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About kb

free spirit, lover of red wine, bacon, sushi, the ocean, and adventure. I work in the legal field, do freelance writing, and take care of children.

On Skinny

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Perhaps you’ve noticed that I’m looking sort of bony these days.
I’m usually a pretty slender person. Solid, but slender.
I started dropping weight and didn’t even notice. Of course, there were signs: The funeral back in December. My black dress that normally looks stunning on me just hung there, a sad sack of cloth on a frame. The fact that my pants weren’t fitting – I thought it was just cheap detergent. It really hit me when I went to buy new pants. I grabbed my usual size and put them on. Nope, no way. The pants were hanging off me. Grabbed a smaller size. Put those on. Nope. So here I am, ten pounds lighter than my normal, wearing tiny pants that are way smaller than anything I’ve ever worn and rocking a fiercely sharp clavicle, while mourning the loss of my South Africa boobs. (I ate so much custard to grow them!)

Now before you cry “eating disorder!”, let me explain.

I’m still within what the CDC considers a healthy weight range. [That is totally stretching the truth. My body mass index (BMI) is hovering at around 18.5, the very bottom edge of “healthy.” But it still counts!] I went in last week and my doctor told me not to lose any more weight. (As I type this, there is a quarter pounder in my hand. Gross, but effective.)

So why all of this weight loss?

In September, I had my yearly performance review at work. My only negative was “focus,” but in our meeting, my boss jokingly told me that he was sure that the only thing that would ever fix that was medication. But a larger raise was out of the question based on the lack of focus affecting my work. This really hit home for me, obviously. (My boss in high school used to tell me that I had the attention span of a golden retriever, so this “focus” issue is not a new thing.)

I decided to talk to my doctor about it. It was an oddly confrontational meeting. I underwent two horrible days of testing with a psychologist who looks exactly like Tobias Funke from Arrested Development. When I see him, it’s seriously very hard for me not to throw out Tobias quotes.

The testing was lame, but the psychologist is hilarious and amazing. As it turns out, I have zero learning disabilities (they include that in testing to rule everything out), am at or slightly above average at math (this is the scariest part of that – if I’m average, how bad can it get?), have insanely awesome phonemic awareness, and am a classic case of combined-type ADHD.

The ADHD diagnosis did not come as a shock, although I’m now wondering how I ever managed to get anything accomplished before.

So we began the time-honored tradition of messing around with medication. Let me tell you a few things: Ritalin is the scariest thing ever. Probably worse than meth. Actually, no. I just did a quick search for meth billboards and they’re very clear that meth is so much scarier than Ritalin. Sort of. Anyway, I took it for like three weeks, I think. Horrid. My resting heart rate was 120 beats per minute. I was super cracked out and jumpy. All very attractive qualities, I assure you.

So we switched. I’m very happy with my new meds, but I am learning that I seriously hate dealing with  UnitedHealthcare more than anything. They’re a bunch of dicks who sit in a room laughing about the problems of the people who pay them insane amounts of  money only to have nothing covered. They’ve denied my coverage for my meds because I’m over 18, because they don’t want me to get generic, and so on down their list of excuses. So I’m paying out of pocket. And silently cursing them while I wait to re-file my claim.

The side effects of the new meds are relatively few, except for the pesky eating problem. It hurts me to eat. I have little to no interest in food. So I’ve been trying to creative about getting calories. I’m working on it. I spoke to a friend who was also late-in-life (ha) diagnosed with ADHD and she said that after a little while, it’ll be easier. It’s starting to be a little bit better. Last night, I was starving. All I wanted was Indian food. So I went and got some and it was perfect. (The leftovers are languishing in the backseat of my car. Gross. I should probably do something about that.)

The benefits far outweigh the negatives. I am so much more productive and focused at work. It feels good. I’m working harder and accomplishing tasks. Also, I’m making lists. Legitimate, color-coded, categorized lists. It’s crazy and awesome. I keep a calender now. I’m still disorganized as all hell, but we’re working on that. Baby steps

Source for this image linked here

On Tuesday

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There are those moments when everything is sailing along and then all of sudden, it’s like the entire world begins to crumble, just enough to knock you off balance but not enough to really count as a legitimate disaster.

That’s where we’re at right now.

Work is the busiest that it’s ever been. I’ve got pressing projects and deadlines looming over my shoulders, and simply not enough time to get anything and everything done.

Life is the same. I’m struggling to find the contentment that settled over everything at the beginning of the year. I want to re-engage it and channel my nervous energy into something productive, but I’m currently unable to get a handle on anything. And so I’m panicky, anxious, stressed, and edgy. I’m quite a joy to be around these days.

I’m hoping that a good dose of trivia tonight and some serious Jacob time tomorrow evening will produce a semblance of calm that will propel me through the week.

On Math.

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I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of the Huffington Post, but you know, they’re not all bad. Anyway, saw this article this morning.

I’ve been bad at math since about fourth grade. “Bad” is relative: on recent intelligence tests (I’ll explain in a blog post soon), even my weaknesses measure at or above average. So “bad” at math isn’t really that bad. But I’m still not great. However, finding out that I might be genetically inclined not to understand fractals and long division makes the grieving process (for my future as a geneticist or forensic scientist) much easier. Okay, so there’s not really any proof of the gender gap, but I’m going to run with it:  Damn you, double-X chromosomes and breasts! (Hah, mark this as the first time they’ve actually gotten in my way.)

Math Gender Gap Not Result of Girls’ Low Self-Esteem, Researchers Say

First Posted: 1/19/12 09:47 AM ET Updated: 1/19/12 09:48 AM ET

AmazingInspiringFunnyScaryHotCrazyImportantWeird
Are girls bad at math? From a talking Barbie doll saying “Math class is tough” to Larry Summers, the ex-President of Harvard University, speaking on the “different availability of aptitude,” it’s an issue that’s seen plenty of controversy. As one of the most sensitive topics in education today, there’s plenty of research on it, and even a body of research on the research.

A study to be published in Review of General Psychology, falls into the latter category. Its authors, David Geary of the University of Missouri and Giljsbert Stoet of the University of Leeds, find that if a gender gap in math test scores exists, it isn’t a manifestation of the so-called “stereotype threat” theory, as many researchers seem to believe.

According to that theory, girls tend to perform worse on tests after they’ve been told they’ll do poorly. Geary and Stoet found that past studies relying on the theory were flawed and lacking real evidence. This suggests that if girls are scoring worse than boys on standardized math tests, it’s not because of their low self esteem.

In other words, don’t blame ditzy Barbie.
The new finding suggests that it might make sense to scale back social programs designed to counter the stereotype threat. As Geary noted:

“The stereotype theory really was adopted by psychologists and policy makers around the world as the final word, with the idea that eliminating the stereotype could eliminate the gender gap…However, even with many programs established to address the issue, the problem continued. We now believe the wrong problem is being addressed.”

Geary and Stoat make no contention about the gender gap itself. Their study makes a strong case for ruling out a self esteem-based explanation of the gender gap, but an increasing number of scientists believe the gender gap is illusory in the first place.
Recent years have brought mounting evidence against the idea that, other things being equal, women are worse at math than men. A 2011 study published in Psychological Bulletin found evidence of gender gaps in various countries, but noted that in some countries, such as Jordan and Bahrain, girls had the edge.

On Obama’s Awesomeness for Today

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Yay! I love this:

Victory! Obama Stands Up to Bishops and Protects Birth Control Coverage

January 20, 2012 by  · Leave a Comment

Great news! Despite months of fierce lobbying by the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Obama administration announced today that it would not exempt Catholic hospitals from the Affordable Care Act requirement for insurance plans to cover employees’ birth control. The news, which comes on the first day of Trust Women Week, is a welcome victory for feminists.
Back in November, feminists were concerned that President Obama might cave in to the Bishops’ pressure to exempt religious institutions. If the Bishops had their way, it would have meant that organizations that aren’t actual churches–such as colleges, universities and hospitals–would get out of covering birth control in insurance plans for their students and employees, despite an HHS ruling last August that birth control constitutes preventive care and should be covered with no copay. Feminists–including Feminist Majority President (and Ms. publisher) Eleanor Smeal–have loudly urged the administration not to let Catholic Bishops deny no-cost birth control coverage to millions. Here is Smeal’s response to today’s announcement:
At last—concern for women’s health trumps pressure from the Catholic Bishops. Millions of women who may have been denied access to birth control with no co-pays or deductibles will now have full access. I am especially pleased that college students at religiously affiliated institutions will now have coverage for birth control without co-pays or deductibles under their school health plans beginning in August 2012.
Birth control is the number one prescription drug for women ages 18 to 44 years. Right now, the average woman has to pay $50 per month for 30 years for birth control. No wonder many low-income women have had to forgo regular use of birth control and half of US pregnancies are unplanned. This decision will help millions of women and their families.
Some religious institutions will be given a one-year extension–from August 2012 to August 2013–to implement the no-fee coverage. Here are the details of the ruling:
  • Insurance plans that already cover birth control, including those of religious institutions, must do so with no co-pays or deductibles starting August 2012
  • All student insurance plans at religiously affiliated universities must cover contraception with no co-pays or deductibles beginning August 2012
  • Non-profit religious institutions that do not currently cover contraception have until August 2013 to do so with no co-pays or deductibles
  • Only women who work directly for a house of worship, such as for a church, synagogue, or mosque itself, are exempted from this required coverage
Photo of President Obama from Flickr user lednichenkoolga under Creative Commons 2.0

On Pictures of the Past

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Because Jacob just emailed me some OLD pictures from his phone:

Denver Pride 2011 – and I didn’t even get sunburned! 
us, at some point. I say February 2011. We’re adorable. 
and because I found this while going through some stuff at Mom’s:
My family. 2006? Judging by hair color and completely over-plucked eyebrows, I was probably between the ages of 16-18. 

On Ron Paul.

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I get made fun of a lot for sometimes really liking Ron Paul. (Emphasis on the “sometimes.”)
I really wish he was better at stuff I really care about, like abortion (he thinks it should be up to the states to decide…which sort of pisses me off, but then again, it’s not like Colorado is going to go bat-shit crazy and pass any sort of “moment of conception” law any time soon, so I probably don’t have to emigrate yet). Again, I personally wouldn’t consider abortion but I’m so in love with birth control (which means I’ll never need an abortion because I don’t have to worry about accidental pregnancy because I’ve got smart plans in place – not that I’m having sex, of course), and my IUD, and my freedom to take the morning after pill if I need to that I refuse to let that pro-life/pro-choice issue go. My body does not belong to the dude I’m sleeping next to and it most certainly doesn’t belong to any of the concerned right-wingers determined to re-instill their own brand of family values all over America. (Side note: all I can think of when I think of the fact that some people want to ban birth control is the thought of having to feed like 7 kids on my current salary and then the eventual prolapse of my woman parts. Sounds like misery and welfare.) 

I will be pro-choice until the day that I die. 
Also, I don’t know that you can really deny people health care. I mean, we do a really good job of that anyway. I agree that the system is broken, but I don’t know that free-marketing (totally a word now, right?) the healthcare system is the best choice. Meh. However, considering how much time I spend fighting with my own health insurance….
Whatever. For all his crazy, Ron Paul is one consistent man. And right now, we sort of need that. Either that, or Obama should grow a pair and start doing some serious asserting, which I fully support. Be the man, Obama! Tell everyone to shut up and start doing some work!
The yellow highlighting in the story below is all mine. Because that’s why I wanted to post this to my blog anyway. Why the hell do more people not agree with this sentiment? 

Seriously, America, wtf? You freak out on Iran for developing nuclear weapons, you invade Iraq under that same pretense, but it’s totally cool if we have tons of them stockpiled? Because, wait, the “sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons is providing deterrence for itself and its allies.” Oh, my bad. I totally forgot how awesome at being hypocrites we are. 
But I digress….

How Crazy is Ron Paul Right Now? Volume I

ON JANUARY 17, 2012 AT 6:45 PM
ron paul 1-17.jpgRon Paul’s our favorite non-conformist nutball, even when he gets carried away and starts to non-conform against his own agenda. Sometimes he seems like the only guy in the Republican primary not trying to win Sarah Palin’s endorsement; other times it’s like he’s been up for six days straight, surfing the fringiest corners of the Internet and collecting paranoias. Here, in a recurring feature on Death Race, we parse the Paulisms so you don’t have to.
What Ron Paul Said: “If another country does to us what we do to others, we’re not going to like it very much. So I would say that maybe we ought to consider a Golden Rule in foreign policy. Don’t do to other nations what we don’t want happening to us. We endlessly bomb these countries and then we wonder why they get upset with us?“—Jan 16, 2012, at a Republican debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Public reaction: Prolonged booing from the audience.
Our take: This is one of the least crazy things that Ron Paul has been booed for. Paul’s application of an ancient maxim in lieu of a more nuanced take on international affairs may seem a little obtuse. But it’s grounded by about four decades of expensive, ill-fated meddling on behalf of the United States. Also, it’s worth remembering that this is the same race in which Rick Santorum has continually declared war on Iran and Rick Perry declared that NATO ally Turkey was run by “Islamic terrorists.” So: Sane by comparison!
— Mark Byrne
TAGS: 

http://www.gq.com/news-politics/blogs/death-race/2012/01/how-crazy-is-ron-paul-part-i.html#ixzz1jqdNfOpT
Source: GQ

On blacking out the internet…

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Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S.

Two bills before Congress, known as the Protect IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would censor the Web and impose harmful regulations on American business. Millions of Internet users and entrepreneurs already oppose SOPA and PIPA.
The Senate will begin voting on January 24th. Please let them know how you feel. Sign this petition urging Congress to vote NO on PIPA and SOPA before it is too late.
Chart: “Congress, Can You Hear Us?”

More about SOPA and PIPA

Members of Congress are trying to do the right thing by going after pirates and counterfeiters but SOPA and PIPA are the wrong way to do it.

1. SOPA and PIPA would censor the Web

The U.S. government could order the blocking of sites using methods similar to those employed by China. Among other things, search engines could be forced to delete entire websites from their search results. That’s why 41 human rights organizations and 110 prominent law professors have expressed grave concerns about the bills.

2. SOPA and PIPA would be job-killers because they would create a new era of uncertainty for American business

Law-abiding U.S. internet companies would have to monitor everything users link to or upload or face the risk of time-consuming litigation. That’s why AOL, EBay, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo and Zynga wrote a letter to Congress saying these bills “pose a serious risk to our industry’s continued track record of innovation and job-creation.” It’s also why 55 of America’s most successful venture capitalists expressed concern that PIPA “would stifle investment in Internet services, throttle innovation, and hurt American competitiveness”. More than 204 entrepreneurs told Congress that PIPA and SOPA would “hurt economic growth and chill innovation”.

3. SOPA and PIPA wouldn’t stop piracy

To make matters worse, SOPA and PIPA won’t even work. The censorship regulations written into these bills won’t shut down pirate sites. These sites will just change their addresses and continue their criminal activities, while law-abiding companies will suffer high penalties for breaches they can’t possibly control.
There are effective ways to combat foreign “rogue” websites dedicated to copyright infringement and trademark counterfeiting, while preserving the innovation and dynamism that have made the Internet such an important driver of American economic growth and job creation. Congress should consider alternatives like the OPEN Act, which takes targeted and focused steps to cut off the money supply from foreign pirate sites without making US companies censor the Web.

On Tucker Max

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Maybe you’ve read some of the, ahem, literature written by Tucker Max. He’s a relatively unattractive Duke Law graduate who went on to have lots of sex with women, get obscenely drunk, and then publish a book or two. One of those books, called I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, was made into a movie that manages to make it onto every single “Worst Movies of All Time” list that I’ve ever read (which is more than five but less than fifteen, for perspective).

The book was funny. It was crude. But the last story offended me beyond words. I can’t explain why, but I felt a sort of repulsion I’ve never felt before.

[I read his book during college. I lent Mr. Johnson the book to take on vacation with him. He ended up giving to some man he met on the beach, so he bought me a new copy. Whenever I think about Tucker Max, I think of Mr. Johnson on a beach somewhere giving some dude a book and then I wonder where the book is now. It makes me laugh every time.]

The problem with his incessant douchebaggery? He’s intelligent. That gives him a leg up on the general population, so to speak.

So, what do I do when I see that he’s accepting applications for a research assistant?
First, flashback to Charlie Sheen’s intern contest. I entered as a joke and made it to round 3.
Second, apply.
Here’s the full posting. I do not anticipate making it to the next round, but my slight success (top 250 out of 80,000 ain’t bad, baby) with the Sheen thing compelled me. Why not?

Research assistant gig with Tucker Max

JANUARY 10, 2012
I just signed on to do a major book project, something unlike anything else I have ever written. I need to hire a research assistant to help me with it. Anyone can apply for the job–I don’t care about your resume or educational background, I only care about finding the most effective person for the job. If you are interested, read this entire post, then follow the instructions at the bottom to start the process.

Requirements for the gig:
-You can live anywhere in the world
-English must be your native language
-You must have constant and reliable computer and internet access
-Must be very intelligent, hard working, organized, and industrious
-You must be able to start by Feb 1st, and must be able to commit to the project until at least August 1st. The majority of the high time-commitment work will be between March 1st and June 1st.
-You must have a flexible enough schedule that you can adjust to varying time requirements. I estimate that the job will average 5-10 hours of work per week for 6 months, with some weeks having no work, while a few others may require 40+ hours of work.
-This is not intended to be a full time job, and the work can be done around a conventional, 9-5 schedule.

The primary tasks the gig will entail:-Transcribing audio and video taped interviews into text. This will be the primary responsibility and take the majority of the time. I estimate about 40-50 hours of total tape will need to be transcribed.
-Researching, collecting and organizing information (mainly biographical information about famous people). All research can be done from a computer using public, internet accessible sources.
-Other “assistant” type tasks, for example: scheduling travel, finding and vetting various freelancers (camera operators, designers, etc), or setting interview appointments.
What the job will NOT entail:-Partying with me, hanging out with me, or having sex with me.
-Meeting me in person is not even required to do the job, and may never happen.
Reasons to do the gig:
-It IS a paid job. It does not pay a huge amount, and the pay will depend on several factors, mainly whether or not one person can handle this project, or if I have to divide the work between multiple people. If selected, you can expect at least a few hundred, and at most a few thousand dollars in payment.
-It is definitely something you will be able to put on your resume or CV and use to get other gigs/jobs.
-It will be pretty cool and interesting work. The audio tapes you will transcribe will be interviews with interesting and famous people, and the research will not be boring.
-This is a one-off gig, NOT a full-time, long-term job. But, it could lead to a full-time assistant job with me, if that arrangement makes sense for both of us. My current assistant is moving up and co-founding a start-up, and I will need to replace him at some point this year.
-You will learn a lot of skills you can leverage into other areas, and make connections you can use to advance your life and career. My four previous assistants all started working for me on on one-off projects like this, went into full time employment, then moved on to do awesome shit after working with me; Ryan Holiday became the marketing director for American Apparel and is now writing a book,Charlie Hoehn has worked for Tim Ferriss, Ramit Sethi, Seth Godin and wrote his own book, Ian Claudius is working on a new publishing start-up, and Jeff Waldman did this cool project with Kickstarter.

Reasons NOT to do the gig:
-If you think this is how you can get to drink and party with Tucker Max
-If you think you can skate through this without actually doing much and then brag to your friends you worked with Tucker Max
-If you think this will make you Tucker Max’s best friend for life because you are just so similar to him and wouldn’t that be fun lol?!?!

HOW TO APPLY FOR THE RESEARCH ASSISTANT GIG:
Because I am screening remotely and not meeting people in person for this job, this will be a three stage application process. The first step is very simple and easy, and will test whether or not you can follow instructions, which will be crucial in these tasks. If you want to apply for the job, do these things:
1. Before 5pm EST on January 24th, January 20th send an email to this email address: tuckermaxassistant@gmail.com [I had to change the end date due to a massive flood of initial applications]
2. The subject line must read “Tucker Max Research Assistant Gig”
3. In the email, put four things: 1. your full name, 2. how old you are, 3. where you live, and 4. what the third largest magazine in the US is, by circulation
4. Attach a picture of Jason Williams to the email (not the basketball player). It must be either a gif or a jpg, and cannot be larger than 1 megabyte (1MB).
5. Do ONLY those tasks. Nothing else should be in the email.
If you follow all the tasks correctly, you will receive a response to your email, no later than January 24th, with a longer application and more instructions. If you get no response, it means you got something wrong.

On Bruising, Carlos, and Mullen. Weird mix.

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My arms looks really weird in this picture (it normally doesn’t look like a sad piece of sausage), but that’s the back of it – all purple and blue and green. Let’s just say I’m really grateful that I have a helmet for snowboarding; I’ve needed it quite a bit this year. After knocking the wind out of myself during a particularly nasty fall on Saturday, I sat on the mountain and cried a little bit. It was the first time I’ve cried while snowboarding; I felt like such a baby. I got back up, though, and kept going. My ribs are ever-present reminders that the human body is not invincible. Alas, by the end of the year, I am determined to be more than proficient in snowboarding. I want to be able to do black runs and go off little jumps. We’re getting there. (Slowly) 
Best quote of Kevin’s all weekend was: “As long as I’m with you and you’re not crying, I’m having fun.” Emphasis on the “you’re not crying.” It made me laugh. 
Where is my son? Oh, that’s right, he’s still hanging out at Kevin’s. Apparently, the two of them are quite a nice pair. Carlos loves all of the nooks to crawl into and all of the stuff to climb on. He also seems to adore Kevin. I’m happy that they get along so well. 
 Dear Mullen High School Board of Trustees,

The lack of sound leadership on the part of Mr. Ryan Clement, President and CEO, and Jim Gmelich, Principal as it relates to the firing of Coach Dave Logan and his staff have hurt our Mullen students, alumni, parents, faculty, and friends. The character and dedication of Coach Logan and his staff are without question. The number of young people they have positively influenced is tremendous. The actions of Mr. Clement and Mr. Gmelich do not uphold our LaSallian values in how our Mullen family is expected to be treated. 

We petition the Board of Trustees of Mullen High School to act immediately to remove Ryan Clement and Jim Gmelich from their respective positions, and to move immediately to reinstate Coach Logan and his entire staff.

As I type this, 750 people have signed the Mullen petition (text above). I know some of them. I’ve been reading the comments – of course they’re biased, but they are very telling about how Mullen has handled the last few years. As a member of the class of 2006, I am proud of the education I received, but I can honestly say that I’ve not heard any positive news coming out of Mullen since I left. While I know that a lot of people think that there must have been some grievous offense committed by Dave Logan prior to his firing, I am not necessarily ready to believe that. I’m also not supportive of this current administration. I am saddened that the attempts to revive Mullen have resulted in the utter destruction of its reputation.

On more of the Tebow madness….

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I thought that this was one of the most interesting articles I’ve read in the midst of all of this Tebow madness.

I’m neither for nor against him; I’m curious to see how things will all end up.

By the way, if you’re in the mood for something awesome, look up Jimmy Fallon’s “Tebowie” video. It’s Fallon as a Tebow-David Bowie combo and it’s amazing.

THURSDAY, JAN 12, 2012 9:30 AM MST

What if Tim Tebow were Muslim?

The NFL star has been praised for his public Christianity. It’s been different for athletes who follow Islam

BY MARCUS CEDERSTROM

Tim Tebow

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow (15) prays in the end zone before the start of an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011, in Denver.  (Credit: AP/Julie Jacobson)
TOPICS:, , , 
Tim Tebow’s profession of faith has thrust the mixture of sport and religion into the national spotlight in a way that few can remember.
Students have been suspended for “Tebowing” — dropping to one knee to pray, even if you’re the only one doing it — in a school hallway in New York. Rick Perry claimed that he would be the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses. “Saturday Night Live” lampooned Tebow’s fan-boy love for Jesus. In response, Pat Robertson has claimed that the skit demonstrates “anti-Christian bigotry.” His supporters even called for a boycott of HBO after a Bill Maher tweet made fun of Tebow and his relationship to Jesus after his Denver Broncos lost to the Buffalo Bills.
After an overtime upset of the Pittsburgh Steelers last weekend, Tebow’s Broncos play the top-seeded New England Patriots on Saturday. For at least one more media cycle, there will appear to be no way to separate Tim Tebow – the person, the quarterback, the Christian – from his religion.
But back in September, the cultural critic Toure asked a fascinating question in ESPN the Magazine. In a piece called “What if Michael Vick were white?,” Toure argued with those who said the quarterback would not have received a two-year sentence for dogfighting if he was white. Would he have been involved with dogfighting? Would an entourage have led him to the same mistakes? Would he have had a stronger paternal relationship?
So I ask, what if Tim Tebow were Muslim? How would our society react if during every interview, Tebow said “Insha’Allah” or “Allāhu Akbar” rather than thank his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? Or instead of falling to one knee and praying,  Tebow pulled out a prayer rug and faced Mecca? A recent study by the Pew Research Center suggests it would not be well received. While American Muslims in general tend be satisfied with their lives and communities in the United States, 55 percent report that being Muslim in the U.S. has become more difficult since Sept. 11. Twenty-eight percent report that people have viewed them with suspicion and 22 percent report having been called offensive names. The TLC show “All-American Muslim” has lost advertisers who were pressured by groups claiming that the show was Islamic propaganda. Yet Pat Robertson claims that the United States is a breeding ground for anti-Christian bigotry.
I don’t have answers to these questions. We can’t know the answers until we are faced with a prominent Muslim athlete who is willing to be so visible with his faith. In a country that consistently prides itself on freedoms – freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, freedom of religion – we can hope that Muslim athletes who are visible with their faith would find themselves just as revered as Tebow is for his.
But professional Muslim athletes are hard to find. Ahmad Rashād. Rashaan Salaam. Kareem Abdul-Jabaar. Hakeem Olajuwon. Rasheed Wallace. Most of these athletes are retired and went about their religious lives quietly. But it is to that list of retired professionals that we must look to find someone as outspoken about their faith as Tim Tebow – Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf and Muhammad Ali, for example.
In 1990, Chris Jackson was drafted by the Denver Nuggets out of Louisiana State University. In 1991,  Jackson converted to Islam. In 1993, he changed his name to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. In 1996,  Abdul-Rauf refused to stand for the national anthem at an NBA game. A religious storm followed.
Everyone had an opinion, from fans to sports writers to radio hosts. Sports Illustrated reported that some people suggested Abdul-Rauf be deported. Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was born in Mississippi, however, and deportation from Colorado to Mississippi is rare. Two Denver-area radio hosts even walked into a mosque with a stereo playing the Star Spangled Banner. One was wearing a turban. And a Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf T-shirt. While broadcasting live, on air.
Abdul-Rauf claimed in a 2010 interview with HoopsHype.com that “[a]fter the national anthem fiasco, nobody really wanted to touch me.” He played only three more seasons in the NBA before going overseas to play professionally. In that same interview, he discusses how his home in Mississippi was burned down just a few months prior to Sept. 11. He eventually left the state.
So Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf stood up (or in this case, sat down) for his religious beliefs. He made his religion a visible aspect of his life and a visible aspect of his professional basketball career. Just like Tim Tebow. The difference of course being that Tim Tebow was satirized on “Saturday Night Live.” Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf had his home burned down and felt blacklisted from the NBA.
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf pales in comparison to the outspoken nature of Cassius Clay. In 1964, Cassius Clay announced his membership in the Nation of Islam, and  changed his name to Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali spoke out against the draft and became a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War based on his religious beliefs. In 1967, Ali was convicted of draft evasion.
But even before his conviction, Ali was causing controversy. Sports Illustrateddubbed Ali the most hated athlete in the world in April 1966. In the same article, Ali’s faith was referred to as being a part of his “fanatically religious side.” Instead of being something to admire, his faith was inconceivable fanaticism. No Christian leader supported Ali’s display of Islamic faith in the same way that Muslim leaders have supported Tebow’s display of Christian faith. Just like Tebow, though, Ali – the person, the boxer, the Muslim – could not be separated from his religion. This was never clearer than in his conscientious objection to the war in Vietnam.
By now, even casual boxing fans are familiar with Ali’s quote “I ain’t got no quarrel with them Viet Cong … No Viet Cong ever called me nigger.” That one quote made Ali a social activist. And his social activism was based on his faith. Ali claimed that Islam prohibited war unless called for by Allah. That one belief made Ali’s religion a wider social issue. What followed was public outcry. Ali was stripped of his championship belt, had his boxing license suspended, and was convicted of draft evasion. The Supreme Court ultimately overturned it. But for four years, Ali, arguably the greatest boxer of all time, did not fight.
So Muhammad Ali stood up (or in this case, sat out) for his religious beliefs. He made his religion a visible aspect of his life and a visible aspect of his professional boxing career. Just like Tim Tebow 40 years later. Just like Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf 30 years later. Ali was an outspoken proponent of his religion, Islam, but was vilified for his outspoken religious beliefs. His Islamic beliefs.
Again I ask, what if Tim Tebow were Muslim? He’s not. So maybe it doesn’t matter. There is no way to separate the man and the religion. Some people praise him for it, others recoil. When this happens, avid defenders of Tebow invoke freedom of religion. But as Tebowmania makes its way into politics, sports, religion and the everyday life of the mainstream United States, it is important to think about how we approach religion in this country. How we approach religious freedom in this country. Do we accept freedom of religion, any religion? Or do we accept freedom of Christianity?
source: Salon