Wade Watts

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_Watts

This Oklahoman preacher and NAACP leader, who died 12 years ago today, was a visionary known for his genuinely Christlike approach to civil rights. In the 1970's, Watts developed a now-famous love/hate relationship with Johnny Lee Clary, a Grand Dragon of the KKK, responding to the organization's threats and Clary's hatred with kindness and benevolence; Clary subsequently renounced the KKK and the two men became close friends. Watts was close with Martin Luther King, and met with two different presidents as a representative of his efforts in the areas of civil rights and humanitarian aid.

To me, Wade Watts is a prime example of the kind of human being that SHOULD cover our “Christian” nation; the Pat Robertsons and Jerry Falwells of the world could take a lesson or two from someone that truly embodied the teachings of Jesus in his everyday life. Not much of a shocker that Wade was a lifetime democrat, and resented the alignment of political conservatism with Christianity. We'd be all too lucky, in our chaotic nation of Tea Partying, to come upon someone with the values of Watts again; we'd need him now more than ever. Rest in peace, Reverend Watts.

Video: Johnny Lee Clary on Wade Watts

Al Jazeera English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_English

The FACT: This international branch of the Arabic language network based in Qatar has created worldwide controversy for its willingness to cover topics from diverse perspectives, focusing on an international scope. The network has been particularly reviled in the U.S. For its willingness to air the tapes made by terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda. Several American news networks have accused Al Jazeera of airing tapes of politically motivated beheadings, but these claims were false, and they were subsequently retracted.

The OPINION: This is a damned good news network. It delivers the facts, keeps the topics diverse, and doesn't neglect important issues in favor of ones that might boost ratings. So what if they air terrorist tapes? It doesn't mean they support it, it means they REPORT THE FUCKING NEWS. I watch the channel at the gym every day, and I've been shocked at the remarkable difference between informative journalism and entertainment journalism. Sometimes I flip over to Fox News momentarily to get a quick peek at the coverage contrast. The results of this experiment vary from hilarious to downright infuriating. Americans, do yourself a favor and watch some real news every once in a blue moon. 

Zodiac Killer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer

This creepy as-yet-unidentified serial killer haunted Northern California for several years in the late 1960's. The crazy part about the Zodiac (and the reason we'll never see his kind again) is that he spent just as much time taunting the police about how they weren't able to catch him as he did actually killing people. It's clear that he liked propping up his identity as an evil genius just as much as (and maybe even a bit more than) offing folks. The Zodiac (a self-applied name) liked to send the police symbol-based ciphers; only one of the four he sent them has ever been decoded successfully. In it, the Zodiac claims to believe that his victims will become his slaves in the afterlife! Whoa.

The 2007 David Fincher movie called “Zodiac” is damned interesting, but seems so focused on the details of the case, it didn't come out as the best movie. It does present a pretty convincing argument that David Leigh Allen, the police's prime suspect, was actually the Zodiac. It's worth a watch, if you find this stuff interesting (although I don't think the sketches made of the Zodiac look remotely like John Carroll Lynch, hah).

Yukon Quest

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon_Quest

This badass version of the more recognizable dogsled race, the Iditarod, adds an element of survivalist skill to the already-challenging prospect of getting a bunch of dogs to drag you a thousand miles through the snow. The race was thought up by – that's right – four guys sitting around in a bar talking about how the Iditarod was too easy, and how they wanted a race that added some woodsman-sized competition to the race. The Yukon Quest provides food/supply drops for “mushers” (best/worst name for an athlete ever) rather than full-on checkpoints, as other races use. This element is meant to pay tribute to the pioneers of the Alaskan Gold Rush, many of whom crossed this land as part of their job. The trail winds through the mountainous, snowy wilderness, and has lots of infamously treacherous passes, including the stretch between Pelly Crossing and Dawson City, the longest stretch between checkpoints of any dogsled race in the world (200 miles!).

There's a sweet Disney movie called Iron Will about a kid who competes in a really difficult dogsled race. I just thought I'd mention that. It has nothing to do with the Yukon Quest. Whatever. Go watch it.

Saint Peter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Peter

Still reading about Christian theology, and therefore still subjecting my blog to articles about “bibley type stuff”. This major figure in early and recent Christianity is one of the more famous figures in popular culture, thanks to the Gospel of Matthew naming him “keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven”; this has caused him to become synonymous with the iconic imagery of the “pearly gates”. What gets me is, Peter is often depicted as actually looking into the Book of Souls for your name. What a gyp! I'd demand to see his supervisor at that point. Peter always sticks in my mind for other reasons. Among those: He's that dude that denied Jesus three times. You know, the whole “I swear, I never met the guy!” act, to avoid being martyred alongside his master. Then later, he was crucified upside down, voluntarily! That's right, he figured he wasn't worthy of going out the way his master did, so he opted for the ol' topsy turvy treatment. As a consolation, he had that gigantic Basilica named after him. May he watch over the tourists of his domain! And the Swiss Guards, too. I guess.

Julian Assange

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Assange

This Australian native and former computer hacker founded the ultra-contraversial whistleblower website Wikileaks in 2006. As of this writing, the Wikileaks shit has pretty much hit the fan across the world in the wake of Assange's latest releases; the guy essentially just pantsed the most powerful country in the world, and is now slinking off as everyone laughs at the spectacle. The guy's heart seems to be in the right place, but it's tough to say whether his philosophy about sensitive information pans out ethically in terms of real world consequences. Sarah Palin thinks we should be treating the site like a terrorist organization and freezing its assets. Wow, what a nauseating preview of what our "free" nation would turn into under President Palin. Score one for Julian. On the other hand, Sweden wants the guy's head on a platter for alleged rape/molestation. However, I'm inclined to be suspicious of any attempts to discredit Assange suddenly coming out of the woodwork. I mean, how many powerful enemies must this guy have just made? No wonder he rarely sleeps in the same place twice. With Interpol after him, all bets are on about just how good a fugitive he can be!

1990's

Steve Urkel of Family Matters. I had no TV in the 1990's, but you probably did.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990s

This intriguing and massively important decade of human history is responsible for, among other things, the very method of instantaneous worldwide connection that is connecting author to reader right now. Bill Clinton presided over America for most of this decade, which made us financially prosperous (and later, entertained (see Monica Lewinsky). For a lot my life, the 90's have been recent enough to be safe from rampant nostalgia, criticism of styles, mockery of colloquial speech, etc., but now that we're a decade removed from this era that reared the fellows of my generation, it's officially become a fun enterprise to mock away. 

This era brought us cloning, the internet, the first Gulf War and the Hubble Telescope, and took away Princess Diana and Soviet Russia in the process. We can be resentful towards the 90's about some of these trade-offs. Without others, I'd either be faxing this to your office or calling you on your car-phone to tell you about it. For those people that would contest the idea that one decade may be more important to our development than another, I invite you to read about the 960's (snooze).