Another homicide has this mom rattled

Just recently, a 15-year-old Albuquerque boy armed with multiple weapons, including an assault rifle, killed his mom and three of his siblings, and then waited five hours before killing his father when he arrived home from work. Then he reloaded his guns and went to hang out with his 12-year-old girlfriend for the day.

(http://news.yahoo.com/five-shot-dead-albuquerque-teen-charged-062232284.html)

Now a lot of these stories upset me, and reporting on them day after day certainly gets under one's skin. But this one got to me more than most. Is it because I’m now a mom? Is it because it comes on the heels of another school massacre of 20 people, including 16 kids my son’s age? Then, having to listen to the national discussion on gun control – the suggestion of the most minor of regulations to try TRY! to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people – is sheer insanity. Not only is this country avoiding an obvious chance to promote public health, but through its arguments, the gun lobby only adds to the glorification of ignorance that this country so proudly exemplifies. Day after day I shake my head and say, “What is WRONG with these people?” Why are we embracing this double headed hydra of violence and ignorance? How have we let it get this far?

But back to this case: Police say the boy had no signs of drug or alcohol abuse, but in a shocking display of bad investigation admitted that they hadn’t even done a urine test. Oh my. They did say that his only visible signs of excitement during the interrogation occurred when he spoke of the violent video games he constantly played, including Grand Theft Auto and Modern Warfare. Then the sheriff said that the boy was “shocked” that he had been arrested for his crimes. I guess people aren’t arrested in video games?

So there’s the political. And there’s also the personal. The family of the slain victims sent journalists a series of childhood photos of the accused. He was playing drums, dressed up for a family wedding, a young boy sitting in his father’s lap. Family members wrote that they were frustrated with the media representation of the boy as “a monster” following the shootings. The statement made me smirk a bit but I could understand their confusion. Here was a beautiful young boy. A musician. He helped at his church and with the family’s animals. The statement made it sound as if he might have had struggles like any teenage boy but that the weekend’s violent rampage had no reason, made no sense at all. How did this happen?! 

It’s too easy to blame it on the fact that the parents had loaded and unlocked rifles and assault weapons in the closet at the ready. That was surely a big part of it. But what makes a frustrated boy take his anger out by killing? And how can we be sure that our young sons won’t feel compelled to do the same? I say video games change the brain patterns of young people. I see it, at least temporarily, every time my son plays a video game. He is dulled, desensitized and angers easily. He often ends up crying and frustrated, which is rare for Aiden. Something happens to him in these moments. Despite these retains I haven't denied all access – so many of his friends and family members play daily and I never wanted to give it too much cache. But after this case I’m reconsidering. None of Aiden's games have killing involved, but Angry Birds isn't exactly peaceful, now is it? Plus, I see how easily advertisements climb onto the screen, offering, for a small price, something a bit more “challenging”.

In this crazy world where advocates are saying teachers need to be armed and bulletproof backpacks are the perfect school choice, I simply want to escape. Isn’t there a place where life is more valued? Where children and education are honored, and environment – earth, air, water and food -- warrants its own rights and protections? A place where humans are treated equally and with respect? And where women are appreciated and paid appropriately for their work? I know this is utopian, but I don’t care. I want to think this place exists. So tell me where it is because I want to go there.

Where are all the past posts?!

I realized when I posted my last writing on Barcelona, it left some people wondering where my last few years of work was lurking. Please note if you're just checking my blog now that several years of work, going back to Baghdad (with some challenging photos so beware) is at www.baghdadproject.blogspot.com
But as I launch my new website, I also wanted to have a clean slate of sorts for my daily or weekly ruminations. Please do take at look at the recent past but be sure to follow me into the future!

Why I love team Barca -- and why you should too!

People are surprised to hear that I am an avid soccer fan. But I have to correct them: it’s not just the game of soccer that I enjoy watching. It’s team Barcelona that I’m crazy about, the team’s history, values and its key players that I think represent the best of what sports can offer. And by that I don’t just mean some good athletics, but notions of what teamwork can do, how amazing amounts of money could be directed, and what sports generally can offer in poor regions, and to those recovering from conflict. I think we in America look at sports in a very limited way (notwithstanding those who fought for Title 9!) and don’t often acknowledge the power and potential of the game.

Before the game with friend Rick Miller and my former professor, the amazing Tom Woodhouse, who not only teaches about Barca and is an avid fan, but who cemented my own obsession with this amazing team.

So now a few reasons why I love team Barca – and why you should too!

The most incredible fact is that when sponsors (Nike) first rushed to grace team Barca’s jerseys, the team turned them down, instead choosing to advertise Unicef to the world. Due to the economic crisis, the team most recently had to accept sponsorship for the Quatar Foundation, but still sports the Unicef logo on its jersey, and I think recently added Nike as well. This is not in name only. The team to this day gives more than 1.5 million Euros to Unicef every year! In fact each Barca player as part of his contract is required to give 1% of his earnings to the Barca Foundation, which not only gives money but also runs soccer camps for disadvantaged youth in places like Africa and China (oddly enough). Barca’s most amazing player -- and currently the best in the world!! -- is Lionel Messi, who was also the product of one of these soccer camps when he was growing up in Argentina. Messi is amazing not only for his out of this world skill with a ball, but also his humble nature (I’ve heard from Foundation reps that he attends functions in person and is gracious to all), but also his focus on his position within the team as opposed to always promoting himself (here we can offer a nod to rival Ranaldo from the Madrid team who I often think of as a strutting, self-absorbed rooster). If Messi is not scoring on the goal, he in undoubtedly creating the perfect setup for his teammates to score. Messi also appeals to Spaniards I’ve been told, because of his small size. In fact he needed medical care as a child because he wasn’t growing properly, and scouts who saw his potential offered to pay the costs.

Barca’s motto is “Mas que un Club,” (more than a club)which Spaniards say refers to the fact that they are Catalonian, and Barcelona eagerly wants independence from Spain. In fact at a point during a game I recently attended people started chanting “Independencia!” But I still think Mas que un Club means it is so much more than about sports. It is about a code of conduct on and off the field (which they adhere to somewhat strictly) and acknowledgement of how sports brings people together. The field of sports and reconciliation is currently exploding, and testimonials of kids who have been offered soccer after conflict are powerful: often noting that it was the first time they felt like children again, realized the war was over, etc.

Imagine if our sports teams had to offer 1% of their earnings to schools in America? To teaching young people the value of teamwork and cooperation? The value of sports to girls have been proven again and again – higher levels of confidence, better grades, longer education and lower chances of teen pregnancy. The list goes on. We’re pretty focused on individualism and competition in this country, but it’s a good time to remember the value of teams, of play and the joy of a good soccer game! Go Messi! Go Barca!

Here's my man after a corner kick against Granada. Barca scored two goals!