Over the Weekend: Summer and World Cup Trumps Everything Else
No weekend news particularly struck me as important to note. One piece on World War I appeared in the Wall Street Journal, noting that we're coming up on the 100th anniversary of the start of that catastrophe. If you know nothing about the war, you might read this piece, but don't take everything it says at face value. Do your own research. Study the war on your own. We recently talked about John Keegan's The First World War when we recently noted the anniversary of the beginning of the War. There's an extensive, detailed recounting of the war's battles sprinkled with analysis of its causes and consequences. In any case, any intelligent person who considers themselves even modestly educated ought to know something about World War I. Unfortunately, many if not most people who are drugged, er or rather dragged through the education system these days know very little if anything about World War I, including the fact that it started in 1914 and ended in 1918. Then again, the subject of history hasn't been taught properly for what seems like ages. And so we bounce around our lives with little knowledge or appreciation of what went before, with all the disadvantages such ignorance begets.
Moving on, the really significant events of the weekend were the beginning of summer and the World Cup. Summer's in full swing now, with the attendant slowing of business activity and political events. At least that's the usual pattern. We'll see if that holds up this year.
As for the World Cup, yes I've been watching some of the games, and not just the U.S. team's matches. While not a rabid soccer fan (but one who enjoys an occasional game) I do think I'm right in saying that, for the most part, the level of play has been good, although the constant flopping of the players when the opposition even brushes by them does prove an annoying distraction. I'm always contrasting these athletes with hockey players, who suffer horrendous collisions, pucks and sticks in the face resulting in open bleeding wounds that require stitches, or, in the case of the New York Rangers Derek Stepan in the recent Stanley Cup playoffs, a broken jaw from a vicious hit which put him out of the game, only to return to the next game with a protective face mask. Ouch!
In any case, summer's here, the World Cup will garner more and more attention in the coming weeks, especially if the U.S. team advances to the next round (by no means assured). Meanwhile, the wars in Iraq and Ukraine will probably grind on without as much media attention, despite the potential dire consequences such conflicts will pose for the rest of the world. After all, the media goes where they get the biggest bang for their buck, right?
Moving on, the really significant events of the weekend were the beginning of summer and the World Cup. Summer's in full swing now, with the attendant slowing of business activity and political events. At least that's the usual pattern. We'll see if that holds up this year.
As for the World Cup, yes I've been watching some of the games, and not just the U.S. team's matches. While not a rabid soccer fan (but one who enjoys an occasional game) I do think I'm right in saying that, for the most part, the level of play has been good, although the constant flopping of the players when the opposition even brushes by them does prove an annoying distraction. I'm always contrasting these athletes with hockey players, who suffer horrendous collisions, pucks and sticks in the face resulting in open bleeding wounds that require stitches, or, in the case of the New York Rangers Derek Stepan in the recent Stanley Cup playoffs, a broken jaw from a vicious hit which put him out of the game, only to return to the next game with a protective face mask. Ouch!
In any case, summer's here, the World Cup will garner more and more attention in the coming weeks, especially if the U.S. team advances to the next round (by no means assured). Meanwhile, the wars in Iraq and Ukraine will probably grind on without as much media attention, despite the potential dire consequences such conflicts will pose for the rest of the world. After all, the media goes where they get the biggest bang for their buck, right?
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