Dick Vitalle Column on Bullying

Commentary

Unforgettable hurt from bullying

Dick Vitale shares a personal account of his experience with cruel taunts

Updated: November 20, 2013, 4:19 PM ET

By Dick Vitale | ESPN.com

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Courtesy Dick VitaleBefore corrective surgery, Dick Vitale was teased as a child for having a drifting left eye.

The subject of bullying in America has become a major conversation. As it is a problem that has really left a mark on our society, I want to share a story about my background.
As a kid, I wasn't familiar with the word "bullying." I always believed it was just teasing at the time, but I was teased big time. When I was 4 or 5 years old, I lost vision in my left eye in an accident with a pencil. I had no control of my left eye, so it would drift. I had no ability to look people directly in the eye.
It drove me wild.
My peers didn't make it any easier. I was teased over and over, but I was afraid to complain about it to a teacher or coach because I felt I would be labeled as soft or weak. I didn't want anyone to feel sorry for me. I just wanted the name-calling to stop.
I remember sitting in my room crying while I stared in the mirror trying to cover up the fact that I couldn't look people in the eye.
Having fun at my expense was the norm. My peers never realized the pain they caused when they made nasty comments to me, but I was deeply hurt.
I pitched in Little League, and opposing players and even parents would shout, "Can you even see the plate?!" They thought they were being so cool. Their words cut me like a knife.
But I went out there, I sucked it up, and I played.
This would be a much better world if people treated each other with honor and decency. There is no reason to be cruel to someone who is down or has a problem.
Some people have even suggested that my eye problems were the reason for my upbeat personality, energy and enthusiasm. They said I was trying to make up for feeling inferior by being overly energetic.
When I was a teenager, I was so shy about approaching girls to ask them out on a date because I was embarrassed about my eye.
As an adult in the world of television, my problem led to a difficult situation.
One time in the 1980s, I came out of the studio and asked one of the assistants how everything was going. I was told everything was great except for this one fan who kept calling, saying "ESPN should get rid of that one-eyed wacko. His eye is going all over the place."
I was devastated.
After that conversation, I called up my boss, Steve Anderson, then vice president in charge of production. I told him that maybe I should get out of the TV business. I told him the story and expressed to him that I did not want to embarrass the network. Anderson put me at ease by explaining that I was hired for my basketball knowledge and enthusiasm.
One day, my daughters went to Dr. Conrad Giles for an eye checkup. A big basketball fan, he knew about my eye situation and thought he could help. He could not restore the vision that was lost, but he could prevent my eye from drifting.
He told me he would have to operate on the good eye to fix the other. He assured me that he had never lost vision in the eye of a patient during surgery, though there was no guarantee.
I called Anderson back and told him what was going on. He told me not to worry about getting surgery and to continue doing my job. It was tough because the teasing had really bothered me. I had felt miserable for years.
I finally decided to have the surgery. I am so glad that I did because it alleviated the problem with my eye drifting and I was eventually fitted to wear contacts. I felt like a new person.
I hope my story inspires people to show compassion when they see someone with a problem. Help them and do the right thing. Don't make them feel worse. So many people out there cannot handle bullying. I have read about situations where victims can't take it anymore and commit suicide. It is truly a tragic situation.
I'm 74 years old, and I have been so lucky and blessed. There have been some bumps in the road, but I have lived a dream. And today, if you're being bullied, you do not have to just suck it up.
If you have a problem, tell the authorities. Speak with your parents, teachers or church leaders and talk about the pain. There are a lot of people out there who provide guidance and counseling.
Share your story. Do not be afraid.

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Dick Vitale

College Basketball analyst

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Dick Vitale, college basketball's top analyst and ambassador, joined ESPN during the 1979-80 season. His thorough knowledge of the game is brought forth in an enthusiastic, passionate style. Vitale also contributes columns to ESPN.com.

Why obamacarre is a great success ... Thx Pidge F!

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	Basic HTML view Why Obamacare is a great success. Inbox x Pidge Fuller 12:01 PM (17 minutes ago) to charlesbm   If you have already seen this please read it again.  Our collective well being is at stake. By Wayne Allyn Root Published October 21, 2013 There are two major political parties in America. I’m a member of the naïve, stupid, and cowardly one. I’m a Republican. How stupid is the GOP? They still don’t get it. I told them 5 years ago, 2 books ago, a national bestseller ago ("The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide"), and in hundreds of articles and commentaries, that ObamaCare was never meant to help America, or heal the sick, or lower healthcare costs, or lower the debt, or expand the economy. The GOP needs to stop calling ObamaCare a “trainwreck.” That means it’s a mistake, or accident. That means it’s a gigantic flop, or failure. It’s NOT. Message to the GOP: This isn’t a game. This isn’t tiddly-winks. This is a serious, purposeful attempt to highjack America and destroy capitalism. This is a brilliant, cynical, and purposeful attempt to damage the U.S. economy, kill jobs, and bring down capitalism. It’s not a failure, it’s Obama’s grand success. It’s not a “trainwreck,” ObamaCare is a suicide attack. He wants to hurt us, to bring us to our knees, to capitulate- so we agree under duress to accept big government. Obama’s hero and mentor was Saul Alinsky -- a radical Marxist intent on destroying capitalism. Alinksky’s stated advice was to call the other guy “a terrorist” to hide your own intentions. To scream that the other guy is “ruining America,” while you are the one actually plotting the destruction of America. To claim again and again…in every sentence of every speech…that you are “saving the middle class,” while you are busy wiping out the middle class. The GOP is so stupid they can’t see it. There are no mistakes here. This is a planned purposeful attack. The tell-tale sign isn’t the disastrous start to ObamaCare. Or the devastating effect the new taxes are having on the economy. Or the death of full-time jobs. Or the overwhelming debt. Or the dramatic increases in health insurance rates. Or the 70% of doctors now thinking of retiring- bringing on a healthcare crisis of unimaginable proportions. Forget all that. The real sign that this is a purposeful attack upon capitalism is how many Obama administration members and Democratic Congressmen are openly calling Tea Party Republicans and anyone who wants to stop ObamaCare “terrorists.” There’s the clue. Even the clueless GOP should be able to see that. They are calling the reasonable people…the patriots…the people who believe in the Constitution ... the people who believe exactly what the Founding Fathers believed…the people who want to take power away from corrupt politicians who have put America $17 trillion in debt…terrorists? That’s because they are Saul Alinsky-ing the GOP. The people trying to purposely hurt America, capitalism and the middle class…are calling the patriots by a terrible name to fool, confuse and distract the public. ObamaCare is a raving, rollicking, fantastic success. Stop calling it a failure. Here is what it was created to do. It is succeeding on all counts: 1. ObamaCare was intended to bring about the Marxist dream -- redistribution of wealth. Rich people, small business owners, and the middle class are  being robbed, so that the money can be redistributed to poor people (who vote for Democrats).  Think about it. If you’re rich or middle class, you now have to pay for your own health care costs (at much higher rates) AND 40 million other people’s costs too (through massive tax increases). So you’re stuck paying for both bills. You are left broke. Brilliant. 2. ObamaCare was intended to wipe out the middle class and them dependent on government. Think about it. Even Obama’s IRS predicts that health insurance for a typical American family by 2016 will be $20,000 per year. But how would middle class Americans pay that bill and have anything left for food or housing or living? People that make $40K, or $50K, or $60K can’t possibly hope to spend $20K on health insurance without becoming homeless. Bingo. That’s how you make middle class people dependent on government. That’s how you make everyone addicted to government checks. Brilliant. 3. As a bonus, ObamaCare is intended to kill every decent paying job in the economy, creating only crummy, crappy part-time jobs.  Why? Just to make sure the middle class is trapped, with no way out. Just to make sure no one has the $20,000 per year to pay for health insurance, thereby guaranteeing they become wards of the state. Brilliant. 4. ObamaCare is intended to bankrupt small business, and therefore starve donations to the GOP.  Think about it. Do you know a small business owner? I know hundreds of them. Their rates are being doubled, tripled and quadrupled by ObamaCare.  Guess who writes 75% of the checks to Republican candidates and conservative causes? Small Business.  Even if a small business owner manages to survive, he or she certainly can’t write a big check to the GOP anymore. Money is the  “mother’s milk” of politics. Without donations, a political party ceases to exist. Bingo.  That’s the point of ObamaCare. Obama is bankrupting his political opposition and drying up donations to the GOP. Brilliant. 5. ObamaCare is intended to make the IRS all-powerful.  It adds thousands of new IRS agents. It puts the IRS in charge of overseeing 15% of the U.S. economy. The IRS has the right because of ObamaCare to snoop into every aspect of your life, to go into your bank accounts, to fine you, to frighten you, to intimidate you.  And Obama and his socialist cabal have access to your deepest medical secrets. By law your doctor has to ask your sexual history. That information is now in the hands of Obama and the IRS to blackmail GOP candidates into either not running, or supporting bigger government, or leaking the info and ruining your campaign.  Or have you forgotten the IRS harassed, intimidated and persecuted critics of Obama and conservative groups?  Now Obama hands the IRS even more power. Big Brother rules our lives. Brilliant. 6. ObamaCare is intended to unionize 15 million healthcare workers.  That produces $15 billion in new union dues. That money goes to fund Democratic candidates and socialist causes -- thereby guaranteeing Obama’s friends never lose another election, and Obama’s policies keep ruining capitalism and bankrupting business owners long after he’s out of office.  Message to the GOP: This isn’t a game. This isn’t tiddly-winks. This is a serious, purposeful attempt to highjack America and destroy capitalism.  This isn’t a train wreck. It's purposeful suicide.  It's not failing, it's working exactly according to plan. Obama knows what he’s doing. Stop apologizing and start fighting.  Oh and one more thing…Conservatives aren’t “terrorists.” We are patriots and saviors. We represent the Constitution and the Founding Fathers. We are the heroes and good guys. Unless you get all this through your thick skulls, America is lost…forever Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward Rue La La - Brooks Brothers is here. Brooks Brothers at up to 70% off retail. Today on Rue La La. Why this ad?Ads – 3.08 GB (20%) of 15 GB used Manage ©2013 Google - Terms & Privacy Last account activity: 16 minutes ago Details People (2) Pidge Fuller Show details Ads Rue La La Brooks Brothers is here. Brooks Brothers at up to 70% off retail. Today on Rue La La. Set Yahoo as homepage News you need to know. Start here everyday & never miss a thing. www.yahoo.com 17.2% 2013 Annuity Return True Investor Returns with no Risk. Find out how with our Free Report. 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USA- Iran deal Nov 2013 - Newsmax

Iran Gets $4.2 Billion in Last Minute Deal on Nukes

Saturday, 23 Nov 2013 05:02 PM

 

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Iran and six world powers reached a breakthrough deal early on Sunday to curb Tehran's nuclear programme in exchange for limited sanctions relief, in what could be the first sign of an emerging rapprochement between the Islamic state and the West.

Aimed at ending a dangerous standoff, the agreement between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia was nailed down after more than four days of tortuous negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva.

Halting Iran's most sensitive nuclear work, it was designed as a package of confidence-building steps to ease decades of tensions and confrontation and banish the specter of a Middle East war over Tehran's nuclear aspirations.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has been coordinating talks with Iran on behalf of the major powers, said it created time and space for talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive solution to the dispute.

"This is only a first step," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told a news conference. "We need to start moving in the direction of restoring confidence, a direction in which we have managed to move against in the past."

In Washington, President Barack Obama said that if Iran did not meet its commitments during a six-month period, the United States would turn off sanctions relief and "ratchet up the pressure."

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government denounced the agreement as "a bad deal" that Israel did not regard itself as bound by.

Before Sunday's agreement, Israel, believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, said the deal being offered would give Iran more time to master nuclear technology and amass potential bomb fuel.

The West fears that Iran has been seeking to develop a nuclear weapons capability. The Islamic Republic denies that, saying its nuclear program is a peaceful energy project.

The United States said the agreement halted progress on Iran's nuclear program, including construction of the Arak research reactor, which is of special concern for the West as it can yield potential bomb material.

It would neutralize Iran's stockpile of uranium refined to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, which is a close step away from the level needed for weapons, and calls for intrusive U.N. nuclear inspections, a senior U.S. official said.

Iran has also committed to stop uranium enrichment above a fissile purity of 5 percent, a U.S. fact sheet said.

Refined uranium can be used to fuel nuclear power plants — Iran's stated goal — but also provide the fissile core of an atomic bomb if refined much further.

Diplomacy with Iran was stepped up after the landslide election of Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, as Iranian president in June, replacing bellicose nationalist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Rouhani aims to mend fences with big powers and get sanctions lifted. He obtained crucial public backing from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, keeping powerful hardline critics at bay.

On a Twitter account widely recognized as representing Rouhani, a message said after the agreement was announced, "Iranian people's vote for moderation & constructive engagement + tireless efforts by negotiating teams are to open new horizons."

The Geneva deal has no recognition of an Iranian right to enrich uranium and sanctions would still be enforced, the U.S. official said.

But Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran's enrichment program had been officially recognised.

Secretary of State John Kerry said the agreement would make it harder for Iran to make a dash to build a nuclear weapon and would make Israel and other U.S. allies safer.

Kerry also told a news conference that while Obama would not take off the table the possible use of force against Iran, he believed it was necessary first to exhaust diplomacy.

He said the limited sanctions relief could be reversible.

After Ashton read out a statement on the deal to the cameras at the United Nations in Geneva, ministers appeared elated. Ashton and Kerry hugged each other, and Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shook hands. Minutes later, as the Iranian delegation posed for photos, Zarif and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius approached each other and embraced.

A White House fact sheet detailed what Iran could obtain:

• Potential access to $1.5 billion in revenue from trade in gold and precious metals and the suspension of some sanctions on Iran's auto sector, and its petrochemical exports;
• Allow purchases of Iranian oil to remain at their currently significantly reduced levels. "$4.2 billion from these sales will be allowed to be transferred in instalments if, and as, Iran fulfils its commitments," the fact sheet said;
• License safety-related repairs and inspections inside Iran for certain Iranian airlines.

Most of the sanctions, Kerry said, would remain in place.

"The approximately $7 billion in relief is a fraction of the costs that Iran will continue to incur during this first phase under the sanctions that will remain in place," the White House said. "The vast majority of Iran's approximately $100 billion in foreign exchange holdings are inaccessible or restricted."

Kerry and the foreign ministers of the five other world powers joined the negotiations with Iran early on Saturday as the two sides appeared to be edging closer to a long-sought preliminary agreement.

The Western powers' goal was to cap Iran's nuclear energy program, which has a history of evading U.N. inspections and investigations, to remove any risk of Tehran covertly refining uranium to a level suitable for bombs.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a Twitter message that it was an "important and encouraging" first-stage agreement with Iran, whose nuclear program "won't move forward for 6 months and parts rolled back."

France's Fabius said, "After years of blockages, the agreement in Geneva on Iran's nuclear program is an important step to preserving security and peace."

Tehran, whose oil-dependent economy has been severely damaged by tightening Western sanctions over the past few years, denies it would ever "weaponize" enrichment.

The OPEC producer rejects suspicions it is trying covertly to develop the means to produce nuclear weapons, saying it is stockpiling nuclear material for future atomic power plants.

"This is the first time in 33 years that Washington and Tehran have concluded a formal agreement. Even six months ago, few would have imagined this outcome," said senior fellow Suzanne Maloney of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings. © 2013 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.

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Israeli thoughts aboput USA-Iran deal ...

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Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu calls Iran nuclear deal 'historic mistake'

By David Simpson, CNN

November 24, 2013 -- Updated 0949 GMT (1749 HKT)

Obama reacts to Iran nuclear deal

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Israeli official: The celebration is based on "Iranian deception" and "world self-delusion"
• John Kerry says the U.S. and Israel agree that Iran must not be allowed to have a nuke
• The countries once enjoyed a "honeymoon"
• Last week, Iran's supreme leader said Israeli officials "cannot be even called humans"

(CNN) -- While the EU and the United States cheered a deal that world powers reached with Tehran over its nuclear ambitions, Israel was fierce in its criticism Sunday, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling the agreement a "historic mistake" that his country isn't bound by.

"What was achieved last night in Geneva is not a historic agreement, it is a historic mistake," Netanyahu said in a statement Sunday morning. "This agreement and its significance there of threatens many countries and of course Israel among them. Israel is not obliged to the agreement."

His ministers went much farther in their criticism.

"If in five years, a nuclear suitcase explodes in New York or Madrid," Naftali Bennett, the Israeli minister of trade and industry, said, "it will be because of the agreement that was signed this morning."

READ: World powers strike historic deal on Iran's nuclear program

Reaction to deal in Tehran

To be sure, there is no love lost between Iran and Israel: neighbors and archrivals.

Iran, which in the past has questioned Israel's right to even exist, continues to push Tel Aviv's buttons with incendiary statements.

Israel, which says it has the most to lose if Iran develops a nuclear bomb, has repeatedly warned the West to tread warily when dealing with Tehran.

READ: White House releases deal details

So to find that their greatest ally, the United States, has struck an interim deal with Iran prompted stunned Israeli lawmakers.

"Israel cannot participate in the international celebration, which is based on Iranian deception and the world self-delusion," Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said.

All three lawmakers stopped short of saying whether Israel would go it alone militarily, if the need arose.

But Israeli officials told CNN's Ian Lee they would not rule out a strike against Iran -- and Netanyahu certainly didn't mince words. Israel bombed a reactor construction site in Iraq in 1981.

"The regime in Iran is dedicated to destroying Israel and Israel has the right and obligation to defend itself with it's own forces against every threat," he said. "I want to make clear as the Prime minister of Israel, Israel will not let Iran develop a nuclear military capability."

Obama to call Netanyahu

The heightened rhetoric means President Barack Obama has his work cut out for him in appeasing its staunchest ally in the Middle East.

Iran deal 'important step forward'

Iran nuclear deal reached

Photos: Iran nuclear deal reached

"You can be sure that President Obama will speak to Prime Minister Netanyahu" on Sunday, a senior administration official told reporters.

"Ultimately, we understand why Israel is particularly skeptical about Iran," the official said, adding, "This is not simply about trusting the Iranian government. There are strict verification measures."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said as the deal was announced in Geneva that Israel and the United States agree that Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

But Kerry said none of the world powers represented in Geneva believe that unrelenting sanctions can achieve that goal. He said the deal will make Israel safer by freezing some Iranian nuclear development and removing its stockpile of uranium enriched to 20% purity.

Kerry also said military action, while still an option Obama would preserve, could not permanently solve the problem.

Israel's perspective

It's hard for most Americans to understand why all Israeli prime ministers are said to sleep with one eye open, says Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He was a Middle East negotiator in Democratic and Republican administrations.

America, he says, has "non-predatory neighbors to its north and south and fish to its east and west."

Israel, on the other hand, is a small Jewish state surrounded by atagonistic Muslim neighbors.

Israel cannot participate in the international celebration, which is based on Iranian deception and the world self-delusion.
Israeli intelligence minister

"I don't think Iran wants nuclear weapons to launch a first strike against Israel. But it's impossible to ignore, let alone trivialize, Israeli security concerns and vulnerabilities in this regard, particularly in the face of Iran's rhetoric, regional ambitions and support for terrorism over the years," he said.

Indeed, the verbal attacks have been relentless.

Even as the P5+1 met in Geneva, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei unleashed another volley last week in Tehran.

Khamenei said Israeli officials "cannot be even called humans" and referred to Netanyahu as "the rabid dog of the region."

Once a 'honeymoon'

What is forgotten in this tense relationship is that it wasn't always this way.

After the birth of the nation of Israel in 1948, the countries enjoyed a "honeymoon" that lasted until just before the 1979 Islamic revolution, David Menashri, professor emeritus of Tel Aviv University, told CNN last year.

Israel's ties with Iran were chiefly motivated by "a single word with three letters -- O-I-L," he said.

But the Islamic revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran marked a turning point.

The Islamic republic, led by Shiite clerics in the predominantly Shiite nation, saw Israel as an illegitimate state with no right to exist, certainly not amid Muslim nations.

Despite harsh rhetoric, though, then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini "didn't want to get into a confrontation with Israel," said Ervand Abrahamian, a professor of Iranian and Middle Eastern history at Baruch College of the City University of New York.

One reason: Israel and Iran had a common enemy in Iraq, a country that fought an eight-year war with Iran. Israel even supplied weapons to Iran to help it fight.

In the years after the Iran-Iraq war, however, Israel began to regard Iran and its support of global terror as a chief threat.

And it watched uneasily as Iran has gained influence in the Middle East since the first Gulf War began eroding Iraq's power.

Those concerns escalated when international inspectors found traces of highly enriched uranium at a power plant in Iran in 2003.

In the escalating conflict, the United States has always said it has, in the words of Obama last year, "Israel's back."

"The United States has no stake in concluding an agreement with Iran that leaves Israel angry, aggrieved and vulnerable. So, the two sides will find a way to work this through,"Miller said. "But for now, buckle your seat belts. We could be in for one bumpy ride."

How to enrich uranium into fuel

CNN's Michael Schwartz and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.