Saturday, January 31, 2009

5 Thoughts on How To Jump-Start the Economy:

1: The Big 3's designs to make cars that require less oil are short-sighted. Just make flying cars the goal, and you bypass the need to rethink the entire Industrial Revolution altogether - nobody is going to object to having a diesel engine if their car can fly. Plus, considering how inefficient a flying car that runs on diesel would be, it'd take at least a million engineers to figure out how to make it work. Can you say "job creation?"
2: Speaking of creating jobs, hurry up and legalize drugs. Not only the ones that don't cause any more harm than cigarettes or alcohol. All of them. People who use don't do it because it's illegal, and they will continue to use if the drugs are legalized. But they will have to pay taxes. Taxes for meth = serious money. And people who don't use because certain drugs are illegal also probably have better reasons than lawfulness (empirical evidence comes to mind). If it's good enough for Michael Phelps, it's good enough for America. Plus, it'll help cull the rich.
3: Stop deporting international students who graduate from the American higher education system. I'm actually serious about this one.
4: America needs a high-speed MagLev train. China has one. America doesn't. What. NY to LA. 3 hours. Also, Manhattan needs a monorail system. At once. Get on that Gotham City prontosaurus. Minus the explosions.
5: Next time we feel like declaring war, do it on Canada. Much easier to bring troops home after that's over. They can just walk back. Read more!

Friday, January 30, 2009

Michael Steele elected as the Chairman for the RNC

Shout out to Juice for this one! Trying to be one of the first on this crazy internet to holler about this. Michael Steele has just been named the new Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Now I thought this year was astonishing already with, you know, a black man being elected president... but this is truly unbelievable.



Well, I guess the Republicans were much more in favor of freeing the slaves and etc. in the old days. However, as time has passed in this 'great' country of ours, the needs of blacks have begun to align more and more with the Democratic party.

This is historic and still very hard to believe right now. I'm sure the editors and writes for the Black Republican Magazine are going to have a field day and probably a commemorative issue or something along the lines.

I'm not hating on Republicans... I just simply can't believe it.


two times.
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Inauguration Report

There are three sets of numbers that sum up my inauguration experience in Washington, D.C. last week: (4x36)+(8x24); 5000+: 2,000,000; 1. I'll give you a second to try and figure that out.

For as long as I can remember, I have been looking forward to Inauguration Weekend. I reserved couch space at a friend's dorm at Georgetown the day of the election. I was able to secure swearing-in and ball tickets for the event through a trusty campaign organizer and friend. I bought overpriced handwarmers. You get the idea. I was ready to go. I couldn't imagine a bigger day in my life, and I wanted to make sure that I enjoyed the whole thing.

The day before I left for DC, I spent some quality time with my dad, who gave me his 1975 (or so) Canon AE-1. He said that he thought it would be really cool for me to have the opportunity to take some timeless photography with a timeless camera for a timeless event such as this. Honored, I took up the charge. Upon arrival to DC, I was a madman with the photography. I bought black-and-white film, color film, extra batteries for the flash, and read the 80 page manual front-to-back. I took hundreds of photos. Notably, I got three shots of Jesse Jackson, right before I shook his hand, Newark Mayor Corey Booker, right before I shook his hand, former President Bush's Chopper as it flew away from the Capitol, and countless shots of Kanye, Kid Rock, Usher, Fall Out Boy, and the Obamas as they danced to "At Last", as performed by a military marching band. In the end I took 336 shots, and I couldn't have been happier. Until I took the photos to be developed. I got a call around 10:30pm from the lab technician asking me if I gave her the right film. What kind of question was that, I thought. She explained to me that all of the rolls were blank. All of them. As if they had never been used. Not one exposure. Not one shot. She asked me if I wanted to come pick them up. I was demoralized. All that time, that effort, those memories, gone. In a flash, so to speak. (4 b/w rolls x 36) + (8 color rolls x 24) = 0 photos

That would have been fine if we actually were able to make it into the swearing-in ceremony. If you have any friends who struggled to make it into the now-infamous "Purple Gate", you already know what I'm talking about. It would have been one thing if we had made it there late, and we ended up stuck in the 3rd Street Tunnel with the other thousands of people who couldn't hear or see a thing as the clock raced towards noon. We were up by 3am, making the pilgrimage toward the mall by 4. With us in the pre-dawn mist were campaign volunteers, donors, and the families and supporters of Congressmen and women who eventually would get stuck with us. So much for those coveted tickets. After hours of jostling and standing and waiting and confusion, my friend and I were twenty-five feet from the entrance gate when they finally closed it completely at 11:45am. Beside me, a young boy, whose grandfather was the first black state Supreme Court Justice for a state whose name escapes me, was sobbing. "The Police are gaylords!!" he screamed into his mother's arms. Behind us, the howitzers were exploding. Barack Obama was officially President Obama, and the 5000+ of us were some of the few people in the world who missed this historic moment. Dejected, my friend and I dragged our feet to a dump truck. The driver was listening to the speech, and he opened his window to let a few of us listen. It felt like the 30s. We were so close, but so far. We walked away with the faint roar of 2 million people somewhere in the not-too-distant distance. (5000+: 2,000,000)

So, one could argue that my inauguration experience was, well, sub-par. But the one thing that keeps me going, most likely the one thing that prevent those thousands of people from rioting and mobbing their way into the Capitol, was that President Obama is now the President of the United States of America. That one thought alone eases the bitterness I may feel toward Capitol Police, Sen. Diane Feinstein, and film photography.


I stopped by the deli near my work this morning to pick up some fruit for the day. I got to the register and noticed that the woman was looking at my Obama pin, emblazoned with that iconic Shepard Fairey image and the words, "Yes We Did, January 20, 2009". She said, "Hey, you kinda look like our new President!" and gave me a big smile. I don't really, but for a person of color in the United States, that compliment has only existed for seven days. Think about that for a second. All because of one man's vision of the potential of this nation. "Yeah, I guess I kinda do," I replied, as I grabbed my orange and V-8 and headed upstairs to my office.

Cloud, obvious. Silver lining, blinding. (1)
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Saturday, January 24, 2009

A Digression: The Argument from (Graphic) Design

I think there was a very significant element of President Obama's (I do relish every opportunity I get to say that) campaign that generally went undiscussed, and yet, in this humble blogger's opinion, contributed in immeasurable ways to his complete takeover of the youth vote. Barack Obama, his staff, and the David's (who really deserve their own category) understood the importance of good design online and in print.

Consider the respective campaign stickers of Obama and McCain. Because I truly loathe Blogspot's image uploader, I will simply provide links for your convenience:

Obama: Here
McCain: Here

Before I examine the two stickers more closely, a basic primer on type:
There are, in the most basic terms, two different types of fonts: Serif and Sans Serif.

You can notice the obvious differences. "Serif" is just a fancy word for the useless little nibs at the end of each stroke that make a font like Times New Roman look "official" and, objectively speaking, "old." You've seen ancient English or Chinese calligraphy - it's all about the small details and fancy swooshes you could add. It doesn't help readability, but it looks opulent, fancy, and, again, official.

Logically, a "Sans-Serif" font is a typeface that doesn't have any of the useless squiggles and nibs. As opposed to serif fonts, sans-serifs appear "clean" and "modern." You see these most prominently in signs ("STOP" or "23rd Street Station") because of the simple fact that they're easier to read.

Now look again at the stickers. McCain is using a subtle serif font (you can tell mainly because of the C's). I don't know what it is, but I know that I don't like it. If you look up other examples of the sticker in higher quality, you'll notice there are weird dips at the edges of each character. The font also remains consistent in advertising McCain's website, making the URL (as well as the candidate) seem implicitly antiquated.

In contrast, Obama's website is written in a very clear sans-serif. It's how we're used to seeing websites advertised - refer to the Ebay, Amazon, and MySpace logos as examples. In fact, nowadays (and especially if you use a Mac), the only program you'll find yourself commonly using serifs in is Microsoft Word. This makes sense because the output in Word is print, and unless you're in Europe, most if not all printed material you consume is printed using serif fonts. When older folks complain about disliking reading too much information on the screen, it generally has to do with the fact that sans-serifs simply appear foreign to them. Because of the lack of serifs (the aforementioned "nibs"), it's more difficult to gain a context of where a word literally ends. Sans-serifs compel you to continue reading on and on and on. Like on this blog (I'm amazed you got this far).

Obama's actual name, of course, is written in serif. Again, it's official. Politicians love it. Had to be done. As an interesting tangent: Notice that in 2004, Kerry was the one using ugly serif fonts, and Bush threw serifs completely out the window - even his name was in an enormous, bold sans serif. Conspiracy? Wink wink.

Really, looking at the design elements of Obama's campaign is looking at a masterful execution of balancing sans-serifs with serifs. "CHANGE" was always in that bold, easy-to-read, modern lettering. Of course when Shepard Fairey got his hands on the font and pulled out the "HOPE" poster, he took it to a whole new level. Which brings me to my next point:

McCain's sticker has no relevant symbol. It has a star, which has more to do with America than McCain, and those yellow arrows that symbolize...I don't know what (The Golden Years?). Obama's symbol, on the other hand, is now the stuff of marketing legend. The "O" reminding you who it's all about, mapped out to appear to be a re-imagining of the flag. It's also very familiar, because we in America drive past Bank of America branches all the time.

All of this is really just a ploy to direct you toward the new White House website. Prior to Obama's election I think I ended up there once. On accident. But seriously. Check it out here. It's clear whoever was behind President Obama's campaign website was hired again, and even though it's full of serifs (they've got to look official, remember), look out for where their modern counterparts are applied.

Also, the White House now has a Youtube Channel, where, among other things, you can check out the President's Blog and watch Weekly Reports from Pres. Obama himself:

I really do love the 21st century.
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Monday, January 19, 2009

Commemorative Moments


In the hallway of my grandmother's apartment, there is a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr that I have been obsessed with since I can remember. Partially because of his expression. He is staring past the right side of the canvas, looking very serious and reflective and a whole host of emotions I couldn't identify as a 7 year old. The other reason was that it was painted in rich browns and purples on a sheet of black velvet. I was enthralled. In my look-and-don't-touch world, the idea of paint applied in long smooth curves and small spiky details across velvet presented the most exhilarating texture I could have ever imagined.

But even back then, I knew the picture held too much importance to just put my sticky fingers all over it. The image of Martin Luther King Jr. was not something to play with. For many, he was the face of the Civil Rights Movement. The image of non-violent protest in the United States. A symbol of racial advancement and equality. Of potential. Of the impossible overcome by will and passion.

And of the extreme sacrifice that accompanies that mission.

The power wrapped up in this icon continues to enthrall me to today because of the very process one must undergo to become an icon. It is easy to think that had blogging and Wikipedia and paparazzi existed then, we would have remembered a more complex man. Perhaps we would have had a clearer image of the pre-India MLK that was not so staunchly committed to non-violence. Or the obscurer parts of his speeches where he decries the aggression and arrogant expansion of the US into the Third World. Or his refusal to distance himself from other Civil Rights workers who were openly gay.


10 Other Things MLK Said, from IllDoctrine


But it is clear from looking to our present-day icons, both the "heroes" and the "villains," that to be remembered, much will be forgotten and actively left out. On the other hand, it is important to consider whether our icons hold so much meaning because of how accurately their image can recount an event, or how well they can symbolize the feeling in an experience.

So in the last few minutes of Obama-Eve, it is exciting to imagine what kind of icon we will require Obama to be for us, what image of these days we will piece together later, and how tightly we will tie them to past traditions.


It has been 45 years since the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. 23 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was first observed as a federal holiday. And 2 and a half months ago, was certainly a time to celebrate...


a video on euphoria
and shout out to all the IINOI writers in D.C. right now!!
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Transit Cop Murders Oscar Grant

I usually have really tough skin. I can take the worst of news and remain cool and calm about it. But sometimes you feel like your buttons are getting pushed just a bit too much. When people are viciously murdered by those that are meant to protect them, then my tough skin weakens.

I'd like to big up Julius for sending this out to a listserve so that people are aware of this hidious crime. I am much more upset than usual with the wrong being done to make this post funny or to even continue writing much more so instead I'll quote the e-mail the website sends.

It reads:

Dear friends,

On New Year's Eve, Oscar Grant was shot execution-style by a transit
police officer in Oakland, California. He was shot in the back while
face-down on a subway platform--unarmed and posing no threat.

Twelve days later--despite several videos showing exactly what
happened--the officer who killed Grant hasn't been arrested, charged, or
even questioned. He quit the force and has refused to speak. The District
Attorney has done nothing.

It's time to demand that California Attorney General Jerry Brown take over
the case and arrest Grant's killer, and to ask that the US Department of
Justice launch an independent investigation into the conduct of local
authorities. Please join me:

http://www.colorofchange.org/oscar/?id=1406-653707

Oscar Grant is the third man murdered by BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)
police in the past 17 years. All three victims were Black and none posed a
serious threat. In each case, BART and county authorities have failed to
hold the officers accountable.

In the previous cases, BART's internal investigations concluded that the
officers felt threatened by the victims and were justified in pulling the
trigger. It's unbelievable given the circumstances of the killings:

- In 1992, 19-year-old Jerrold Hall was shot in the back by a BART officer
as he tried to leave the parking lot of a station. The officer was
responding to reports of an armed robbery and said he suspected that Hall
and a friend were involved. The officer tried to detain the two, Hall ran
and then the officer shot him in the back and killed him. Hall was
unarmed, but the officer said he thought Hall was on his way to get a gun
and return for a showdown.

- In 2001, a mentally ill man named Bruce Seward was the next victim of
the rogue force. Seward, 42, was naked and had been sleeping on a bench
outside the BART station when an officer approached him. Seward did grab
the officer's nightstick at one point, but there were several options for
subduing him. Instead, the officer shot and killed him.

In addition to BART's internal investigation, Alameda County's District
Attorney is also investigating Oscar Grant's murder--but the office's
record on investigating police killings is horrible too. In both cases
just described, the District Attorney bought BART's argument that the
officers felt threatened. As a result, the cops were cleared of any
wrongdoing.

In the case of Grant's murder, the DA has already let 12 days pass while
doing essentially nothing--the officer who killed Grant is able to travel
and leave the state, and he's free to talk with other officers and attempt
to construct a story to justify his killing of Oscar Grant.

The problem with Alameda County's DA goes beyond BART police murders. In
the past two years alone, there have been 11 fatal police shootings in
Oakland (not including that of Oscar Grant). When asked, the officials at
the District Attorney's office could not remember a single case in the
last 20 years where an on-duty cop had been charged in a fatal shooting in
Alameda County. It gives the clear appearance that the District Attorney's
office just doesn't have the will to prosecute police crimes.

California's Attorney General needs to step in now and arrest Oscar
Grant's murderer. And the US Department of Justice should investigate the
failure of the authorities in Alameda County to act. It's the first step
towards justice. After that, we will push for systemic changes to create
public accountability for BART and other police departments. Creating
those structural changes will be a much longer fight, but Oscar Grant's
tragic death is a wake-up call that should give us a real chance to help
prevent this from happening again.

Please join me in demanding justice, and then ask your family and friends
to do the same:

http://www.colorofchange.org/oscar/?id=1406-653707

Thanks.

--


Please check out www.colorofchange.org to receive more information on this crime and to sign up for the petition.

WARNING: Please use your own discretion when viewing as the video shows Oscar Grant being killed.


two times. Read more!

Black People Love Cadillacs, Obama No Exception

I'd like to send a warm iinoi welcome out to our new Post-est with the mostest... or something corny, yet from the heart... to Genghis!! We're trying to keep y'all entertained with fresh material from unheard voices so check out his articles here and here. Dude can write. I might have to call him Genghis Hemingway. Now, on to Obama...



If you guys couldn't tell by now, I am obsessed with Mr. Obama and have reason to believe that the guy feels pretty ok about me too. I mean let's look at the vitals... Dude fills in for Ted Kennedy 3 days before my graduation and becomes our speaker and my girlfriend won that very unlikely Inaugural ticket pool in, of all states, California (the biggest one). I'm saying once Obeezy, as I so lovingly call him, found out that your boy Perf was involved, he probably made a call to California Senator Feinstein and was like 'That's my boy. Let him live.'

When Senator Feinstein had heard our President Elect laud me too much she gave in and granted my girlfriend the tickets. I too had entered my senators pool for tickets but Obama tries to speak to my senator as little as possible (ahem, Hilary Clinton, ahem).

After that call, Obama decided to call his boys up in England and get the most baller car ever made. Shout out to Jen for this heads up article. You can read the car's description here and by viewing the photo above so I won't really get into it. How about your president's blood in the passenger seat's door?! Crazy! Yet safe. And I have nothing against keeping this man safe!

Here's some Luda for your entertainment:


I can see Obama nodding his head to this in the back of his Caddy.

two times.
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Unmentionables, Pt.2: Some Thoughts on Class

I finally did it. It may have taken me a week, but I finally did it. I watched John Ziegler’s interview of Sarah Palin. I was loath to do it, but now it’s done. All near-ten minutes of it.

So that you don’t have to suffer any extra time with Mrs. Palin (though if you’re in a masochistic mood, the video’s been provided below), I’ll skip to the quote that I’d like to explore, spoken after Ziegler asks if Palin believes Caroline Kennedy will benefit from a dose of the infamous “liberal media" bias:

“I’ve been interested also to see how Caroline Kennedy will be handled, and if she’ll be handled with kid gloves or if she will be under such a microscope also. It’s gonna be interesting to see how that plays out, and I think as we watch that we will perhaps be able to prove that there is a class issue here also that was such a factor in the scrutiny of my candidacy versus say, the scrutiny of what her candidacy may be.”

If there’s one thing John Ziegler deserves credit for, it’s that he got Palin comfortable enough to dish out this kind of blasé ignorance. The interview as a whole reminded me of that brief interview in Bowling for Columbine when the world got to see Marilyn Manson (formerly known as the anti-Christ) in a vulnerable moment; just one weirdo (I say that affectionately) sitting across from another weirdo (Michael Moore, the anti-Ziegler*), trying to make sense of the senseless. The only difference is that in the case of Manson, when all was said and done a lot of people seem to have thought the same thing: Perhaps we’ve underestimated this one – whereas with Palin, one almost lets out an involuntary sigh of relief, suggesting that one’s calculations were just right.

I do agree that Kennedy hasn’t been particularly well examined, and I question her motives and timing – but there is a fundamental difference between Caroline Kennedy and Sarah Palin that does have to do with class, though certainly not the type that Palin seems to be implying, that makes Kennedy’s candidacy in higher office far more palatable.

There are some macroscopic concerns about Palin that have been repeated ad nauseum and require paltry amounts of scrutiny to discover. That she is deaf to these issues says more about her than it does about our wretched “society” she goes on about in the Ziegler tape (whatever happened to always being proud of America?). Caroline Kennedy graduated from Columbia law school and is a member of the NY & DC bar associations. Palin majored in journalism in a spectrum of institutions and, when pressed, could not summon the name of a single news publication she read at the time, though now in the Ziegler interview she breezily says that she pores over the local Alaskan papers (again, without naming any), snubbing Couric as a self-indulgent and ambiguous interviewer.

The questions Couric asked, if you recall, were rather straightforward:

KC: What newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped [to be McCain’s running mate] to stay informed and to understand the world?
SP: I’ve read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media–
KC: But like, what specifically?
SP: Um, all of them – any of them that have been in front of me over all these years…
KC: Can you name a few?
SP: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news too – Alaska isn’t a foreign country…

It takes a certain amount of huevos rancheros to pass that kind of an abysmal performance off as a narrow-minded denizen of the Lower 48 taking advantage of a helpless Alaskan, but Palin seems to be attempting to do just that. Classy? I think so.

I’m sure the mudslinging over Kennedy will reach its crescendo in the coming weeks – a la “she’s getting a free pass because she’s an elitist from an urban center with a famous name” – but I don’t really care. She’s an intelligent, very evidently capable person who has made her views on policies plain. She doesn’t kill unsuspecting animals from helicopters, or attend a church spearheaded by a monster (though who knows – in this I may be speaking too soon, if the ’08 campaign was any indication). If you think getting a leg up in politics for being wealthy or a brand name is an unfair surprise, you clearly haven’t been reading your American (or world) history.

So no, maybe it’s not the most just electoral process we could conceivably ask for, but I think New York can take care of its own and would much rather prefer the “you knows” of a Caroline over the “gosh darn its” of a Sarah. You know? (No, but seriously, I’d like your thoughts on the subject.)


---
*Both, however, are documentarians in the same way I am Mongolian – in a very flimsy, distant, and approximate sense of the term (Korean-American, for anyone who’s confused now). Despite this, Moore is certainly the more entertaining of the pair, and although he does have a habit of lapsing into polemical hissy fits, he also seems to ask more challenging questions, if the Palin interview is any indication.
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Monday, January 12, 2009

Culture of the Week: Gallim Dance




This week's COTW has actual events associated with it! If you are in the New York City area, do yourself a favor and try to see this Dance Company at the Joyce SoHo this week until the 18th! I have the details of the event, in addition to a complete schedule after the jump.

I'm no Baryshnikov, but I know good dance when I see it. I think you all would be doing yourself a solid (thanks, Juno) by making your way to these shows. Here are the details, from the company manager:

Gallim Dance returns to Joyce SoHo with two full-length programs, January 9-18, 2009!

Jan. 9th 3pm - I Can See Myself in Your Pupil

Jan. 9th 8pm - Blush + Post-Show Reception hosted by Joyce SoHo

Jan. 10th 10am-1pm - Gallim Dance Student Workshop: Intermediate level (Includes class with the company and repertory from Andrea Miller's I Can See Myself in Your Pupil from 10am-1pm at Baryshnikov Arts Center, a ticket to the 8pm performance of Pupil, and a Post-show discussion) $45 There are still spaces available!

Jan. 10th 3pm - Blush

Jan. 10th 8pm - I Can See Myself in Your Pupil + Post-Show Discussion: Meet the Dancers

Jan. 11th 3pm - Blush + Post-Show Discussion: Meet Andrea Miller

Jan. 11th 8pm - I Can See Myself in Your Pupil


Jan. 12th 7pm - Gallim Dance Gala/Blush (Includes pre-show cocktails starting at 7pm at Joyce SoHo and the 8pm performance of Blush) Tickets: $65 -- Visit www.gallimdance.com/support for tickets.

Jan. 13th 8pm - Blush + Happy Hour at Botanica Bar from 6pm-8pm + After Hours hosted by Ashleigh Leite after the performance (free refreshments and snacks!)

Jan. 16th 8pm - Blush + Post-Show Discussion: Fashion and Dance with Jose Solis

Jan. 17th 10am-1pm - Gallim Dance Student Workshop: Adv./Professional Level (Includes class with the company and repertory from Andrea Miller's Blush from 10am-1pm at Baryshnikov Arts Center, a ticket to the 8pm performance of Blush, and a Post-show discussion) $45

Jan. 17th 8pm - Blush + Post-Show Discussion: Meet the Dancers, moderated by Larry Keigwin

Jan. 18th 3pm - Blush


Tickets are available at www.joyce.org/calendar_soho.php or 212.352.3101. Tickets are only sold at the theater starting 30 minutes before showtime and only for that specific show.


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Ambassador Plumber*: or, Oh Good, That's What They've Been Missing

Zip up those pants, puppies - In It Not of It has a brand spanking new writer who goes by the name of Genghis, and he's a godless liberal (/gourmand); hide your children accordingly. 

In recent weeks I've been away from the US of A, and the first thing I like to do when I find myself in the outer reaches of "international-dom" is watch the news.  Nothing symbolizes vacation for me quite as much as CNN & BBC International.  Their priorities actually synchronize with mine, so I can switch off the analytical faculties of my brain for a bit and just consume instead of having to sift through what, at the end of the day, is about 90% data that wouldn't even impress at a proverbial cocktail party.  Like I said, vacation.

For example: When watching CNN in the States, I learned more about Governor Blagojevich than I care to know to this day.  I am concerned that a part of my brain is now irretrievably occupied with the knowledge that the man's first name is Rod and he jogs in a black tracksuit.  At the same time, had I stuck to taking my news solely through the TV, I would probably be completely ignorant of how our nation's enormous bailout package is being divvied up, or that the civilian population of the Ukraine is largely without heat due to a dispute with their neighbor, chubby Russia.  Why is the populace more interested in Rod's scandal in the face of all the other potential stories they could be discussing?  It's a curious blend of celebrity/pop journalism and Americentricism that now inhabits every porous second of a 24-hour news cycle nobody needed or asked for, and these are the sorts of questions I ask myself to stay on top of it.

Call me a cynic, but in that context it's almost nice to watch Gaza footage, considering the alternative is learning terribly useful things like the fact that Joe (who is actually Sam) the Plumber (which is apparently the new English word for "unemployed") is now a war correspondent for an internet-based news organization called Pajamas Media.

Somehow, I can't perceive Mr. Wurzelbacher's presence in Gaza as particularly welcome.  He claims that his "mission" is to commune with his "average Joe" peers and get their stories, but considering the fact that Israel has disallowed foreign press from entering Gaza, I fear those pedestrian tales with all be rather one-sided.  He also possesses a self professed Christian bent, which, in this writer's humble opinion, is precisely what the region needs: just one more religious nut to spice up the combustible stew that is Israel, sitting around, doing, for all intents and purposes, absolutely nothing.

One would hope that the average Joe's of the world might consider adopting "Humanitarian Aid Worker" as their occupational labels, but then one would be seriously underestimating the average Joe's desire to be seen on TV, which was how the U.S.'s fixation with monosyllabically christened menial laborers probably began in the first place.  There is also another discussion to be had about how the GOP's idea of "inexperience" figures into this little situation.  But we'll save that for a rainy day.
---
*The irony does not escape me that in decrying the continuing proliferation of stories about Mr. Wurzelbacher, I have increased his media presence. Thus, in an effort to ensure that his celebrity stagnates, atrophies, and is amputated from the international subconscious as quickly as possible, I solemnly swear to never mention his name again, unless his is struck dead by firepower from which he claims to be quite confident his god will spare him - and I can assure you that such an occasion will merit a much shorter post.














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Friday, January 9, 2009

Red Shirt, Blue Shirt: Verizon acquires Alltel/ Gators Make Sooner Gumbo

Hello all. I haven't written anything in a while but I realized that the deadline I need to meet for my job by today should not affect my passing of knowledge to you great people. So I return to you this new year devoid of unkept promises that many of you made over the beginning of the New Year.

So those Alltel commercials are coming to an end?! I don't really care too much about Alltel and Verizon's takeover of the smaller company. What I, like many of you, am wondering is how will this merger affect the Alltel commercials?! I don't even watch tv that often but in an era full of 'nice try but no dice' ads (ahem, Gatorade's G ads), the Alltel commercials get by with a passing grade.

I don't really know much (at all) about advertising but I do know what entertains me. Swiffer is going to have to win that award because their commercials with Player's 'Baby Come Back' are hilarious. If you disagree, you're a loser. Just kidding. You're at least not as cool and intellectual as I am however.

Ask Grambo about that advertising stuff. I'll stick with College Football. And yeah, I was right: Florida picked apart the Sooners. Though, I may end up wrong about him going in the NFL draft. Most teams can't even take the time to convince Tebow to enter the draft as they are in search of a coach.

And honestly, if you just won the national championship as a junior, was arguably the best athlete in college sports and went to UF, would you leave?! I'll go out on a limb and say that dancing on the beach and being the best at what I do would be more attractive to me than signing contracts and paying taxes and all that grown up stuff that will still be there in a year.

Tebow, Please Stay! You were College Football this season.

two times.
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Race to Madison Avenue

Madison Avenue in New York City has long been the Mecca of the advertising industry. People often refer to it metonymically (Go ahead, google it. new word of the day!) as they would Wall Street for finance. It is where AMC's Mad Men is set, (Perf's favorite show) and where agency giants Y&R and DDB still remain. But while the agencies have scattered over the years as sign of changing times, it seems as though it's racial politics haven't kept up, according to a new study by the NAACP and Mehri and Skalet.

A new study by the two civil rights organizations suggests that the advertising industry hasn't made the strides that almost every other industry in the United States has made in the effort to provide equal opportunity, equal access, and equal pay to minority groups, especially blacks. Spearheading the Madison Avenue Project as it is called, Cyrus Mehri of Mehri and Skalet has studied the compensation and hiring trends of the $31 billion dollar industry over the last couple decades. Their most recent findings probably won't surprise you (especially if you are in the advertising industry), but they reinforce the idea that severe inequality still exists in this industry. From Ad Age:


* Black college graduates in advertising earn 80 cents for every dollar earned by their white counterparts.

* The total U.S. population is 12.8% African-American. Blacks should represent 9.6% of advertising professionals and managers, according to U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission estimates. But actual representation falls dramatically short of that expectation -- about 55% short.

* Blacks are only 10% as likely as their white counterparts to hold a position that pays $100,000 or more per year.

* Compared with the overall U.S. labor market, the advertising industry fares significantly worse on eight measures of employment for black managers and professionals -- by an average of 36.7%.

According to the NAACP's Ms. Ciccolo, black workers "have a better chance of being struck by lightning" than being employed at some agencies.


This study is "laying the groundwork" for a class-action lawsuit by the NAACP on the industry. While now is probably not the best time to push for increased hiring, it is better late than never. A focused and genuine commitment to minority recruitment and equal pay is a good thing for the industry over the long term. In the short term, if anything, it will definitely shed some light on the issue. In 5-10 years, it may breathe life into a flailing industry.

The 'press release' by Mehri can be found here (VIDEO)


(If you are feeling especially academic this morning, feel free to peruse the full advertising industry report)


**A side note, Perf was totally right about the BCS Championship Game last night. GO GATORS!

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Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, everyone! Let's hope this year is better in every way possible. It's 2009, and we have a bi-racial President! That's a good start. So, if you haven't been following the news surrounding PEOBama's picks for various cabinet posts and other key positions, here's the rundown. I'd like to offer my two cents on one particular pick, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.


Okay, here's the thing. I'm pretty sure that when most of you heard that the CNN Chief Medical Correspondent was being considered for the Surgeon General, you must have thought, "Man, Obama's really going Hollywood right now." At least I did. I initially thought that despite his outstanding credentials as an actively practicing neuroscientist, his image has been watered down to a talking head on cable news. Could he really provide the credibility necessary for the post? Then, I thought, Oh, that wily Obama. He's got a trick up his sleeve. Or something like that. You see, now, more than ever, we need leaders who can actually communicate effectively with us. Especially in an era of youtubes and 24-hour news, communication is key, and has to be done effectively almost every time it is attempted. So, then, who better than Dr. Gupta to lead the charge against child obesity, cancer research, and healthier living? Who better to champion the effort for a new, expansive health insurance system that adjusts to the modern needs of Americans? Plus, people already know him. Once we get to learn his story, they will believe in him. Ever since the Surgeon General started pressing labels on cigarette cartons in the 60s (and increasing those anti-smoking efforts in 85 during the Reagan Administration), this post has been increasingly tied to media and public scrutiny. I, for one, think that it would be nice to have Dr. Sanj telling me that I need to exercise more.


And, if anything, at least it's not Dr. Phil, or that creepy woman from the Herbal Essences commercials... (I think she could use a five-dollar footlong from Subway)
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