Dynamic Yet Consistent

Today much of the world witnessed one of the greatest cricket matches of all time with England winning the ICC World Cup for the first time. The game featured two well balanced teams and multiple times the fate of the game came down to a single delivery. In the end, everything hinged on the last ball thrown and culminated with the cricket equivalent of Game 7 of the World Series with the winning run being thrown out at the plate with bases loaded, a full count and two outs. It was simply amazing. My greatest regret is that so many of my American friends could not take in such an incredible sporting event.

So… I am publishing a write up I did many years ago that explains the game of cricket in simple terms. First, let me admit that I am certainly not an expert on cricket, but after seven years in Africa following the Proteas of South Africa, I am now a huge fan. It took me a couple days of watching a tournament with a friend and asking a bunch of annoying questions to be able to “get it” and much longer to appreciate the nuance, but it was well worth it. There is nothing else like it because so often the tension constantly builds and the entire affair swings and pivots on essential plays in the closing period.

So for those who are interesting, here is my crash course guide to understanding cricket in 10 easy steps:

1. When watching, remember it is more about what the batter is doing than what the bowler (thrower) is doing. I used to think the main point was to knock down the wicket (sticks) behind the batter, but instead the main point is to pick up runs.
2. There are two sets of wickets separated by 20 meters and at any given time, two batters that stand opposite each other. The one having the ball delivered to him is considered “on strike.” Once the ball is hit, the batters can pick up runs by both simultaneously running back and forth between the wickets (switching sides)
3. The cricket field is usually a giant oval. If the ball is hit to the boundary is is automatic 4 runs. If it goes over the boundary in the air it is 6 runs.
4. Game play in cricket is similar to what baseball would be like if one team batted all 9 of their innings in a row and then the opposing team batted theirs. So what happens is one team sets a score and then the other team has to chase it.
5. The game is divided into innings and overs. An innings (ends with an “s” in the singular as well) is one team’s session at bat. An over is a set of six bowls (throws) thrown by one bowler. After each over, the bowler switches out and there is a limit to how many overs each bowler can throw so you see a lot of diversity in throwing style. The number of overs depends on the format of cricket being played. More on that later.
6. A batter remains in the game until they are out. In cricket an out is called a wicket and can occur in a number of ways:
   • A batter’s hit is caught in the air by a fielder.
   • When running across to the other wicket, the fielders are able to knock down the wickets before the runner gets there (similar to being thrown out in baseball).
   • The bowler is able to throw around the batter and hit the wicket.
   • The batter is hit by the ball (without making contact with the bat) and it is determined that ball would have hit the wickets (called “leg before wicket.”).
   • There are a couple others, but they are rare.
7. There are eleven men on a team. When one man gets out, the next man comes in and you bat in order until you are out of players (10 wickets) or out of overs. So you put your best batters first, and it is conceivable that one batter could play the entire innings.
8. There are three main forms of cricket, largely distinguished by the number of overs per innings. The classic form is called Test cricket and it lasts several days because each team bats until they are all out and they also play two full innings apiece with an aggregate score (I still struggle to follow this form of the game). The most exciting form to watch is called T20 because it is limited to just 20 overs per side (120 bowls) and lasts about 3 hours. This is not only more fast paced, but it encourages more aggressive play with lots of boundaries hit. There is also a form called ODI (one day international) that is limited to 50 overs.
9. The game is all about momentum : which batter is hot, which bowler is getting beat up on, how quick is the defense picking up wickets. Things can change very quickly. If you want to get a feel for it the game at its best, just tune in for the last quarter of a T20 match. At that point the first team would have already set the score and the best part is the tension of whether or not the chasing team is going to be able to catch them. I have seen some pretty incredible matches where it all came down to a team’s worst batter needing to pick up a boundary on the last bowl to get the win.
10. Cricket is like baseball in the fact that they love numbers. It is nuts sometimes how many different figures they will put on the screen. The important ones are the score, the number of wickets and where you are in the match. So if you see 145 | 15.2 (5) that means there have been 145 runs scored in 15 full overs plus two balls and five wickets have been picked up. There is also always a lot of talk of run rate (runs per over) as a mid-game indicator of how the team is doing.

There are plenty of other rules and procedures, but that is enough to get you started. If you do try and take in a cricket match, be sure to start with a T20. They are the most exciting and only take 2.5-3 hours.

People often consider cricket confusing, but that is just because it is foreign to most Americans.  Hopefully with just a bit of knowledge, others can enjoy this game that captivates so much of the world.

The partisan divide in this country has created an atmosphere where party affiliation dictates a person’s response to a situation more than their personal values or independent thought.  Our President and the political establishment, has stoked those flames so that nearly everything is seen as an “Us versus Them” debate.  The result has been automatic disdain for Trump and his actions from the Dems and unquestioning support from the GOP regardless of the issue at hand.  At a time where politics require an even more nuanced approach and understanding than ever, we have instead resorted to relying on intellectually weak political punchlines while clinging to stereotypical responses that lack grace and compassion.

Eventually things have to change or else we won’t recognize the nation we will have become.  With this president, the Left cannot live in a constant state of outrage and the Right cannot live in a constant state of denial.

Soon after Trump was elected my father wisely recognized the emotional toll and eventual callousness constant outrage will cause and made a decision:  He resolved early on to set his “lines in the sand” so that his righteous indignation didn’t get muffled by the daily disappointments and that political disagreements weren’t confused with constitutional atrocities.  In essence he was saving his protests for when they most earnestly needed to be heard.

From the opposite perspective, I have several Republican friends who generally appreciate Trump’s policies and appointments because they are conservatives, but cringe at some of what the president does and says.  For them, they are also struggling with how long they can support Trump because doing so furthers their own political views while also acknowledging that at some point enough has to be enough.

Brothers and sisters, we have reached a crossroads of our democracy.

In all of the cases of political disagreement over the last couple years, reasonable and rational people understand that despite our propensity to tribalism, there are some lines, which if crossed, demand a different kind of response.  For Dems that means moving beyond complaining and eye rolling into more active protest; for the GOP that means withdrawing support from the president even when he seems to be advancing your ideals.

We have reached the point in Donald Trump’s presidency where the fundamental principles of our democracy are being violated and we all much alter the way we respond.  In the old adage about the frog in hot water, we are at the stage where we must realize something is wrong or else we will reach the point of no return.

If the president declares a national emergency (as the media is currently speculating he will do) in order to advance a partisan objective outside the constitutional process, we will be witnessing the most significant threat to our democracy in our lifetimes.  We cannot treat this as “business as usual.”

Trump has done unprecedented things since even before he was sworn in as president – what makes this different?  The short answer is that this overstep by the executive branch will effectively render the constitutionally mandated legislative branch meaningless in stark contrast to the framers intention.

There are a few things we must acknowledge in order to be able to have a meaningful discussion about the potentially devastating situation we are about to wade into:

• Constitutionally, Congress is mandated with passing laws as well as overseeing taxation and expenditures.
• In particular, it is the House of Representatives that has the “power of the purse” and has been charged with setting the path forward when it comes to expenditures and taxation.
• While the President submits his budget requests, constitutionally, it is Congress that has been tasked with determining laws and finances. Any other mechanism is outside the bounds of our founding documents.
• The GOP had control of both houses of congress for 2 years but was unable (or unwilling) to pass legislation funding the border wall. In other words, if one wanted to claim “electoral mandate” there was a period that was valid – but the time has passed.
• The House of Representatives best reflects the immediate will and desires of the people due to its proportional representation as well as their two year terms.
• Emergency declarations were design for rapid response to unexpected situations that reflect an immediate risk to America and her citizens. The Executive branch is granted huge powers in order to quickly action response.  They are an example of “greater good” where we recognize the need to break from protocol in order to respond to dynamic situations.  They are not a loophole for obtaining political achievements.

Whatever your own views may be, Congress is ultimately responsible for making decisions about things like this border wall.  To ignore their will is to ignore the foundations of democracy our government has been built on.

If Trump declares a national emergency – especially around a situation that has not fundamentally changed during his presidency – he will be usurping power in a way that completely disregards the checks and balances so importantly introduced into our Constitution.

With Trump in the Oval Office and the GOP with a solid hold on the Senate, I can understand why my conservative friends may look kindly on the president going down this path to advance his political agenda.  But, if we as a nation allow this to happen, what happens next?  Where do we draw the line?  Won’t it be possible for the following to occur?

• National Health Emergency requiring a single payer system and free universal health care.
• National Gun Death Emergency requiring registration of all weapons and banning all semi-automatic firearms.
• National Wrongfully Accused Emergency immediately banning the death penalty.
• National Financial Emergency banishing the income tax.
• National Educational Preparedness Emergency immediately allocating defense funds to allow for free college education.
• National Fetal Death Emergency unilaterally banning any and all abortions.

Reading through the list above, there are some that may sound like really good ideas and other that absolutely make your skin crawl.  And that is the issue.  Whether we like it or not, our constitution has built a government that is incredibly slow moving and making major changes in a rapid fashion is nearly impossible.  We make an exception for real emergencies, but the founding fathers were intentional to not set up a monarchy where one person can unilaterally and rapidly change the way the country operates.

So let’s bring it to a close.  Why would an emergency declaration by Donald Trump be such a big deal?  Regardless of whether you agree with the outcome or not, it would effectively negate the entire constitutional process and open up the possibility for any president in the future to unilaterally advance political agendas.

Whether you are a constitutionalist who trusts the founders’ vision, or a libertarian who cringes at legislation being forced on people, or a conservative who is worried about what might happen when a Democrat utilizes this same process, or a liberal who finds the finds the wall itself appalling, this is the time we must speak out.

This approach to governing cannot be allowed to move forward.  We cannot allow for the check and balances of our democracy to be ignored.  Regardless of your political affiliation, this is the line that requires us to adjust how we respond to the president.

If you have made it this far, I appreciate you hanging in there – to me, this is the most important conversation we have had to have politically in the last 2+ years.  You will notice in my writing above that I have not made any mention about the cost or efficacy of the wall.  I have not commented on the impact of diverting either military funds or money dedicated to responding to wildfires or hurricanes.  I have not commented on the impact of undocumented immigrants entering our country.  That is because these are discussions that congress has been constitutionally mandated to undertake – we must trust the process and the representatives the American populous has selected to address these issues

I am still discerning how to respond if (when?) the president declares a national emergency to fund his wall.  I sincerely hope – for the good of our democracy and the future of our country – that you too are assessing how you will respond regardless of your political affiliation.

Some conservatives have never opposed this president. Perhaps it is time.

Some liberals have never done more than complain about this president.  Perhaps it is time.

Many Americans have never felt democracy was under attack.  Perhaps it is time.

Some elected officials have never taken a stand against their party.  Perhaps it is time.

A lot of people avoid talking politics.  Perhaps it is time.

If the ends justify the means, should it be questioned?  Perhaps it is time.

We often avoid difficult and unpopular stands.  Perhaps it is time.

I have never marched on Washington.  Perhaps it is time.

When I started blogging again several years ago, I rarely went a month without putting a post up.  Unfortunately, it looks like I got out of the habit and have gone almost 6 months with a post.  Whoops! 

Looking back at the last six months, it has been anything but uneventful.  In fact, there has been so much going on that it probably contributed to the blog-silence.  So, here is a quick run down on the big things that have gone down:

• There has been a lot of traveling with the Cabrini crew – both coming and going
• 3 staff members went to the states for the AIDS 2012 conference
• Five "sisters in training" came and stayed with us for spiritual development
• We had a fundraising trip in the states that all the Kickerts plus Sister Diane went on (more on that later).
• The sisters have been all over the place doing "sister" work and taking some down time
• We have had two short-term volunteer come and go
• Joe has gone to the states for some time with Family
• We were able to spend 6 weeks in the US and it was very busy time
• I spent time in New York, Philadephia, St. Louis, Chicago, Nashville
• It was great catching up with friends and family
• I became an uncle on my side when Tim and Chel had their first baby
• My grandmother passed away
• We got to enjoy some down time together as a family and see the sites in NYC and London
• We wrapped up our funding year and took some time to look at all the accomplishments happening in Swaziland
• Simo, one of the twins we watched was killed when his house collapsed on him.
• We found out we were pregnant!

If you really want scoop on what has gone on with the Kickerts in the last six months, be sure to go to Beth’s blog… she even does pictures!  http://beth.kickert.info

It has been quite a while since my last blog post and a whole lot has happened since then.  I have a couple update posts coming soon, but wanted to quickly let you know that we have recently switched our webhost so if you see anything screwing on the websites or blogs, please let me know (ben.kickert@gmail.com). 

For what its worth, after nearly 8 years with a cheap ($2/mo) fly-by-night company called www.stayhosted.com we finally had to upgrade to a "real" hosting provider.  After much research, we went with www.hostgator.com.  It costs us almost double, but we went from a 500MB limit (which we had exceeded) to an unlimited provider.  So far I have been very impressed.  They have been quick to respond to my support tickets and even took care of doing the transfers between servers for me. 

I admit, part of the reason for this post is to ferret out any complications with the transfer and subsequent DNS transfers, but I also wanted to give a shout out to HostGator because they seem to be doing a great job.

Hopefully you will hear from me again soon.

I just put some Balls on my Salticrax and ate it…. it was good!

In all honesty, both products are excellent; they just could have done a bit better with their naming.

In the United States, it seems companies everywhere are offering chances to win a new iPad as incentive for using their services.  Apparently Apple technology doesn’t have the same appeal here in Swaziland, so they have tried other schemes:

 
[Advertisement found in local magazine, although billboards of this offer are also prominent in the country.]

I would love to see the logistics involved in making this promotion work.  I can just imagine the fine print:

Offer not available to employees of Standard Bank, their families or the cattle farmers involved in the raising or delivery of above mentioned cattle.

To put it in perspective, if a Swazi did win this promotion, they would already be 1/7th the way towards paying lobola (dowry) for a new bride.

…because the South Africans are mindful to the dangers of roadside sword-play.

When we first came to Swaziland, I found it odd that Swazis tended to get rid of all the grass in their yards, preferring instead to have "swept dirt."  That didn’t make sense to me since people in the US spend thousands on keeping their yards neat and green.

But, the first time I cut the grass the way most Swazis do (with a machete-like tool called a "slasher") I quickly understood the appeal of dirt.

Here is a video of me giving it my best at Swazi lawn care.

It is a short video because as soon as Beth started filming, I had to take a break!

Many of our friends and family members have expressed concern about the quality of health care here in Swaziland, so I wanted to do a quick post to set their minds at ease.  Most people are aware that here on the mission we actually have two clinics: one specializing in HIV / TB and another that deals with general health issues / maternity / etc.  We have 8 nurses that live within a few hundred feet of us and a doctor who works with our clinic.  This is by far the closest we have ever been to basic medical care and assistance.

But, if that was not enough, we recently discovered a place within 20 minutes of that offers private surgery if we should ever need it:

With a facility this close and convenient, we might just have to undergo some elective surgery.  I am sure it is cheap and we could always use a good appendectomy or lobotomy!

NOTE: This is obviously written tongue in cheek… but in all honesty, we do have access to surgical services within an hour of us, and "first world medicine" is available just across the South African border.

I recently made a post about the current situation in Swaziland.  This was largely prompted by some of press the country had received related to financial issues and some protests.  Some of these stories came straight from the Swazi press.  So, before you start giving too much credence to what you read, let me give you a snap shot at what the press in Swaziland is really like.

Here is a picture of the front page of one of the two news papers in Swaziland from a few weeks ago:

There are so many things I could comment on, I just don’t know where to start.

Let’s begin with the main picture.  I don’t know if you can make it out of not, but that is a photo of hundreds of "maidens" all lined up to dance topless before the king at the annual reed dance.  And before you say that at least it is a classy photo, let me assure you that the inside stories leave absolutely nothing to the imagination.

Even better than the main picture is the main headline at the bottom of the page.  Just FYI, the "Sushi King" is a shady character from South Africa who is known for his expensive taste and his tendency to pour Champaign over beautiful models and eat sushi off their bare bodies.  The subheading to the story reminds readers that polygamy is still alive and well in Southern Africa.

But, the real kicker of course is the main story introduction (in the red bard).  If you missed it the first time, go back and read it all together.  Now please tell me how in the world that made it past a copy editor.

And then just for good measures, we have front page stories about a pastor showing a girl his "manhood" and the account of a gospel star (who is only 9-years old by the way) who is attacked by demons on stage.

Only in Swaziland my friends… and this is this a taste… there are crazy media accounts like this all the time.  I will try to post some more in the future.