Just a quick post to let people know there is a new podcast that will be talking about Dallas politics and I uploaded the second episode to my youtube channel which you can find by searching dallasareaopinion on youtube.
Nothing fancy, still a work in progress, but their goal is to take a deep dive into Dallas politics and give people a better understanding of what this city is all about.
I hope to continue to add the episodes as I can. And I hope to get the first episode on also.
Cheers
If you are a life long or long term Mavericks fan, you have probably already written this blog post in your head.
As Mavericks fans, we always want the Mavericks to make a big splash, catch the big fish, or make the big trade, yet in all these circumstances the Mavs always seem to fall short.
And then when they do make a move we have to hold our breath on how it is going to turn out. And there are too many examples that things just turned out bad to horrendous.
We all know about the about face in free agency of DeAndre Jordan, the dreadful year Lamar Odom was a Maverick, how the Rajon Rondo trade worked out, the Nerlens Noel experiment, and even the KP trade, even though I do not think it was a bad trade or even turned out bad, but we took a chance and it did not bear fruit for the team overall, except we did get two players who have contributed this past year and one could be a great fit long term with potential to be a sixth man award winner candidate so there is still some hope going forward. These are the big stories, but year over year Mavs fans were disappointed with any moves they made. This is the worry, another move that falls flat on its face. We have all read that Mr. Wood has had some attitude problems in Houston and this same immaturity is what derailed Mr. Noel’s tenure here or the possibility of a complete bail that Mr. Rondo gave the Mavs.
Yet there have been some success stories and I want to avoid talking about those, because I do not want to give the impression I am comparing Mr. Wood to certain players that have come here who succeeded. Yet there is the possibility he can succeed here.
We read about his offensive potential and how much of a fit he can be with Luka. His stats show he can score and rebound and we definitely need the rebounding. So how good of a trade can this be?
If he meets the offensive expectations of being a good lob threat, a face up post player and can shoot threes as has been the last few years, he is an upgrade at center over Dwight Powell. If he rebounds as well as he has been, this adds to the value. So this makes this a fair to good trade.
So what makes this a good to great trade. He has been averaging one block per game. If he can step up his overall defensive game and increase this blocks per game average and able to hold his ground in the paint this begins to move the needle in a very positive direction.
Let’s say his blocks per game averages over 1.5 and he is able to play a stronger switching game and isn’t bowled over by players driving into the paint, his offensive production doesn’t drop and he stays with us a few years then this trade could develop into one of the top twenty acquisitions the Mavs have ever made. This is the hope.
A starting five of Wood, Luka, DFS, Reggie and Jalen can be a daunting team and then having Spencer and Maxi as your first two options off the bench we are down to just needing another good 3 and D player to round out a pretty formidable 8 man rotation for next year’s playoffs. Keep Bertran, Theo possibly Dwight and add back in some bench depth for the regular season and we got ourselves a good chance.
If we make some changes then Dwight and THJ give us some minor trade potential. I know I have not mentioned Tim Hardaway until now, but I just don’t think he is part of the Mavericks future, not because he cannot play, but because he just cannot defend strong enough anymore to make the top 9 or so on this team going forward. He is a good player, but he would not get enough playing time with the above group getting the most minutes to utilize what he can do. Spencer is not a defensive powerhouse, but he has some on Tim and he is a better driver into the paint overall so I think he will be winning much more of the back up guard minutes than Tim and his contributions have more potential. Again Tim is good, but he has his limitations. A team needing a person to come into a game and score 15 points in twenty minutes could use him. The Mavs are moving past that need and if they acquire another strong 3 and d player, even one that only scores 10 or 12 points off the bench, but has strong defensive skills, Tim’s need dwindles more and more.
It is a shame because like Dwight he has put in the effort to help this team and like Dwight, he has his limitations.
Maxi gives more flexibility either as a back up small ball center or a stretch four that that can play with Wood (if his defense improves) to give us better rim protection when a player starts to eat us up inside or a team is driving too easy on the Mavs. They wouldn’t play the whole game with both, but they could be on the floor together for small stretches to slow some things down or be part of a fourth quarter hold the fort moment. And this works since both can shoot three pointers so you do not lose anything on offense if you need to go this route. Dwight’s liabilities were laid bare this past year and Wood offers us a chance to over come this problem. This is the part of the hope.
The pundits are saying we are not giving up too much to take this chance and I hope they are correct, but the proof will be in the pudding next year. If he comes into camp with a I want to see how this is going to work out or I want to try and make this work this can be really good. If he comes into camp with the attitude he showed sometimes throughout this past year with the Rockets then, I hope the Mavs cut bait real quick. They had great chemistry this past year, better to fight through the same problems and see what they can get at the trade deadline than suffer through the first half of the season with distractions.
So that is the hope, yet there is the worry.
Let’s go Mavs!
And I am not ready to talk about the Cowboys, that play off game still ticks me off.
So I am crossing through a couple of parking lots on my way to work and as I start to turn a corner I hear the screaming and crying of what sounds like a woman. I approach the corner with caution and try to take a wide berth not knowing what is going on.
As I round the corner and look into the upcoming parking lot I see a young woman in the far corner crying and screaming into a phone and saying why would leave me homeless and some other words I cannot make out. I begin to cross the parking lot and continue to hear bits and pieces that she is mad about not having a place to live and being put out by some guy.
In today’s world it is hard to determine if she is just making a scene, in sincere distress or somewhere in between. I am at a loss at what to do. I do not think I should call 911 because I cannot tell how bad of a situation she is in. She is a young woman wearing long pants, a shirt and had what appeared to be a lanyard with what I perceived to be a work ID, but I cannot say for sure.
The conversation continues while I cross this smaller parking lot. There are a couple of larger ones I traverse, but this particular one was smaller and I think a bit more private since she was basically behind a building. I am trying to decide what to do. Again in today’s world you fear interfering because of all the madness you read about, yet you cannot walk away from someone in distress. So this is the second sad situation in this story, the first being the fact she was in a situation, the second now being helping someone may be dangerous.
So I did walk past and decided I could internet search for women’s protective services or something and call them and ask their advice or see what they say. The first number that came up in the search was the National Hotline for domestic abuse. I thought to myself this may not be domestic abuse, but a national hotline might know what type of resources I should pursue.
Well I call the number and there was a fifteen minute hold time. Sort of flabbergasted me and I am thinking someone in dire straights probably doesn’t have fifteen minutes to hold. Obviously a true abusive situation could call 911, but it seemed a bit sad that the main help line is so backed up or so understaffed that someone needing their help would have to wait so long. It is not like I am pissed of at some corporate customer service, this is real life going on here.
So all in all, I felt helpless, confused and worried. I stayed around the corner, but where I could keep an eye on her trying to decide if I should approach. Within a few minutes she eventually walked off and I watched for a moment, probably looking like a creep watching her, but she eventually walked to a convenience store so hopefully she was able to compose herself and work something out. And again I was under the impression she at least had a job since she was wearing a lanyard with what looked like an ID on it.
So is our society so far gone from being able to help each other or am I just a bit of a worry wart? I do not know. I eventually spoke to a police officer I see regularly and he said I could have called 911 even though I wasn’t sure if it was an emergency. At least someone would have been able to approach her and checked on her he said. It wouldn’t have hurt and if no harm everyone goes about their business.
So I still carry the worry, helplessness and confusion about this situation from this morning, with no real answer where I can feel comfortable. I shouldn’t, but I do. Still it seems sad to me on the few points I mentioned in that a person’s normal instinct to help is tempered and of being unsure of what to do to help.
Any thoughts?
Yep, I do not want to sound pessimistic, but I do not have much hope that the January 6 hearings are going to move any needles on public opinion or change too many minds. Right now the truth is way to relative. We can thank Fox News, Trump, a failed public education system, shoot I am almost ready to believe Bill Maher that we are basically dumb as_______ (you fill in your own adjective for fun).
Putin, Jinping, a whole of host tyrants and authoritarians will be watching the “must see tv” with glee Thursday night knowing all to well way too large a swath of the American public will be misdirected into an alternate reality only people on synthetic psychedelics attempt to go willingly. Yet, they will launch themselves into a state of mind numbness that should only be reserved for people who have not seen the sunlight for days. They must or they will not be able to accept this alternate universe even on its face, much less with any in depth study.
I saw a picture of Mike Lindell at a Trump event. He was staring with the same amount of idolation and rapture that you use to see teen age girls have while watching Elvis Presley in the 50′s or Mick Jagger dancing in the 70′s. This was bad for those girls back then, yet to watch a grown man hold the same look was mind bending frightening. At least Elvis and Mick have talent, do not know how to explain the attraction that exists in Mr. Lindell.
And quite frankly I am not sure how many Americans are going to watch. In the 70′s Watergate was huge, mainly because it was the biggest show. Nowadays there are so many options and niche shows, how many people will be pulled into a mainstream show that people have already decided on how they feel either for or against. There are going to be a few shows and since we have come out of our pandemic binge watching, what must it present to keep people engaged for even thirty minutes, much less five or six episodes. We will see (or maybe we won’t).
Anyway go find your popcorn again in case something does crawl out of our TV sets that actually grabs your attention. Otherwise you might find old clips of Elvis and Mick on Youtube.
So did you notice the irony of posting this on an internet blog?
I am not going to delve into a full on argument on what is the Magisterium, actually I do not have to, it is straightforward, or overwhelm you with the Catechism of the Catholic Church, I am pondering that the internet takes so much out of what is the true teaching of the Church.
First though a couple of quick points; the Magisterium is the teaching authority of the Roman Catholic Church, especially by bishops or the Pope. This comes from the Oxford Dictionary so right away you can step away from the Church to have someone else tell you what is the meaning of what is defined as the official and authoritative teaching of the Church. Yet, this is standard knowledge. You want to know more about the Magisterium then go to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and you find what is the teaching of the Catholic Church. And the Magisterium is the teaching and this is one part of handing down the faith along with the Scriptures and Tradition.
My concern is, will the internet eventually water down what is taught through Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium?
I do not think many people using the internet to espouse their Catholic views and teachings have a sinister plot in mind. Sure true evil will attempt to hijack the faith, but it always does no matter the medium. It is the vast amount of people, who by the teaching are to share the faith, get on the internet and start letting some of their interpretations interfere with what is truly church teachings as they try to share and teach the faith. These are good intention people, yet over time they start creating so much content that the core of Catholicism gets away from them.
And I am not talking about people who say the Catholic Church needs to keep up with the times. Anyone who says this is not understanding the point of what is the Church and more often than not, aren’t Catholic. The Church is not trying to win over converts by making them happy, no the Church has the responsibility of teaching from the word of God. The first part of teachings come from Scripture. There is no denying that the faith is based on the word of God, not the word of man. So until God comes down and gives us new teachings for the modern times, it is not the Church’s duty or responsibility to try and project what in scripture needs to be changed because times change.
I am worried that so many people producing content creates a scenario that to me is the main problem with non-denominational churches. So many pastors and preachers go to a university to learn theology then go out into the world, create a “Christian” church, but offer so much of themselves to their congregation that even though they use all the right words, the true message is deluded or misinterpreted or worse hijacked completely for that person’s own advantage. I am not saying all these would be pastors succumb to this, yet, by having so much personal interpretation, even well intentioned individuals can stray. And it is this same fear I have for well intentioned Catholics wanting to share their faith that maybe at times they lose track of what they were taught.
The internet is so vast that the Vatican could not even begin to monitor all the content produced under Catholic theology.
So what are we to expect. The easy answer is to rely on the Church and what it is teaching, yet there are many programs that are from the Church or are true to the Church’s teachings on the internet. How does a person determine which are the ones to explore? There are many ways, yet the basic is to rely on reading from the Catechism, talking to your Priest, listen to what your Bishop is saying, talk to a Director of Religious Education in your parish for good resources, and of course reading from what is written by the Pope. And even good programs can still need a critical eye. I am a big fan of Dr. Barron’s, now Bishop Barron, Word on Fire programs, yet you need to determine your own feelings about what is produced or more importantly how it is marketed. There are some fabulous teachings in the programs, but you still need to know your own faith to truly appreciate what is taught versus being caught up in the productions themselves.
Man is fallible and that is why the Church continues to study scripture to make sure it teaches the word of God the way God wanted it. The Church also relies on apostolic teaching, or the teaching from the apostles handed down from generation to generation. Yes there are the four Gospels, yet there were many communications and letters to the different communities from the Apostles to help the Church in its’s infancy understand what Christ wanted us to know and do. The Apostles reached out to the world with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit to show the world what they experienced and learned living with Christ. The Apostles taught others who took these teachings of the Apostles and shared it to even more. And these same people kept many of the writings and letters of the Apostles to hand down to their communities and to the next generations. And all through the ages the Church has had to work through all the competing or contradicting philosophies and theologies while maintaining its true mission to teach the love of Christ for and to man.
“The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love” from the conclusion of the Prologue of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
And to understand Apostolic teaching:
“So that this call should resound throughout the world, Christ sent forth the apostles he had chosen, commissioning them to proclaim the gospel: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."4 Strengthened by this mission, the apostles "went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it.” also from the Prologue, the Life of Man to know and love God.
So does all this mean you are to avoid the internet?, No. Quite the contrary, please use the internet to research your faith. There are many wonderful resources out there, but you need to know your faith to appreciate what is offered and even appreciate the good intentioned who veer off course a bit, yet knowing where the succeed and where they veer. It is up to all of us to share our faith to help some of us learn more and primarily to bring others to the faith.
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Inflation also affects the homeless and it does so in two ways. First they, like you, are spending more for less, but unlike you their income is dwindling. You at least have your salary with your perfunctory 2 or 3 percent raise from last year or earlier this year, which due to inflation means you have less to give to others which by your generosity many homeless rely on. So the homeless are now living on less resources to buy less for the same dollar.
I do not have an answer for this problem, but it just irritates the heck out of me to hear the rich complain when all in all they aren’t hurting for anything still. And the people who most want to help the impoverished are the ones struggling to help themselves.
And if the oil companies produce record profits again this summer, it definitely says we are at the mercy of the rich versus our government being at the service of the people.
