My childhood was idyllic in most ways. Although we went without iPods, remotes, and cell phones, we had freedom children nowadays don't have.
We lived in a middle class neighborhood -- a 1950s subdivision built for war veterans. Woods to explore. Creeks to fish. Open roads to ride our bikes. Open space to play baseball. Plenty of places to curl up and read a book. No concerns about child molesters or kidnappers.
One thing that wasn't idyllic was Motor Mouth Mo. She had two sons a year older and a year younger than I, a kind of creepy husband who was a civil engineer, no job, and a wicked tongue. Mo lived for gossip. She relished tidbits of information she could turn into full blown interesting but largely false stories that hurt people within the confines of our little neighborhood. It's a gossip's mastery to tell a story with just enough truth in it to catch fire. My family was burned by Motor Mouth Mo fires more than once.
Today, there's another Mo on the scene. This one, while not really gossipping, is more dangerous because she has a national audience and the potential to hurt millions of people. She is Michelle Obama (MO), who, not long ago, slapped American military men and women along with veterans and other every-day heroes when she said for the first time in her life she was proud to be an American.
Apparently, MO's mouth has given up some pretty hard ammo that will be used against her very own BO come fall. According to Hillary supporter Larry Johnson, some claim to have a tape of MO railing against "whitey" while speaking at Jeremiah Wright's church.
Whoa! That's right up there with Jesse Jackson's use of the "H" reference to Jews, and Marion Barry's use of the "B" word referring to a woman. If MO's use of the term "whitey" isn't racist, then neither is anyone's use of the "N" word. Blacks don't have carte blanche to use racist terms. No one does. It's just wrong. And it's not an endearing quality in a woman who finds pride in a country only upon her husband ascending the nomination platform to that country's presidency.
MO should know better, having had a good education and great career. A Princeton grad, MO went on to Harvard Law school, worked in corporate law and as Her Princeton thesis (written in 1985 and currently withheld from public viewing by Princeton's library until Nov. 5, 2008) declares that she apparently discovered her blackness at college: "My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my 'blackness' than ever before." Interesting that having been so in tune with her blackness for the last 28 years, she now emulates the late great Jackie KO, rather than a great black woman, such as Shirley Chisholm, Maya Angelou or Alice Walker.
I attend a Christian church, and I read the Bible. In Galatians it says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (This can easily be understood to mean neither white, nor black, nor brown, nor yellow.) So, I'm not sure what kind of church Jeremiah Wright's is or what holy book they follow. But it sure doesn't correlate with what we read in the Bible. I just don't see this woman being the First Lady of this great nation. Personally, I want a First Lady (or First Mister) who can help a president envision a land in which all children, regardless of their skin, are free to explore, fish, bike or read in safety. Anyone else should be thrown from the train, as BO did with his grandmother.
What do you think?
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
The World's Changing Face
Take look at the world. Make it a long, slow look. Drink in the rich cultures. Gondolas in Italy. The Riviera in France. China's patchwork of farms. Embed those pictures in your mind because they will not be around long.
And this doesn't have to do with global warming -- the hottest day on record was in 1934 and only three of the top 10 hottest days occurred in the last 10 years (check out this site for more information on global warming data).
Rather, the changing face of the world is about low birth rates and sex selection. Western Europeans are not reproducing at a rate high enough to sustain their populations. In fact they're 30 percent below replacement. This creates delicate situations. For one thing, the balance is topsy-turvy.
People are marrying later and having fewer or no children. Remember the family pyramid? Mom, Dad at the top with their three or so children, and their spouses and children? Well, now it's Mom and Dad and their child. This means more people who are older at the top, and fewer young people at the bottom. Old people are considered a burden.
(Think this is not so? Remember the heat wave in France in 2003 when 15,000 people died? They were sick and elderly in hospitals and nursing homes whose adult children didn't interrupt their vacations to return home and take care of their dead parents' bodies, but left it to the facilities to find refrigeration units to hold the bodies until they were claimed. And France had the audacity to criticize America for the 1,100 deaths in New Orleans during Katrina.)
The Easter European countries will survive, but not the nations, not their cultures, because Muslim immigrants are living, working and having families there without assimilating into the cultures. Check out this clip on an issue Italy is facing.
In Western Europe, Russia's population has fallen so low even the United Nations doubts it has a chance to rebound despite recently implemented incentives for couples to bear children. Russia has one-sixth of the world's land mass -- and much of its oil supply -- and only 142 million people, whose life expectancy is 55.
To its south is China with its 1.3 billion people, three-decade-old one-child law, and fanatical emphasis on male children. China has 70 million single young men, more than half of whom will not be able to find a young woman to marry. A migration north may be a plausible alternative.
While not a new phenomenon, this changing face of the world's population bears increasing importance in light of other issues brought together in an article by a former CIA official Herbert Meyer. His four points are worth reading as his perspective is clear, unique, and devoid of emotion. It's also a good defense of the Judeo-Christian society and its embrace of intertwining faith with life in the modern world. For Herbert Meyer's full article, click here.
In the meantime, look at the world around you. Drag out your old National Geographics. Enjoy the view while it lasts.
And this doesn't have to do with global warming -- the hottest day on record was in 1934 and only three of the top 10 hottest days occurred in the last 10 years (check out this site for more information on global warming data).
Rather, the changing face of the world is about low birth rates and sex selection. Western Europeans are not reproducing at a rate high enough to sustain their populations. In fact they're 30 percent below replacement. This creates delicate situations. For one thing, the balance is topsy-turvy.
People are marrying later and having fewer or no children. Remember the family pyramid? Mom, Dad at the top with their three or so children, and their spouses and children? Well, now it's Mom and Dad and their child. This means more people who are older at the top, and fewer young people at the bottom. Old people are considered a burden.
(Think this is not so? Remember the heat wave in France in 2003 when 15,000 people died? They were sick and elderly in hospitals and nursing homes whose adult children didn't interrupt their vacations to return home and take care of their dead parents' bodies, but left it to the facilities to find refrigeration units to hold the bodies until they were claimed. And France had the audacity to criticize America for the 1,100 deaths in New Orleans during Katrina.)
The Easter European countries will survive, but not the nations, not their cultures, because Muslim immigrants are living, working and having families there without assimilating into the cultures. Check out this clip on an issue Italy is facing.
In Western Europe, Russia's population has fallen so low even the United Nations doubts it has a chance to rebound despite recently implemented incentives for couples to bear children. Russia has one-sixth of the world's land mass -- and much of its oil supply -- and only 142 million people, whose life expectancy is 55.
To its south is China with its 1.3 billion people, three-decade-old one-child law, and fanatical emphasis on male children. China has 70 million single young men, more than half of whom will not be able to find a young woman to marry. A migration north may be a plausible alternative.
While not a new phenomenon, this changing face of the world's population bears increasing importance in light of other issues brought together in an article by a former CIA official Herbert Meyer. His four points are worth reading as his perspective is clear, unique, and devoid of emotion. It's also a good defense of the Judeo-Christian society and its embrace of intertwining faith with life in the modern world. For Herbert Meyer's full article, click here.
In the meantime, look at the world around you. Drag out your old National Geographics. Enjoy the view while it lasts.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Rules of Engagement
Well, this subject has been hanging around my "draft" files for quite awhile. It was a news item a few weeks back, and I started to write about it then. The lead I had was not too shabby: It was so obvious that the relationship was so wrong.
The news clip of the item features this guy who takes his girl to an NBA game and proposes to her during half-time. She says no and runs off the court. The national news jumped all over it.
Ok. Ok. It must have devastated him, I was thinking. But this nut was way off base. Obviously, his girlfriend didn't know what was coming -- it was devastating for her as well. After all, this happened at a highly publicized event. Then it hit the national TV news circuit. Even worse, now it's on YouTube.
And that's where I have a problem with this.
Because I like to know that what I'm writing about is valid, I do a little research. A search for "Proposal Gone Wrong" on YouTube will net 28 videos of varying situations and all of them focus on "she said no." When this got so many different hits, I realized this is likely one of the viral pranks where a couple pulls this off at various sporting events around the country. You know, the whole 5 minutes of fame phenom. It's possible that a few of these are even publicity stunts generated by publicists of some professional teams. I would hope it's not probable, but it is possible. It's also possible some rube really got rejected and humiliated on national TV.
Which was the original focus of "rules of engagement." Any person ready to ask another to marry needs to understand a few things. A proposal can't come out of the clear blue. No one wants to be sideswiped -- especially about lifelong love. So make sure some conversation about marriage, children, finances, faith, etc., has been covered. Also, a proposal should be a private moment unless extraordinary circumstances take precedence. And get some input on the ring you want the love of your life to wear the rest of her life.
But there is another aspect to the "rules of engagement." Publicists give public relations professionals a bad name. There is a huge difference. Publicity stunts are empty, showy events the main goal of which is to capture 20 seconds of fame on news clips. This is the new Hollywood game -- do whatever it takes to get in front of the TV camera. Bad publicity is better than no publicity.
On the other hand, public relations professionals work hard to create meaning that will develop relationships between a client and one or more targeted publics. The PR industry polices itself somewhat. In corporate America, public relations professionals must be prepared to prove their value to the bottom line. Most often, these professionals are facilitating the engagement of corporate executives in meaningful relationships in their communities. Mike Cascone, former board chairman of the multi-billion-dollar Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, has made a difference in his local community and the state. He personally has built Habitat for Humanity homes, championed Boy Scouts and led a capital campaign to ensure that inner city children would be able to attend parochial schools at little or no cost. That's substantive. (And just for disclosure, I'm not affiliated with Blue Cross, but I do admire Cascone.)
So to a publicist for a sports team or other nest of celebrities who seeks to get any publicity, step back and think about engaging people in meaningful work. Change the rules. Create an event that not only has style but also has substance. You'll discover you can rewrite the rules of engagement and find satisfaction as well as gratification.
Ok. Ok. It must have devastated him, I was thinking. But this nut was way off base. Obviously, his girlfriend didn't know what was coming -- it was devastating for her as well. After all, this happened at a highly publicized event. Then it hit the national TV news circuit. Even worse, now it's on YouTube.
And that's where I have a problem with this.
Because I like to know that what I'm writing about is valid, I do a little research. A search for "Proposal Gone Wrong" on YouTube will net 28 videos of varying situations and all of them focus on "she said no." When this got so many different hits, I realized this is likely one of the viral pranks where a couple pulls this off at various sporting events around the country. You know, the whole 5 minutes of fame phenom. It's possible that a few of these are even publicity stunts generated by publicists of some professional teams. I would hope it's not probable, but it is possible. It's also possible some rube really got rejected and humiliated on national TV.
Which was the original focus of "rules of engagement." Any person ready to ask another to marry needs to understand a few things. A proposal can't come out of the clear blue. No one wants to be sideswiped -- especially about lifelong love. So make sure some conversation about marriage, children, finances, faith, etc., has been covered. Also, a proposal should be a private moment unless extraordinary circumstances take precedence. And get some input on the ring you want the love of your life to wear the rest of her life.
But there is another aspect to the "rules of engagement." Publicists give public relations professionals a bad name. There is a huge difference. Publicity stunts are empty, showy events the main goal of which is to capture 20 seconds of fame on news clips. This is the new Hollywood game -- do whatever it takes to get in front of the TV camera. Bad publicity is better than no publicity.
On the other hand, public relations professionals work hard to create meaning that will develop relationships between a client and one or more targeted publics. The PR industry polices itself somewhat. In corporate America, public relations professionals must be prepared to prove their value to the bottom line. Most often, these professionals are facilitating the engagement of corporate executives in meaningful relationships in their communities. Mike Cascone, former board chairman of the multi-billion-dollar Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, has made a difference in his local community and the state. He personally has built Habitat for Humanity homes, championed Boy Scouts and led a capital campaign to ensure that inner city children would be able to attend parochial schools at little or no cost. That's substantive. (And just for disclosure, I'm not affiliated with Blue Cross, but I do admire Cascone.)
So to a publicist for a sports team or other nest of celebrities who seeks to get any publicity, step back and think about engaging people in meaningful work. Change the rules. Create an event that not only has style but also has substance. You'll discover you can rewrite the rules of engagement and find satisfaction as well as gratification.
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