If it looks and quacks like a duck, then it's a duck. Even if it is black.
The Obama Administration just pushed through a $26 billion settlement with the banking industry for 'improprieties', calling it a win for the victims of the Wall-street engineered, mortgage-backed securities, scam! Ha! How is getting your home stolen away by the bank, for a measly $2K, a win? That's something like a penny returned for every dollar stolen! The reality - it's an election year and Mr. Obama needs to manufacture some smoke to blow up Democratic voting butts, and this is it. Get ready to hear about this alleged win, over and over through November, until you puke.
A statistical sample audit of foreclosures in California showed that 85% were illegal, meaning the banks broke that law in 85 out of every 100 cases (here). AND NOT ONE BANKER HAS GONE TO JAIL! Has anyone seen Mr. Eric Holder, the Attorney General?
Considering that black people, voting for Mr. Obama in mass (past, present, and future), are at the front of the long line of hues getting ripped-off by the banks, Obama and Holder need to return their cards, and go sit in the box with Ward Connerly. After all, a duck is a duck, regardless of the color of the feathers.
Harvard Alum and Knicks basketball star Jeremy Lin has earned all the positive attention he is getting, despite comments from idiots like boxer Floyd Mayweather, who try to detract from his recent media recognition (here).
Now I ask, how is it fine for Black folks to beam with pride from the attention received upon members challenging all manner of barriers, but if somebody else does it (in this case someone Asian), 'it ain't no big thang!'? That's just ignorant and racist. And don't tell me folks can't be racist, either.
While Mayweather clearly does not speak for all folks, his comments resemble others who are similarly stupid.
If someone says Jeremy in Oakland, the only question is if it's Black Jeremy, White Jeremy, or Asian Jeremy? - as it should be.
Hopefully, this will give nationally ranked Cal Basketball standout guard, Jorge Gutierrez (here), some inspiration in his game, too.
A wet-behind-the-ears rookie from Harvard winning an NBA game with a clutch three-pointer at the buzzer - now that's LINsane! (here)
"The autistic savant is one of the most fascinating cognitive phenomena in psychology. "Autistic savant" refers to individuals with autism who have extraordinary skills not exhibited by most persons. Historically, individuals with these exceptional skills were called 'idiot savants,' a French term meaning unlearned (idiot) skill (savant). In a 1978 article in Psychology Today, Dr. Bernard Rimland introduced a more appropriate term 'autistic savant,' which is the current label.
The estimated prevalence of savant abilities in autism is 10%, whereas the prevalence in the non-autistic population, including those with mental retardation, is less than 1%.
There are many forms of savant abilities. The most common forms involve mathematical calculations, memory feats, artistic abilities, and musical abilities. A mathematical ability which many autistic individuals display is calendar memory. They could be asked a question like: 'What day of the week was May 22, 1961? and they can determine the answer within seconds--Monday. Others can multiply and divide large numbers in their head and can also calculate square roots and prime numbers without much hesitation.
Examples of some memory feats include: remembering everything about presidents (birth/death, term in office, names and birth dates of family members, cabinet members, etc.), memorizing the U.S. highway system, and remembering everyone's birth date, even after meeting the person once and not seeing him/her for 20 years.
Some autistic individuals with savant abilities are incredible artists. Dr. Rimland's son, Mark, is quickly establishing himself as an excellent watercolor artist. A child named Nadia drew beautiful pictures of horses, and her drawings have been compared to those of Rembrandt. Interestingly, she lost her drawing abilities when she started to learn to speak. Another artist with autism, Richard Wawro, who was described in an issue of Reader's Digest, is legally blind and draws in crayons. His works sell for up to $10,000, and even the Pope owns one of his paintings.
Music is another common savant ability. Many performers with autism have perfect pitch and also have a great memory for music. In some cases, a person can hear a classical piece once and play it back in its entirety. Tim Baley, who also has Fragile X, is a concert pianist and the piano player for Hi Hopes, a musical group of singers and performers with autism and/or mental retardation. Hi Hopes played at the Los Angeles autism conference a few years ago and have even played at the White House. (Tim's mother wrote a book about his life. If you would like to obtain a copy of her book or learn more about Tim, you can write to: Mrs. Baley, Box 8207, Anaheim, CA 92812).
The movie Rain Man exposed millions of people to autism as well as the autistic savant phenomenon. (Unfortunately, some people now have the impression that all autistic individuals have these abilities.) In the movie, Raymond displayed a great memory for ball player statistics, memorized parts of the telephone book, and counted cards in Las Vegas. One wonders why this year's national autism conference is being held in Las Vegas!
The reason why some autistic individuals have savant abilities is not known. There are many theories, but there is no evidence to support any of them. For example, Dr. Rimland speculates that these individuals have incredible concentration abilities and can focus their complete attention to a specific area of interest. Admittedly, researchers in psychology feel that we will never truly understand memory and cognition until we understand the autistic savant."
Much is being made about Steve Jobs, and his penchant for 'distorting reality'. This includes contributions from FBI interviews, when he was alive. Not that he needs defending - and I never personally worked for him - but I have worked closely or directly for five CEO's and feel I have good experience from which to speak.
Distorting reality is such a consistent feature of CEO's, it's almost ignorant to proper it as a negative, or dis-qualifier. I submit that the ability to do it well, however that's defined, makes it a prerequisite to extraordinary results, good and bad. Who is to say that distortion is not required in order to go places, where no one has gone before. I'm sure people thought Einstein was distorted.
The better question is if this distorted leadership is taking us someplace good - particularly in the case of our political leadership on both sides of the aisle. In this case, and whether each knew it or not, at the end of his life Jobs was definitely the teacher, Obama the student.
The problem with this ad, as I see it, is not the challenge it makes of US policies that support and encourage rampant thirst for cheap goods made overseas, but rather it has a Chinese woman deliver the message sarcastically, making it too easy for many dumb Americans to errantly blame Chinese people, the world over, for US troubles.
"Mormonism (or the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) teaches that baptism by water is a necessary ordinance for people to return to God their Heavenly Father. Mormons assert that the ordinance must be performed in the proper way and with the authority of Christ's priesthood.
Many people have died without receiving a valid baptism, and they cannot undergo this precious ritual as mere spirits. "Because all on the earth do not have the opportunity to accept the gospel during mortality, the Lord has authorized baptisms performed by proxy for the dead. Therefore, those who accept the gospel in the spirit world may qualify for entrance into God's kingdom" One thing that should be made perfectly clear about Mormon baptisms for the dead is that each deceased soul has the personal choice to accept or reject it. There is nothing in Mormonism that states that the person who is being baptized by proxy must accept this ordinance; he or she is simply given the opportunity to choose."
Enjoy nearly two minutes of two instruments that we rarely get to hear or see up front, by two greats. Making it up on bass is my friend Nathan East, chasing some serious digital percussion by David "Fingers" Haynes. Turn up the volume and enjoy.
Some comments to this entertaining video argue that the musician's response is staged, but I think they miss the point, altogether. Staged or not, the editorial and lesson is both witty and good for all to hear, if they might avoid the cynic's vortex.
...and Nokia, once the shining star of Finland, presently needs all the help they can get.
From the video above, it is clear that Chuntera Napier, the arrested, while well-meaning, is also very ignorant. At minimum, the recipient of such needs to be eighteen to legally bear the risk of contracting any number of potentially fatal diseases, like hepatitis, from getting a tattoo. The misdemeanor charged Ms. Napier clearly misunderstands, like many folks, that all rights, including those of parenting and religion, derive from the constitution, not the bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, or the back of a cereal box. This is a good example of where children, and their desire to make adulthood decision, need protection. I hope the example of Ms. Napier's prosecution sends a strong signal that tattoos are for adults, period.
UPDATE: Police are looking for the alleged tattoo artist, but Ms. Napier is not cooperating, so far. The artist could face criminal charges, and so could Ms. Napier, for obstruction.
I continue to believe that Affirmative Action needs a revision, to focus on the greater inclusive group of economically-disadvantage Americans, rather than race, gender, or otherwise. This would exclude well-off minorities, while including those whites held-down by their meager economic background. Anti-Affirmative Action crusader Ward Connerly was never about this kind of fairness, but rather lining his own pockets, and it seems that it is all catching up to him (here), via a credible insider.
Wow! Watching this horrible scene made me wish I was there to even things up a bit. Who would be surprised if the Asian kid started carrying a gun after a beating like this? Who could blame him? Very sick. Very tragic. And on top of it all, repeatedly calling him a Nigga' speaks to the universal standard that demeaning blackness has achieved, and that's everybody's fault (within/without).
1/18 UPDATE: A Sun-Times article (here), sheds some weird light on the 1/15 attack. The attackers were white AND Asian (predominantly), with the oldest attacker, Raymond Palomino (17), whose face was visible in the assault, charged as an adult. Palomino's father is a Cook County sheriff. One attacker was female, and lured the victim into the assault. The attack may have been random, and there remains no explanation for the 25 instances of the term nigga' use against the victim, captured in the video by one of the attackers, via their cellphone. Tragic and weird!
As reported in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution..."Gwinnett County (Georgia) parents and activists have blasted the school district’s response following reports that students at a Norcross elementary school received a math worksheet that used examples of slavery in word problems.
School district officials said the principal at Beaver Ridge Elementary School will personally work with teachers to come up with more appropriate lessons and will offer more opportunities for staff development following the uproar created by the worksheet that included questions such as the following: “Each tree had 56 oranges. If 8 slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?” and “If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in 1 week?”"
I hope 'work with' is a euphemism for 'escort from the building'.
The “New and Improved” National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is now the law – so don’t drop the soap folks!
Seriously, let me get this straight, Mr. Obama. As president, sworn to uphold the US Constitution, you sign a law, bearing your fingerprints, on the day of the year (12/24), at your choosing, when the citizens are most distracted, and then promise that you will never use the “unconstitutional” parts to do what you surreptitiously demanded the right to do. Sounds like something Bush/Cheney would have pulled, right? Well, yes, they definitely pulled some three-quarter-Monty crap like this, but in this case it was you, Barack Obama, and this is definitely the full-Monty (buck-ass-naked).
The Huffington Post (here) cleverly apologizes for the President on this tearing down of citizen rights, as they make it seem like he was somehow forced (by bad people?) to sign the law against his will, which is not true at all. The Huffington ignores that Obama insisted that American citizens be included in the indefinite detention language, or he would veto the bill. So in reality, that which the Huff and the President said he was against, jailing Americans indefinitely without trial, he is absolutely for and directly responsible. Politics and the media doing the nasty out in the open! A-friggin-mazing!
Like I said before (here), no politician in their right mind would bastardize the constitution, if they did not think they needed it – as the original laws have served the rich and powerful very well for 200+ years. The reason Obama specifically thinks HE needs this change is that the world-wide economic poop could hit the fan in 2012 (here), and the blood on Main streets won’t be on some fake Hollywood movie set. In fact, the ‘debt-storm’ has already begun.
If you think things are bad now, stay-tuned folks. The year 2012 marks the calendar, in US history, where life-expectancy is going down and the times definitely went from bad to worse. When you know the game’s about to change and you want to preserve your position on the sinking ship, you change the rules. Happy New Year!
This time of year (on Sundays) I always remember one of the greatest to ever play any game. Sweetness was his handle, but 'air' was his domain. Check out two YouTube minutes of the man, if you doubt me. (here)
My business partner and I are getting close to delivering our first iPhone app (isn't everybody?) - stippled drawings. Android is soon to follow. It's no secret that I love dots, and this has been a labor of such. Look for it in the App. store in a month or so. In the meantime, enjoy these two iconic examples of what can be done with your favorite photographs, inspiration, and some cool software.
