WAKE UP!!!

I'm sick of being nice.

I'm sick of people blaming everything on other people instead of taking responsibility. This deserves a rant. This deserves a petition. This deserves to have the people in charge sent to a firing range for target practice. With them as the targets.

A nine-year old pitcher has managed to get his Little League Baseball team disbanded. Not because he threw a tantrum and beat some kid up. Not because he cussed his coach out. Not even because he pitched a ball that injured another kid. No. His team is being disbanded because...

...he has a 40mph fast ball.

That's right! He's too damn good, so because they won't play him in another position in which he is not happy and does not excel, the Little League is disbanding his team.

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This poor kid said (as quoted from the article), "I feel sad. I feel like it's all my fault nobody could play."

HE'S 9!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whatever happened to encouraging and nurturing a talent?! When did we start PUNISHING kids for being good at something?! "He can pitch against older players..." Riiight. Like the coach is going to run an age verification on every opposing player. I think not.

Where is this taking place? New Haven, CT.

This is a totally rich story, too.

Officials told the boy's coach not to let him pitch. The coach didn't understand that logic (nor do I) and when the boy took the mound, the opposing team walked off. That's teaching sportsmanship and maturity.

Yes, instead of teaching your team how to, ya know, bat against a good pitcher, let's punish the player who's doing something he loves and excels at.

Sorta like those stupid "standardized" tests. They punish the people who are intelligent in areas that aren't logic or verbal. You want to know how to squelch a child's psyche? It's not by spanking them for doing something wrong. It's by benching them for being too good.

So, yes. Let's foster mediocrity and wonder why our President thinks it's a "nucular" war and our Vice President thinks a human is a deer. Let's foster bad behavior by allowing the child to dictate his own punishment so he can go out and do something that forces James Hetfield to inconvenience your life. Again.

Then let's blame society for our lack of thought and reason in child-rearing. Let's blame the schools for not offering after-school programs that would foster skills to make the child be---oh, wait! Little League is an after-school program that would foster skills to make the child better...and when it succeeds, it's taken from the child.

Imagine what would have happened if Mendel had his microscope taken from him. Or if Galileo actually caved and went with the geocentric view of the universe. Or if Pierre and Marie Curie had put away their chemistry sets...

Imagine if Babe Ruth had been disallowed to hit. Or Hank Aaron. Or Barry Bonds.

I suggest not being a dumb American and clicking all those links in the last two paragraphs. Unless you're afraid of learning something new. If you are, then I hear there's a trash compactor that needs examination.

A Ray of Light

Here's an American who gets it. Normally I'd go off on how doctors are just Satan incarnate and whatnot, but this... this needs to be talked about.

David Puckett gets it. He understands that medicine and the Hippocratic oath aren't just about selling people on some new drug, taking kick-backs from the drug companies, or doing a half-hearted job. He understands that it's about making people healthy.

If you haven't clicked the link to read the article, lemme just summarized. This man donates his time. To Mexico. It's no secret that the rush of illegals from Mexico come to here to America because Mexico sucks. I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm just stating a fact. In 41 trips to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, Puckett has treated about 420 patients.

What does he do for these patients? He provides artificial limbs. Puckett is a certified prosthetist/orthotist from Savannah, GA. He has established a non-profit organization called Positive Image Prosthetics that takes used prosethetics to craft new ones for those in need. And when he treats these 420 patients, he does it FREE OF CHARGE.

Take THAT, you HMO's!

Puckett's only complaint is that he doesn't have a surgeon who's willing to donate time and take a pay cut to go with him. Puckett estimates that if he had a surgeon, he could treat 8-10 patients in a weekend.

Dr. K. Nania, a chiropractor here in Southern California, does something similar. At least twice a month, she flies to Mexico for the weekend to treat patients, completely free of charge. It is possible for people in the medical profession to be about healing and not money. Shocking, but true.

What's sad is neither of these gracious doctors could offer this type of service in America. Why? Several reasons. First, insurance companies would cease to work with them. That would automatically force them into either closing their practice, or having to charge more just to cover the costs of their businesses. Second, there are some rather greedy Americans out there. Everyone loves getting something for nothing, and if your livelihood relies on someone else's honesty...trust me, it just can't be that way. Sad as it is. Plus, what happens if something goes wrong? How are they indemnified or covered from the sue-happy American looking for a quick buck?

This country's healthcare system is worse than screwed up. God bless those who try to make a difference--even if it is in another country.

Oh, by the way? Do something good. Make yourself feel better and donate to the cause. After all, it's tax deductible and you'll be helping someone else make a better life for themselves.