Pros in College, &c.

On sports, representative democracy, ‘The Day of the Jackal,’ and more

A classic scene at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor (Photo by Flickr user larrysphatpage)

You have seen this news, no doubt: “A federal judge has approved terms of a sprawling $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that will upend the way college sports have been run for more than a century.” The second sentence of that report, from the Associated Press, reads, “In short, schools can now directly pay players through licensing deals—a concept that goes against the foundation of amateurism that college sports was built upon.”

I can write at length about this issue or write a few words. I will choose the latter course. Here goes: I’m such a dinosaur, I think the Olympics should be amateur . . .

***

When we were in school, we learned about representative democracy. Our country, the United States, was a representative democracy. I will turn to Merriam-Webster for a definition:

democracy in which the power is exercised by the people through their elected representatives : a form of government in which the people elect representatives to make decisions, policies, laws, etc.

I have always been wary of public referenda—which sounds anti-democratic. “Oh, you don’t want the people to decide, huh?”

Whether Scotland should withdraw from the United Kingdom and become independent—that was a big question. Whether the United Kingdom should withdraw from the European Union—that was a big question. Would you have left those questions to voters’ moods on two given days? What if they had felt differently on subsequent days, or preceding days?

Out of Bogotá, here is a report from the AP:

Colombian president Gustavo Petro on Wednesday bypassed legislative opposition and signed a decree summoning voters to the polls in August to decide changes to the country’s labor laws, including whether workdays should be limited to eight hours.

The decree fulfilled Petro’s threat to Congress to put his labor-system overhaul before voters should senators not approve the 12-question referendum themselves.

(For that report in its entirety, go here.)

I am doing a little PoliSci 101: What are legislatures for?

***

When I think of Japanese people in South America—people of Japanese heritage, I mean—I think of Peru. This is because Peruvians elected a president of Japanese origins, Alberto Fujimori. That was in 1990. He served (is that the word?) ten years.

(By the way, Peruvians called Fujimori “el chino,” meaning “the Chinaman.” Iceberg, Goldberg.)

But Brazil has more people of Japanese heritage than any other nation on the continent: between 1.5 and 2 million. Princess Kako, a niece of Emperor Naruhito, has gone on tour in Brazil. For a photo gallery, go here. She seems the very picture of a princess: a Japanese princess.

***

Above, I wrote “between 1.5 and 2 million” (meaning people). Do you know this old joke, this old trick? “I bet you I can do between one and two hundred push-ups.” Then you do a single push-up, maybe two . . .

***

A headline from the Wall Street Journal: “Taiwan Tries to Purge Its Ranks of China Sympathizers.” Interesting article. Important, complicated, painful issue. With “purging ranks,” one is a little queasy (or at least some of us are). But Taiwan faces an existential threat . . .

***

For generations, the fluoridation of the water has been a political issue. Sometimes the Left is on it; sometimes the Right is on it. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between Left and Right.

By “on it,” what do I mean? I mean that people have been hotly against fluoridation.

Here is a recent chapter: “DeSantis signs a bill making Florida the 2nd state to ban fluoride from its water system.” For that news article, go here. And the first state? The Beehive one, Utah.

***

Recently, I jotted a series in which I quoted or otherwise mentioned a slew of people. One of those people wrote me to say, “I have to admit, I searched for my name, before reading the whole thing.” “A perfectly natural and normal thing to do,” I responded.

I recalled something Bill Buckley did. He gave a copy of his latest book to Norman Mailer. In the index, next to “Mailer, Norman,” he had written, “Hi, Norman!”

***

“Frederick Forsyth, Master of the Geopolitical Thriller, Dies at 86.” For that obit, in the New York Times, go here. In 1971, Forsyth came out with his Day of the Jackal. It is about an assassination plot against de Gaulle. Bill Buckley was among those who made the following observation: Everyone knows that Charles de Gaulle was not assassinated. Everyone knows that the general, and president, died in bed at a ripe old age. But Forsyth keeps you turning the pages anyway. The book is gripping. A phenomenal achievement.

Yes.

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“Betsy Jochum, 104, Dies; Last Original Member of Women’s Baseball League.” (Obit here.) She did not pronounce her name the German way, “Yochum.” (Eugen Jochum, incidentally, was a famed conductor, noted for his Bruckner symphonies.) She pronounced it “JOCK-em.” One of her nicknames was “Sockum Jochum.”

Nice.

***

One more obit: “Alf Clausen, Who Gave ‘The Simpsons’ Its Musical Identity, Dies at 84.” He did not write the quirky, immortal opening theme—that was Danny Elfman. But he wrote virtually everything else.

By the way, don’t “Alf Clausen” and “Danny Elfman” sound like Simpsons names? Names perfectly suited to the Simpsons world?

As Clay Risen explains in his obit—delightsome—Clausen wrote music of many types for The Simpsons. These types included the big musical-theater number.

When you have three minutes, treat yourself to “We Put the ‘Spring’ in Springfield.”

***

I’m walking in Manhattan. A man asks me for money. This is, like, the tenth request in, like, four blocks. I say, “Not today, but I wish you the best.”

As I walk on, I hear the voice behind me say, “If you wished me the best, you would have voted for Kamala Harris!”

I turn around and say, “How do you know who I voted for?”

He says, “I know what you did!”

There was a little more. Wish the whole exchange had been caught on tape. Might have gone “viral.”

Thanks for joining me, my friends, and see you later.