Super Bowl in Haiti

Super Bowl in Haiti

 

Sometimes I think I do things just so I can write about them.  Perhaps that in part was my motivation for going to the UN with some others from GRU (GrassRoots United) to see this year's version of the super bowl.  This one was number 45 and I had to confess to one of the 20-somethings that I remembered the first one between Green Bay and Minnesota.  Apparently my memory is a bit faulty as I checked later and found out it was Green Bay against Kansas City.

 

Anyway, I had been told by Marty that getting onto the UN base was quite difficult as their security was very stringent.  But the others in our group who had been there did not seem to think it would be a problem so I figured I'd give it a try.  As we approached the gate there were several UN soldiers, complete with their automatic weapons, hanging around but they just smiled as we walked past.  At the entrance there was a guy at the walk-through metal detector but he only did the same.  As I walked through the detector my defibrillator set it off, but no one seemed to care and we just proceeded onward.

 

It wasn't hard to find the bar where the game was being played as it was pretty noisy.  When we got there I looked with amazement at the menu offerings.  Lots of stuff on the menu I hadn't seen since I arrived in Haiti a month ago like hamburgers, even veggie burgers, pizza, fish and brownies.  A full bar included $2 beers which is twice what we pay at the hole in the wall on site but still not bad.  There were probably 50 people there but still not too crowded.

 

After buying a round of beers and ordering some pizza we settled in just after the game had started.  I was about to watch my first football game in 10-15 years.  I was also going to expose myself to the most hyped version of US tv that the industry is capable of producing.

 

The game was interesting enough but it was the commercials in between that I found the most fascinating.  Previews for upcoming movies and tv programs were all the rage, and rage is the operative word here.  There was no apparent limit to the degree or amount of violence that now appears acceptable to the folks who control our media.

 

This comes on the heals of another meeting I had with US tv during my month back in the states in Dec.  Visiting family for the holidays, I was again subjected to its wrath and was struck by a common thread.  In several of the shows I watched the "cop" (which may have been a cop, military police, or other authoritarian-type figure) would go way past the limits of what used to be appropriate interrogation procedures and into torture, often with the winking approval of another associate.  It was as if any rules against such tactics were only to be obeyed by morons too stupid to know how the real world works.

 

As a 9/11 truther (see ae911truth.org for details) I think I know how the world works much more clearly than the average person and far more honestly than those who have not figured out that all 3 buildings (yes, 3) that were destroyed on 9/11 were brought down by controlled demolition.  As such, I see the unbridled violence and acceptance of torture being disseminated as a tactic by the "powers that be" to mold public opinion into acceptance of these as normal and appropriate.  After all we were ATTACKED on 9/11 so every tactic in response is appropriate.

 

Even when the subject of the commercials was "humor" instead of drama there was a common thread of "put downs."  It used to be possible to laugh and not have it be at someone else's expense.  That no longer seems to be true.  In every case there was a "winner" and a "looser" in the comedic "battle" as the war theme invaded our humor.

 

Interestingly enough, though, I did not let these thoughts detract from the jovial mood that was present at the UN during the game.  I simply noted these trends, accepted that this is the way the world works today, and moved on.  This is precisely what the Buddhists would recommend and it seems as though, to at least some minor degree, I might be catching on a bit.

 

The game was ok but without a team to root for I was not on the edge of my seat as I used to be when I would live or die by how the 49ers (or OAKLAND Raiders) faired.  I find it amusing that I would put my emotional well-being on the line for such a trivial and meaningless matter.

 

So with the Steelers down by 11 I bet the guy next to me 2:1 beers on them.  I later followed that up with a side bet (also beers) that the Steelers would get at least 1 more interception or fumble recovery than the Packers.  I ended up loosing both bets.

 

The game was pretty fun but I think I got my football fix for another 10-15 years.