Concussion, Inc: American Football

One might argue that a nation which sanctions our brand of football, as played in the NFL, college, and high school, is failing its children.  Does the average American parent know how many current and former NFL players are enduring devastating brain injuries due to football-related concussions?  I don't think so!  More importantly, does the average American parent know how many college and high school kids are living with football-related brain damage.  I don't think so!  And if parents have that information, would they distance their children from football, at least until the sport is made safer?  More possibly, less probably!  

At least initially, parents may be reluctant to take such drastic, but necessary, action due to the enormous popularity and constant, widespread advertising of the sport. Worse yet, the vital information parents need to make an informed decision regarding football is nearly impossible to obtain.  First, not all concussion cases are reported, and second, most of the reported cases are sheltered as privileged information.  However, enough cases are reported in mass media, both online and in print, that a serious assessment of the risks associated with this multi-billion dollar industry is overdue.

Of course, we are a market-based society and football is the biggest sport in our country and it is sports' biggest cash cow.  Should government look into whether football, as it has been played and as it is played today, should remain a legal sport?  Or should the status quo be allowed to continue, so long as the enormous tax revenues from football commerce continue to flow into the government coffers?  

Football has and is destroying the lives of many people.  Former NFL superstars Jim McMahon, Troy Aikman, and Dan Marino, to name a few, all complained of terrible concussion-related neurologic problems and severe pains.  They all implicated their teams as having lied to them about the extent of their head injuries at the time their injuries were evaluated, and that they were sent back on the field prematurely after injuries.  They all also demanded compensation, deservedly, and they all demanded that the government step in with new laws that would guard against the occurrence of these serious, life-crushing, injuries.  

Have member of both houses of Congress in Washington, DC, who were elected to represent and protect the public interest, launched a serious risk assessment probe of professional, college, and/or high school football?  No!  Have they done their due diligence to ensure the safety of athletes?  No!  Has the president invoked emergency powers to do so?  No!  Are they expected to do anything about this nationwide clear and well-documented crisis?  Not any time soon.  Then, it would be fair to say that our government has let, and is letting, its children down.  

Fortunately, government inaction thus far is not a terminal condition; government can begin the necessary probe today.  Congress can write and pass new legislations which would provide the protection our children deserve in the very near future. For his part, the president can sign those into law.  After all, we are a nation of laws, and football should not be beyond the law.

Azzam Elayan 

October 16, 2014

An Idea

I call on the Israeli government to dissolve itself, I call on the Palestinian Authority to dissolve itself, I call on Hamas to dissolve itself, I call on the Israeli and Palestinian people to unite under one name, one flag, and one freely elected government, in one nation with one constitution which would guarantee equal rights for all. The current status is not, and will never be, sustainable for either side; failure is the inevitable outcome, now or in a hundred years! Both people must come to the realization that a viable Jewish Israel and a viable Palestinian Palestine are ideas which belong to cynical fairy tales concocted by those who chose, and choose still, to focus on our differences rather than our similarities, our dividers rather than our unifiers, and our places of worship rather than our spirit of worship. 

Is it doable? Yes, it IS. Most countries are comprised of people who belong to varying ethnic backgrounds, races, and religions, and those people somehow manage to bridge their differences and live in relative harmony! Several hundred languages and dialects are spoken in China, India, Russia, and the United States, and people in each of these countries, despite some significant difficulties (especially in Russia), belong to one nation, under one flag, with one broad objective: building a better future for themselves and for their country. Why can't the Israelis and Palestinians do that? I say they can. With the help of the United States, European Union, Russia, and China, it absolutely doable. Just imagine, if you would, the spectacular returns for ALL (including the US) from an Israel-Palestine at peace! Eden would then be a fitting name.

Enough with the unjustifiable, mindless bloodshed. Enough!

Azzam Elayan

August 25, 2014

Shades of Winter

Winter lingers, drones on 

Snowflake by snowflake,

Unyielding grey, icicle-legged ghost 

Riding the storm in,

No place elsewhere to go.

We compare our aches,  

And the forecast 

From our cell phone weather apps, 

We resent the looming storm

And the complicity of our apps. 

Resigned to the pending grand inconvenience,

We sink deeper into our warm brown couch,

Begin to catalog the span of our lives, 

Break down the on days,

The off days,

The sunny days,

The wicked days,

And as we do,

Time splinters around us,

Into distorted memories and awkward expectations.

The years fall from the sky

And shatter into perfect hexagons

Each ornately distinct,

Twisted hours dot the curvature of my mind.

I think of a blind man 

Walking the streets of Jerusalem

With nothing to steer him across the cobbled stones,

Except a bamboo cane in hand.

He walks the tight ally ways of the Old City

Carrying a burlap sack over his shoulder.

The sack is filled with wood logs,

For my childhood winters,

In another home, 

Another land.

The shrapnels of time keep on falling,

Breaking the delicate snowflakes,

Into tiny grains of vanishing moments.

And we wonder, 

Is the calendar rigged?

Or are we looking in

Through the smashed ends

Of an unreasonable kaleidoscope?

Dr. Azzam Elayan 

Sunday, March 2nd, 2014

Sochi 2014 Olympics Puzzler

Three downhill skiing Olympians (Ouchi, Oopcy, and Frukit) paid $10 each for breakfast at the SkollCT Diner in #Sochi2014. The restaurant manager, Skanz Aroff, asked the waiter, Nurs Sodizzyski, to return $5 to the 3 athletes, as an #Olympics2014 discount. The waiter wasn't sure how to split the $5 equally amongst the 3 athletes, so he gave each $1 back & kept the remaining $2. After the refund, the $27 total paid by all 3 athletes & the waiter's $2 add up to $29. What happened to the thirtieth dollar? (You have 1000 years to solve this one!)

Davos: Veneer and Content

Azzam Elayan

January, 24, 2014

The economic conference under way in Davos, Switzerland, is not about charity, philanthropy, giving back to society, or any of these lofty ideals, as we are told. So what is it about? Well, it is a networking forum for the power arbiters, Benedict Arnolds, and superbly wealthy movers and shakers of the world to exchange ideas on how to strengthen their ownership of and control over resources and intellectual capital. 

The philanthropic veneer encasing the conference is just that, a thin layer of lies and promises, beneath which the real work of further empowering the already powerful takes place. Let us stop fooling ourselves, yes, let us stop thinking that any of those ruthless business sharks and politicians give a damn about anything beyond their ever expanding spheres of interest and influence. 

Of course, there may be one, two, or even a few exceptions amongst the attendees, but not enough to change the character of the conference or to make a discernible difference for the average world citizen on whose behalf the conference is supposedly held.

(Photo credit: AP)

Another "Stand Your Ground" Tragedy in Florida

Another tragic, unnecessary killing was reported by various news media yesterday. In summary, a 71-year old former police captain shot a 43-year old fellow moviegoer at a Wesley Chapel movie theatre in Florida after the victim refused to stop texting. The victim explained that he was just texting with his 3-year old daughter before the start of the movie and that he would stop when the movie, Lone Survivor, starts. Evidently an argument, nonetheless, ensued and eventually, the argument escalated into a fight during which the shooting occurred. In an addition to striking the victim, the victim's wife was also struck in the hand, as she had her hand on her husband's chest at the time of the shooting. The shooter, who was also accompanied by his wife, was arrested by an off duty sherif on site. Attempts to resuscitate the victim by an off duty nurse in attendance were not successful; the victim, a father of the 3-year old daughter he was texting and a husband, died shortly after at a nearby hospital. 

I don't even know what to say about this horrific killing! May be don't text in a movie theatre in Florida, don't throw popcorn at a stranger in a movie theatre in Florida, don't carry a gun to a movie theatre in Florida, don't sit in front of an armed retired police captain at a war movie in Florida, have a manager at every aisle in every movie theatre in Florida, have a triage area next to the concession stand at every movie theatre in Florida, or simply don't live in a state with loose gun laws and looser protection of human life! Very likely this shooter, like Zimmerman, will also walk! Like in Zimmerman case, Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, a virtual shoot-to-kill card blanche, will undoubtedly be deployed in this case as well to get this shooter off.

"Gate" Scandal

All media outlets, including CNN & the NY Times, are using the same term, "Bridgegate," to refer to the politically motivated closure of the George Washington Bridge by top aides to Governor Chris Christie.  (Christie denied repeatedly, in a riveting two-hour press conference today, any role in the closure or knowledge of his aides' actions.  Unfortunately, I only saw about 30 minutes of the conference.)  

Yes, I understand that CNN and others are analogizing this scandal to Nixon's Watergate by using word "gate" as a suffix at the end of the word "bridge."  However, in the case of Watergate, the name of the hotel at the center of the scandal was in fact "Watergate!"  The name was one word, with "gate" already built-in!  Adding the suffix gate to the name of any and every scandal shows a terrible lack of imagination on the part of the national media, as a best case scenario!  

The worst case scenario is that using the suffix "gate" is done to elevate the seriousness of the bridge closure scandal and thus to attract a bigger audience and or readership, which translates in higher ratings.  Obviously, higher ratings mean more, sometimes a lot more, advertising dollars.  I guess the media can't get any more cynical than that!  Or can it?

Dr. Azzam Elayan

Jan. 9, 2014

العاشقُ الأبدي

عَبَرَ القمرُ من بيننا

وكنتُ أنا وحيداً

بلا إسمٍ وبلا حبٍ و بلا وطن 

وكنتِ أنتِ فرحةً 

ترقصين على حافة الشمس

مرتديةً فستانكِ الأزرق،

عاريةَ الأقدام،

وكنتِ صامدةً مثل القدر

وكانت عيناي تبحث عن مأوى

هناك بين غيومِ الصيف الخجلة

وهنا عبر تلال الصحراء المتنقلة 

لا، لا مأوى هناك ولا مأوى هنا.

اللحظاتُ عبرت ببطء

كأنها طفلٌ يزحفُ عبر الربع الخالي 

وعندها، في تلك الحظةِ 

التي كانت لحظاتٌ قبل لحظةِ اليأس

سمعتُ صوتكِ الدافئ يناديني

كنغمِ الهدهدالرقيق 

ممزوجٌ بألحان امواج تموز 

وبحفيف أوراق الشجر

ومنحتِني حبُكِ وقتها

بلا ترددٍ وبلا سبب.

وأما أنا فمنحتُكِ قلبي المتجول

ومنحتُكِ ياقوت السماء ومفاتيح القمر. 

فأصبحتِ أنتِ مأويا ووطني

وأصبحتِ عشيقةَ عمري 

وأصبحتُ أنا عاشقاً ابدياً

لا يخاف عواصفَ الاقطاب الثلجية

ولا زوابع الصحراء الخماسينية 

ولا حتى جنونُ أعاصيرِ المطر. 

الدكتور عزام عليان

٧ كانون الثاني ٢.١٤

My Favorite 200 Films

200. Raging Bull

199. A Place in the Sun

198. Juno 

197. Philadelphia (new)

196. Philadelphia (original)

195. Good Morning Vietnam 

194. Heat

193. Father of the Bride 2

192. American Diner 

191. Spellbound

192. O Brothers Where Art Thou

191. Peggy Sue Got Married

190. Iron Man 3

189. The Game

188. Six Degrees of Separation 

187. Jerry McGuire

186. Meet the Parents

185. Rudy

184. Field of Dreams 

183. Happy Gilmore 

182. Boys in the Hood

181. Father of the Bride

180. Pearl Harbor

179. The Matrix

178. U Turn 

177. An Affair to Remember

176. Iron Man 2

175. Bowling for Columbine

174. Rambo

173. The Sixth Sense

172. Dave

171. Mission Impossible

170. Woman on Top

169. Hotel New Hampshire 

168. Twister

197. Crimes and Misdemeaners

166. Witness

165. What About Bob

164. Terms of Endearment

163. Free Willy

162. The Crying Game

161. Singing in the Rain

160. Iron Man

159. Rebel Without a Cause

158. Crimson Tides

157. Wag the Dog

156. Knotting Hill 

155. Roger and Me

154. Amar, Akbar, Anthony

153. Fahrenheit 9/11

152. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

151. Sicko

150. A River Runs Through It

149. Lincoln

148. Le Miserable

147. The Lives of Others

146. Unforgiven 

145. The Life of Pi

144. Fargo

143. Walk the Line

142. Much Ado About Nothing

141. Damn Yankees

140. Brokeback Mountain 

139. Chinatown

138. Happy Feet

137. Peggy Sue Got Married 

136. Husbands and Wives

135. Arlington Road

134. Ferris Bueller's Day Off

133. Syriana

132. Star Wars, Part III

131. The Doors

130. Top Gun

129. Babe

128. Borat

127. Argo

126. Sweet Home Alabama 

125. Night at the Museum Part 3

124. Bull Durham 

123. Miracle on 34th Street

122. Dirty Dancing

121. Shakespeare in Love

122. My Cousin Vinnie

120. Blood Diamonds

119. Strictly Ballroom

118. Divine Intervention

117. The Birdcage

116. Enter the Dragon

115. Four Weddings and a Funeral 

114. In the Line of Fire

113. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

112. Salt of the Sea

111. A Beautiful Mind

110. Analyze This 

109. Dog Day Afternoon

108. Muriel's Wedding

107. Iron Man

111. Paradise Now

106. The Marrying Man

105. The Wizard of Oz

104. National Velvet

103. Stand by Me 

102. The Battle of Algiers

101. Madam Butterfly

100. To Kill a Mocking Bird

99. LA Confidential 

98. An American in Paris

97. The Shawshank Redemption

96. Fried Green Tomatoes

96. Jurassic Park

95. Something's Gotta Give

94. Apocalypse Now

93. The Dear Hunter

92. Clear and Present Danger

91. Greedy

90. Sea of Love 

89. Zorba

88. Training Day

87. Pretty Woman

86. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington

85. Lust for Life

84. The American President

83. Driving Miss Daisy

82. No Way Out

81. Erin Brokovich

80. Mulholand Drive

79. American Gigolo

78. Kramer Vs. Kramer

77. Annie Hall

76. Something About Mary

75. Some Like it Hot

74. To Be Or Not To Be

73. Out of Africa

72. Meet the Parents

71. Seven

70. Dead Poet Society

69. Match Point

68. Under the Bombs

67. No Country for Old Men

66. Jaws

65. Whale Rider

64.  Who's Affraid of Virginia Wolf

63. American Graffiti 

62. Blue Velvet

61. Midnight in Paris

60. Forest Gump

59. Malcolm X 

58. A Man in Love

57. Gattaca

56. An Affair to Remember

55. The Constant Gardener

54. The Graduate

53. The Mask

52. Emma

51. The Talented Mr. Ripley

50. Glory

49. Silence of the Lambs

48. Minority Report

47. The Hunt for Red October

46. Like Water for Chocolate

45. Monsoon Wedding

44. Chocolat

43. My Big Fat Greek Wedding

42. How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days

41. Lord of the Rings

40. Indiana Jones

39. Saturday Night Fever

38. It Could Happen to You

37. Maid in Manhattan 

36. Chicago

35. Donny Brasco

34. Harry Potter

33. The Wedding Planner

32. Home Alone

31. Wall Street

30. A Fish Called Wanda

29. An Officer and a Gentleman

28. Rain Man 

27. The Untouchables

26. Monty Python

25. Good Will Hunting

24. Platoon

23. Titanic

22. JFK

21. Twelve Angry Men

20. Inglorious Basterds

19. All the President's Men

18. It's Complicated

17. Legends of the Fall

16. Lawrence of Arabia

15. Streetcar Named Desire

14. Breakfast at Tiffany's 

13. Schindler's List

12. Wuthering Heights

11. Remains of the Day

10. Mostly Martha

9. The English Patient

8. Sophie's Choice

7. Gone with the Wind 

6. Doctor Zhivago

5. The Godfather, Part III 

4. The Sound of Music 

3. Scent of a Woman 

2. It's A Wonderful Life

1. Cinema Paradiso

Dr. Azzam Elayan

January 1st, 2014