The Constitution and the first ten amendments -- the Bill of Rights -- make it plain that the Founding Fathers had no faith that government could be trusted to guard the rights of individuals. It is well to remember that under the Constitution government does not give us our rights; they are our birthright. It is government's job to protect those rights. Unfortunately government too often moves instead to limit them."
- Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal editorialist:

CHECKLIST OF VIRTUES - ACCORDING TO OUR SPONSORS

THE SUPREME COURT - IT SAYS EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW UP THERE, KINDA HARD TO SEE

With all the recent scandal that has attached itself to various sports luminaries recently it's nice that somebody has taken the time to take a step back and provide some context to the moral dilemma some of us find ourselves in when struggling to decide who we should continue to root for or not root for.

According to this item that recently appeared in the New York Post, the scoring is as follows:

WIFE BEATING - BAD. STILL A NO-NO.
CHILD ABUSE/PEDOPHILIA - BAD, VERY-BAD. ALWAYS HAS BEEN, ALWAYS WILL BE.
DOG KILLING - BAD. DISTURBINGLY BAD.
HOMOSEXUALITY - BAD. NOT THAT THAT'S A BAD THING, RIGHT?
ADULTERY - GOOD. HEY, HOLD-ON, WHAT!!!
-----------------------------------------------
CHEATING HUBBY 'A'-OK WITH CORPORATE SPONSORS
By SAMUEL GOLDSMITH

He's not accused of rape and he didn't kill any dogs - so A-Rod's all good.

Cynthia Rodriguez has had enough of her husband's cheating ways, but Alex Rodriguez is still squeaky clean in the eyes of his corporate sponsors, image experts told The Post yesterday.

And that means the multimillion-dollar machine is expected to keep the $6 million he earns annually in endorsement deals.

"Wife-beating would hurt him, underage girls would hurt him, a gay lover would hurt him, but run-of-the-mill affairs - that's a non-issue in American life," said branding expert Howard Bragman, head of the public-relations agency Fifteen Minutes.

The Yankee's escapades may be grounds for divorce, but he's still the most marketable player in baseball, according to Sports Business Daily.

A deal-breaking scandal is one like Michael Vick's. The quarterback was busted for dog fighting last year and lost everything, including $9 million in sponsorships from Nike, Reebok, Rawlings and Upper Deck.

But bedding strippers and late-night engagements with Madonna? That won't bother A-Rod sponsors like Nike, Pepsi or Topps, Bragman said.

"We just don't hold affairs against people anymore," he said.
------------------------------------------------
Of course we know that being known as a possible rapist hasn't hurt a certain NBA star or two as long as you are financially able to invest possibly seven-figures in hush money paid, as settlement to the victim and a huge diamond for the injured spouse. If you were say, the typical NBA fan, from let's say row 10 and back, you are looking at serious jail time and a life ruined beyond repair, if placed in similar circumstances.

The same apparently goes for being involved in a incident where two people were killed to the extent that you have blood stains in your shoes and slacks and you had to plea-bargain your way out of the more serious culpability. Again, if you were say the typical NFL fan, likely placed anywhere in the stadium other than the luxury boxes, you are also looking at some serious jail time and a life ruined once you do your jail time.

Unfortunately, in some measure because we are culturally driven by the paragons of virtue in the corporate world and the mainstream media, a symbiotic match made in the moral depths of hades if there ever was one, we have the kind of justice system we currently have.

And it is certainly not one that is based in any way on the "hallowed" virtues that you see displayed as you enter said Halls of Justice across the nation.



LADY JUSTICE - SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE IMPARTIAL (BLIND) AND BALANCE JUSTICE EQUALLY (SCALES)

And it is nice to keep in proper context that, while it's apparently OK to root for these type of characters, who have been involved in "moral dilemmas" that most of us would never put ourselves into in the first place, we should at the same time "socially shun" folks like Bonds, McGwire, Sosa and now Clemens for committing acts that, most public opinion polls would show, the (vast) majority of Americans would commit themselves if placed in the same circumstances.

Laws are supposed to protect us from the most socially "deviant" acts. Deviant meaning deviation from the norm. "Normal" behavior is not generally legislated against.

Now I generally do not like to go down this route because it assumes guilty behavior where the jury is still out, so to speak. But it just seems to me to be an indictment of who we are as a society and the height of hypocrisy when we are given the selective A-OK to root on possible rapists and murderers, based solely on their ability to hire high-priced attorneys and continue to push product to the same American youth we profess to want to protect so badly.

I mean give me a break, this dip-shit, empty-suit in the Post article and others of his ilk would basically give you permission to exonerate folks who would piss on at least two, maybe three, of the Ten Commandments. To someone who would even remotely suggest that, I would just say, "GO TO HELL"

Just so I don't end on such a depressing note, here is a list of virtues you CAN choose to live by, courtesy of one of the Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin.

After that, the Seven Deadly Sins. You can see where A-Rod and others fall on the "paragons of virtue scale" just by looking at the qualities listed and see which seem to describe the man.

And then you can decide who you should root for all by yourself.
--------------------------------------
FROM THE WEBSITE CHANGINGMINDS.ORG:
http://changingminds.org/explanations/values/thirteen_virtues.htm

Franklin's Thirteen Virtues

When Benjamin Franklin was 20, he wrote a 13-point plan for how he would live his life. It was so successful that he stuck to it for many years. He would focus on one point each week, such that he would cycle through the whole set once every 13 weeks and four times per year. He kept track of progress with a chart in which he would put a red dot for each fault against each virtue committed that day.

These are a set of values he defined in 1741, in his own words (plus his added commentary).

* Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.
* Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.
* Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.
* Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.
* Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.
* Industry. Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.
* Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.
* Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.
* Moderation. Avoid extreams; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
* Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.
* Tranquillity. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.
* Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.
* Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

"It may be well my posterity should be informed that to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, their ancestor ow'd the constant felicity of his life, down to his 79th year, in which this is written. What reverses may attend the remainder is in the hand of Providence; but, if they arrive, the reflection on past happiness enjoy'd ought to help his bearing them with more resignation. To Temperance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what is still left to him of a good constitution; to Industry and Frugality, the early easiness of his circumstances and acquisition of his fortune, with all that knowledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen, and obtained for him some degree of reputation among the learned; to Sincerity and Justice, the confidence of his country, and the honorable employs it conferred upon him; and to the joint influence of the whole mass of the virtues, even in the imperfect state he was able to acquire them, all that evenness of temper, and that cheerfulness in conversation, which makes his company still sought for, and agreeable even to his younger acquaintance. I hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may follow the example and reap the benefit.

"In this piece it was my design to have endeavored to convince young persons that no qualities were so likely to make a poor man's fortune as those of probity and integrity.

"My list of virtues contain'd at first but twelve; but a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that I was generally thought proud; that my pride show'd itself frequently in conversation; that I was not content with being in the right when discussing any point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent, of which he convinc'd me by mentioning several instances; I determined endeavouring to cure myself, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest, and I added Humility to my list.

"In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it, struggle with it, beat it down, stifle it, mortify it as much as one pleases, it is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself; you will see it, perhaps, often in this history; for, even if I could conceive that I had compleatly overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility."
So what?

So if you live your life by these, you will probably be considered to be a good person by many others. You will probably also be a saint.

In persuasion, take note of them: if you shows these values, you are more likely to be trusted. You are also likely to trust others who demonstrate these values.
------------------------------------------
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS:
http://changingminds.org/explanations/values/deadly_sins.htm

The Seven Deadly Sins

Sins have always been popular areas of focus in the church. An early 2nd century document, the Didache, contains a list of five. Origen produced a sevenfold list and at the end of the 4th century Cassian amended this sevenfold list. Eventually, the Seven Deadly Sins (or Vices) we know today were defined in the 6th century by Pope Gregory the Great, as a set of negative values: the values that you are supposed to adopt is that you will avoid these things and actually adopt their opposites.



1. Pride is an excessive belief in one's own abilities.
2. Envy is wanting what others have, be it status, abilities, or possessions.
3. Gluttony is the desire to eat or consume more than you require.
4. Lust is a powerful craving for such as sex, power and money.
5. Anger is the loss of rational self-control and the desire to harm others.
6. Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain.
7. Sloth is laziness and the avoidance of work.

Note how many of these are very similar: envy, gluttony, lust and greed are all about desire. There is also a hidden lack of concern for others in at least envy and anger.

As with other religious rule-sets, these pretty much hit the nail on the head in terms of a system for social harmonization or social control (depending on your viewpoint). Few people will openly admit to any of them (which attests to the success in the inculcation of these as anti-values in the Christian world).

The number seven, by the way, is not only a cabbalistic magical number, it also just happens to be the size of our short-term memory, which is a real limit to the number of things we can hold in mind at one time.
So what?

Do not demonstrate these values yourself. Suggest that the other person is succumbing to one or more of these values and they will likely head in the opposite direction.

Another approach is to play the Devil and encourage the other person to give in to these natural tendencies.

You can then either use this 'rule-breaking' as evidence that they can do things they previously would not consider. You can even use it then as a guilt lever, maybe even as a form of blackmail (this is far more common than may be supposed).