5 Things You Should Know: 12.31.2016

5 Things You Should Know: 12.31.2016

December 31, 2016

charles i. letbetter - 5 things you should know: 12.31.16

04:33:14 12/31/2016

https://youtu.be/KkIJvxmtSo0

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This Year Of Misery Ends Today

It’s Saturday morning, children. More importantly, it’s the last day of 2016. We’re finally getting this year out of our way and praying that next year isn’t actually worse, as some are predicting. Temps are on the warm side this morning in Indianapolis, but it’s incredibly windy so it still feels cold. You’ll definitely want to bundle up if you are among those daring to go out this evening.

We’re walking right past the continuing talk about Russia and hacking, even though it now appears they hacked a Vermont utility. We’re also watching but not commenting on a North Carolina judge blocking the state legislature’s attempt to strip power from the incoming Governor. We’ll save those for next year. Instead, we have 5 things you really should know.

China Is Shutting Down Its Ivory Trade

Ivory comes from one primary source: the tusks of bull elephants. As the elephants have been hunted into near extinction, most Western countries, including all of Europe and both American continents, have banned the trade of ivory. While that ban has been in place for several years, one lone holdout has created an incredibly large black market: China. Now, that is all changing as China announced yesterday that they are banning the trade of ivory by the end if 2017¹.

You should know that China had previously announced plans to shut down its commercial market this year, but what makes yesterday’s announcement so important is that they will now stop processing ivory so that it can even be used in the commercial market. All processing of ivory in the country ends in March of this coming year. This is a huge deal for the safety and longevity of African elephants who have continued to be poached despite bans on hunting them across the African continent.

Of course, there’s always a dark side to changes like this. The ban will almost certainly fuel an even stronger black market for existing ivory pieces. Laws for trading existing ivory are much more spotty and differ dramatically from country to country. There are also some exceptions to China’s ban. Still, this is ultimately a good move toward a more sustainable planet.

A Different Kind Of Police Shooting

We have been watching this story with some curiosity as it has grown over the week. On Monday, the Greek Ambassador to Brazil, Kyriakos Amiridis, went missing. On Wednesday, his wife finally reported him as missing. On Thursday, the ambassador’s body was found in a burned-out car. Then yesterday, a police officer admitted to killing the ambassador and by the end of the day it was discovered that the police officer was having an affair with the ambassador’s wife. Both the wife and the police officer are now in custody².

I know, it really sounds like the plot of a best-selling mystery book, doesn’t it? I’m sure the tale will get even more interesting as the entire story unravels. What you should know is that the ambassador’s wife is a native Brazilian, so she likely won’t be able to hide under diplomatic immunity laws in the country. A cousin of the police officer is also being held on charges that he helped move the ambassador’s body. Police say that blood stains on the sofa indicate that the ambassador was stabbed several times before being moved to the car in an attempt to cover the crime.

Officially, the Greek government has not commented on the event at all, which seems a bit strange. Brazil’s Prime Minister apologized, which is standard protocol for incidents such as this. It doesn’t seem likely that anyone with direct government ties was involved, though. This does give Rio another black eye, however, and is likely to further hurt an already struggling tourist business.

When Your Birth Certificate Is Wrong

Mistakes happen just about everywhere, but when they happen on a birth certificate getting them fixed can be challenging, and that’s when the error is something simple. On Tuesday, however, 55-year-old Sara Kelly Keenan finally got her corrected birth certificate in the mail and it’s one for the record books. In the “gender” field, instead of saying male or female, Keenan’s gender is listed as “intersex,” the first time that designation has been made on a birth certificate in the United States³.

Understand, this isn’t a matter of Keenan preferring to identify one way or another. She was born with male genes, female genitalia, and mixed internal reproductive organs. Intersex. Keenan uses female pronouns when referring to herself, but even that comes after no small amount of confusion. When she was born, her parents and doctors agreed to keep her intersex status a secret. Back in the 1960s, intersex people were referred to as “hermaphrodites,” a term that carries a lot of social bias. For three weeks, she was listed as a boy, and then issued a new birth certificate that said she was female.

When did everything change? Her father finally confessed in 2012 that they had hidden the information from her. This comes after years of hormone replacement therapy and confusion. The new birth certificate is important not only for Keenan, however, but for thousands of intersex people for whom neither the male or female gender fits. Given the importance of birth certificates for things such as which bathroom one uses in North Carolina, this is a tremendous step forward that will affect a lot of people from here on out.

Recognizing The Right To Learn

Speaking of gender, A huge step forward in transgender rights came in India this week where a school exclusively for transgender students opened, admitting 10 students who had previously dropped out of school⁴. India has a transgender population of over two million people. In 2014, transgender people there were given equal rights under the law, including the right to marry and inherit land. That doesn’t mean that they are quickly welcomed into society, however, and still face a tremendous amount of bias and sometimes violence. Transgender people are often thrown out of their homes and can have tremendous difficulty finding jobs.

The school in the city of Kochi aims to help reduce some of the problems by helping transgender adults sit for exams necessary to graduate high school. The program is very similar to the GED in the United States. The school has admitted six students so far, with more waiting to be admitted. The students all have a sponsor covering the cost of the education as well as food and housing. The centre also pays for gender reassignment surgery at government hospitals.

Opening the school hasn’t been easy. The school’s founder, who is also transgender, says she approached over 700 property owners before finding a suitable location. Most, she said, didn’t understand what she was trying to do, thinking that she wanted the space for prostitution. While the school is starting small, organizers hope to create a model that can be used across all of India. Approximately 56% of transgender people in India dropped out of high school, so this could be a dramatic turning point for all of them.

And Finally …

Normally, when you think of older people collecting things, one thinks of memorabilia such as pottery or antique furniture and the like. No one ever expects them to be hoarding a fortune in artwork, especially not in their garage. Yet, that is exactly what an elderly French couple was convicted of doing yesterday⁵. The court found Pierre Le Guennec and his wife Danielle guilty of illegally procuring the artwork of Pablo Picasso from the Picasso home and handed down a two-year suspended sentence.

This has not been an easy case to decide, however. The couple didn’t exactly sneak into the Picasso home and steal the art in the dead of night. Pierre was an electrician who was working in the Picasso home at the time of the artist’s death in 1973. The argument has been that the couple was given the artworks by Jacqueline Picasso, who may or may not have had a right to give the artwork away. A feud as to who holds the rights to Picasso’s work lasted until Jacqueline’s death in 1986. Claude Picasso is now generally considered to be the rightful heir of the Picasso estate.

What you should know is that no one knew the couple had the more than 180 paintings and a book with more than 91 sketches until Pierre took them to have them appraised about seven years ago. The artwork is supposedly in good condition despite having been in the garage the past 40 years. The current appraisal stands at about $105 million but could likely go quite a bit higher.

And that’s it. We are done for the year. We are taking a break tomorrow so that we can consider possibly trying to stay awake to see in the New Year. We’ll hopefully be back bright and early Monday morning. Until then, we hope you have a good day. Happy New Year!

Current Issues / News & Comment / video

5 Things You Should Know: 12.30.2016

December 30, 2016

04:15:57 12/30/2016

https://youtu.be/b8VmVPNL2XI

So close and yet, no champagne just yet

Hey, look! You’ve made it this far through 2016! Only today and tomorrow left. All you have to do is stay safe for a few more hours. There are still snow flurries across central Indiana this morning so roads have some slick spots. If you live in the Northeast, you probably need a shovel.

Two more murders in Indy overnight, and if you travel from Indiana to Kentucky, it’s going to cost about $4 per trip to pay for those bridges. Don’t worry, they’ll bill you. More people are opting to stay home tomorrow night and parents are excited that school starts back in less than five days. Is life supposed to be this hectic? We have 5 things you should know to help sort out the important stuff.

Dear Russia: You Suck

After teasing it for the past week, President Obama finally released sanctions against Russia for its part in disrupting the US election by hacking political organizations¹. 35 Russian diplomats have been given 72 hours to make their way back to their motherland. At the same time, he imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies allegedly involved in the hacking.

This marks the first time since the end of the Cold War that such actions have been taken against Russia. Naturally, Russia vows to retaliate in kind with CNN reporting that the Anglo-American School of Moscow has been ordered closed². However, it seems unlikely that will be the only action Russia might take in the matter.

Over the past week, Congressmen such as Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain have called for a tough stance against the Russian hacking scheme. This seems to be about as stern a move as President Obama can make without directly involving Congress, which he’s not inclined to do at this point in his administration. The problem with the President acting unilaterally is that the sanctions may not stick. President-elect Trump seemed rather dismissive of the sanctions yesterday, saying that it was “time to move on.”

On The Count Of Three, Stop Shooting

Despite some early reports of independent skirmishes, the Syrian cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey appears to be holding³. If everyone can keep their fingers off the triggers, the next step would be peace talks next month in Kazakhstan. Allegedly, the cease-fire was signed by the heads of seven major rebel groups, though none of the groups themselves actually admit to having done so.

The cease-fire has to be considered extremely tentative and one misstep by any of the parties involved could cause the whole thing to crumble. Were there only two parties involved, the situation might be more tenable, but with so many splintered rebel groups it is difficult to know when or if everyone has gotten the message, and even more uncertain whether anyone agrees to abide by the terms. For now, every thirty minutes the cease-fire holds is a victory.

What stings is that the US has been completely excluded from these talks. Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, is seen as taking the lead in negotiating the cease-fire, a position President Obama would have certainly liked to have taken but could not. President Obama has admitted that his administration dropped the ball on Syria and as a result, we’ve been kicked out of the game. Exactly how this might play for future negotiations in the Middle East remains to be seen, but we’re no longer in the driver’s seat there.

A Tough Year For Law Enforcement

If you think you’re having a rough year, try being a cop. As of Wednesday, the Associated Press reports that 135 officers have lost their lives in the line of duty this year. That’s up 56% over 2015⁴. Sure, some of the deaths were from traffic accidents, but the number of police shootings has increased dramatically for a number of different reasons.

One event factoring heavily in these statistics is the July 7 sniper attack in Dallas that killed five officers and wounded nine others. More individualized attacks across the country have brought police morale to an all-time low with several officers opting for retirement rather than continuing to take the risks associated with the job. This means more young, rookie cops on the street who don’t have the experience and patience of their older counterparts.

At the same time, police are finding their methods and actions more frequently criticized. Just a couple of days ago, a video tape was released that shows a Ft. Worth, Texas officer shooting a man in the back, contradicting earlier testimony⁵. Incidents such as this not only erodes public trust but increases the danger for police officers everywhere. The two new murders in Indianapolis last night are proof we need a strong police force, but we need to find a way to achieve that while keeping both the police and the public safe.

Moving Closer To A Living Wage

Making a living wage gets a lot closer to reality for workers in 19 states come Sunday morning⁶. Employees in Washington and Massachusetts get the biggest jump to $11 an hour. Raises also come to California, New York, Arizona, Maine, Colorado, Alaska, Florida, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio and South Dakota, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Michigan and Vermont.

The push behind this raise in the minimum wage is a reflection of how our society has changed. Minimum wage jobs, typically implying unskilled labor, were originally reserved for teenagers who lived at home and had few, if any, financial obligations. It was a way to save money for college or buy a car. When the minimum wage was established in 1938, it was never intended to be enough to support a family.

Yet, as society has evolved, it isn’t teens taking those $7.50-an-hour jobs, but unemployed adults, victims of layoffs as far back as 2002, unable to find jobs that fit their skill set, trying desperately to piece together enough part-time work to keep a roof over their heads. While some argue that increasing the minimum wage is unfair and a strain to small business, there has never been an increase in the minimum wage that didn’t end up boosting the economy⁷. We can only hope that this trend continues to other states as well. Lord knows Congress isn’t going to do anything to help the poor.

And finally …

Just when you thought 2016 was almost over, someone goes and throws a wrench in the works. As it turns out, this year is longer than a normal year—by a whole second. The culprit is something known as a leap second⁸. The official keepers of time, an organization known as the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, warned us of such this past summer, but no one was really listening at that point. Now, as the year ends, it comes time to add that extra second, throwing off everyone’s countdowns and making the year just a little bit longer.

Why do we need to add a leap second? Because the earth’s rotation isn’t quite as precise as the atomic clocks that govern how we measure time. The earth’s rotation fluctuates, the atomic clocks don’t. So, every couple of years or so, it is necessary to add a second in order to prevent a misalignment that, unchecked, would eventually have clocks reading 7:00 PM when the sun was directly overhead.

This little second thing can cause some problems. In previous years, it has thrown off airline reservation systems and GPS satellites. The midsummer announcement of this year’s addition was made early in hopes of avoiding such confusion. Yet, what might be most important is that we guard ourselves in that extra second so that no one else dies. We’ve already had enough of that with the time we are normally allotted. Let’s try and stay alive for just one second more.

Speaking of time, we’ve used up all of ours for today. Once again, thank you for reading and/or watching. Please, do stay safe as you travel to and fro. We will have news tomorrow in some form or fashion, but not Sunday. We both can use the break. Enjoy your day.

By the way, did you know that you can sponsor these articles? We’re not even expensive, I promise! Just ask us how!

Fashion / Music / pop culture

10 People Who Should Not Be Forgotten

December 29, 2016

charles i. letbetter - 10 people you shouldn't forget

So many have died, these deserve to not fall between the cracks

Death seemed to come hand-in-hand with 2016 and it has reared its ugly head far too many times on too many beloved people. The lists of notable deaths are the longest I’ve ever seen them. Yet, with each list I notice several who were left out for one reason or another. I understand. When compiling such a list, including everyone is difficult. Whether through oversight or just lack of information, many people get left off lists on which they deserve to be included.

I can’t rectify the omissions of every list one might come across. However, there are ten people often excluded who really should never be forgotten. If you’re not familiar with their lives and their work, now would be a good time to acquaint yourself.

Abe Vigoda

Abd Vigoda. 1921-2016

Abe Vigoda was one of those people who was almost too easy to overlook. He was an everyman; the guy next door or the work colleague you constantly meet in the elevator but never really know. Most obituaries are quick to list his role as Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather, but for me, it was in his role as Phil Fish on the television series, The Barney Miller Show where Vigoda’s chops as an actor really stood out. He played a sad-sack detective who had given up fighting the system and instead fought his hemorrhoids. He perpetually looked older than he actually was, sad eyes, a slouching body, but his wit as an actor was sharp and he had that wonderful talent of making almost anyone around him look good.

He was as comfortable on stage as he was in front of the camera. In fact, he was probably more at home there than anywhere. His career was long, his list of credits impressive, and when not playing a character he had an infectious smile. We need actors like Abe Vigoda who don’t feel a need to hog the limelight and can just enjoy acting.

Edgar Mitchell

Edgar Mitchell, 1930-2016

Being an astronaut sounds like a wonderful occupation, doesn’t it? And being one of only twelve people to actually set foot on the moon had to be exhilarating, right? Ed Mitchell led the kind of life the rest of us dream about.

But imagine what it had to be like, sitting in the pilot’s seat for Apollo 14, with all the disasters of the previous attempt at space flight whizzing through your brain. The dangers were more real and present than ever. He knew that for all the simulations and safety checks, things could still go wrong and there was still a chance he might not come back. If ever there was an astronaut facing impossible pressure, it was Ed Mitchell.

Yet, he did it. He guided the Apollo spacecraft into a successful orbit around the moon, then placed the lander exactly where it needed to be on the surface. They just don’t make heroes like this anymore.

He believed in UFOs and remote healing. Consciousness was a dominant topic for his later conversations. That trip to the moon and back got him thinking in terms not everyone was comfortable discussing. Yet, he deserves to be remembered as the one who looked on an Apollo program in tatters and said, “Yeah, I’ll give that a shot.”

Andy Grove

Andrew Grove, 1936-2016

Most obituaries list Andy Grove as one of the founders and former CEO of computer chip giant Intel. That he was a technological visionary who brought us the digital life we now enjoy is impossible to argue. He should be remembered for that act alone.

However, before he was Andy Grove, technology CEO, he was András István Gróf of Hungary. A teen under the Nazi occupation, he saw how evil the world could be and at age 20 decided to escape, on his own, to the US. It was this drive, and some say his paranoia because of these events, that gave him the skills he needed to make Intel the world’s leading semiconductor company. He knew fear, he knew the risk of losing, and he kept his company from the face of bankruptcy during its infancy.

Gove’s mind operated on a level that would make most of us dizzy. He wrote the book, literally, on semiconductors, and then a best seller on his management style. He was also incredibly generous, giving CUNY a $26 million grant that totally transformed the university’s small engineering school. He was impeccable about details, yet understood that not everyone was a detailed-oriented person. He gave those around him room to be who and what they were best at being.

The digital world is much stronger, much faster, and much safer because of Andy Grove.

Fred Hayman

Fred Hayman, 1925-2016

Whatever you know, or think you know, about Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills is the work of this man: Fred Hayman. Born Fred Jules Pollag in a small town in Switzerland, Fred’s father died when he was young and his mother remarried to Julius Haymann. The family emigrated to the US and Fred’s first serious job was as a waiter at the Waldof-Astoria hotel.

Fred didn’t start out with any concept of fashion retail. Instead, he joined the Navy with the idea of becoming a dentist. That dream was never realized, though, and he eventually ended up back at the Waldorf-Astoria. Hotel work seemed to be his fate and he eventually ventured West where he became the manager of the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

But then, the entrepreneurial bug bit. There were no other clothing shops on Rodeo Drive when he opened his store, Giorgio, there in 1961. There were no boutiques. No perfume fragrances wafting out open doors. What he had was an open bar, a reading room, and a pool table so that husbands would have something to do while their wives shopped. The gimmick worked. So did the yellow/black striped awning that came to symbolize Beverly Hills shopping. His success lured other luxury retailers to the street, making Rodeo Drive the place for the Beverly Hills elite to build their wardrobe.

Hayman eventually sold Giorgio and its signature fragrance to Avon in the 1980s, but still kept a small shop open nearby. I suppose as long as the store remains open people will still remember his name, but don’t forget that this is the man responsible for turning a nondescript shop into the seat of luxury.

Alan Young

Alan Young, 1919-2016

“A horse is a horse, of course, of course.” Those are the words that instantly come to my mind anytime I think of Alan Young. I mean, it’s not just anyone who can play alongside a talking horse for six years and that’s exactly what Young did. As Wilbur, the owner of the contrary and trouble-making Mr. Ed, Young pulled off one of the most tremendous acting feats in television history. Acting alongside other humans is one thing, but anyone who has been around horses know that even the best of them can be a complete pain in the ass on a regular basis. Yet, Young did this for six years as the show became a hit.

What few of us still remember is that Alan Young was a star even before Mr. Ed. Prior to that horse riding into his life, Young had been host of his own variety show and even won a Prime Time Emmy award in 1951. He was a staple on evening television all through the 1950s and 60s and even made a few appearances in film.

Young “retired” for a while after Mr. Ed. But then Disney lured him into the voice-over business as the voice of Scrooge McDuck and other duck-related cartoon characters. His list of credits includes such improbable titles as Ren and Stempy, and Batman: the animated series. This became his second career, one in which he was active right up until his death this past May. So sure, you may not have known his name, but chances are you grew up with his voice, somewhere, in your childhood.

Pat Summit

Pat Summit, 1952, 2016

Women’s basketball never has gotten the recognition it deserves so if you’ve not heard the name Pat Summit before, that’s likely the reason. But hers is not only one you should know, she’s someone worthy of a tremendous amount of respect for one very simple reason: she is the winningest basketball coach in NCAA history. More wins than anyone, including all the guys whose names are recognized all over the world. We’re talking 1,098 career wins. In her 38 years as coach, she never had a losing season. Never. There was no way she would allow that to happen.

Most of her wins came as head coach of the Lady Vols at the University of Tennessee. She was relentless on the court. She pushed her girls hard, but they loved her for it. Ask any of them. I’ve not known any of her players to say anything negative about Coach Summit. She knew what it took to win and she made damn sure her teams got there. The fact that they all happened to be young women was irrelevant. They could have taken on most men’s teams in the NCAA and beaten them, too, were it not for the inherent sexism in the sport.

Women’s basketball arguably owes its life to Pat Summit. The NCAA didn’t even recognize women’s basketball as a sport when Pat started coaching in 1974. She was paid a whopping $250 a month, washed the team’s uniforms herself, and even drove the van to games. There was no budget for women’s basketball back then. Then, she coached the US Olympic Team to its first ever basketball medal in 1976, and things began to change. Her teams weren’t second-rate and she wouldn’t allow the university to get off treating them as second-rate, either.

Off the court, Coach Summit had a wonderful sense of humor and a quick wit when some jackass sports reporter tried subjugating her or her sport. Coach Summit knew how to use humor to defuse tense situations and teach a lesson at the same time. Unfortunately, that time was cut short with early-onset Alzheimers. Coach retired in 2013 and that horrible disease didn’t waste any time-consuming her. The next time you watch a women’s basketball game, though, remember Coach Pat Summit. The sport wouldn’t exist without her.

Alan Vega

Alan Vega, 1938-2016

The music world has taken some huge hits this year with the deaths of some very well-known and popular artists. With all those names in a very lost list, it’s easy to see how someone like Alan Vega might be missed. You probably never attended one of his concerts. You probably never saw his videos. There’s a chance you wouldn’t even like his music if you heard it. Vega was unique, a one-of-a-kind musician with a very limited audience.

So, why should you remember him? Because both punk and electronica grew out of his work. If you’re under the age of 40 and ever go to a nightclub, what you hear is the influence of Alan Vega.

Vega was a revolutionary kind of person. Attending Brooklyn College in the 1960s, he studied both physics and fine arts. He was as much a visual artist as he was a musician. Yet, he didn’t go for any level of conformity. He was part of a group that barricaded the Museum of Modern Art. As part of a project called MUSEUM: A Project of Living Artists, Vega started working with light sculptors made from digital debris.

In 1970s, he formed the band Suicide with his best friend, Martin Reverby and guitarist Paul Liebgott and began experimenting with sound the same way he had experimented with light. They called their music Punk, or Punk Mass, and within the artistic underground of that era they became stars.

That stardom never reached major radio market airplay, though, and Vega’s fame stayed largely within the relatively small community of experimental artists and musicians he influenced. He influenced a lot of people, however, and the resonance of his experimentation exists in much of the electronic and rock music heard today. He never stopped trying something new, even as he continued creating right up until his death. If you are a fan of EDM, punk, or any other electronic-dominated music form, you have Alan Vega to thank.

Pete Fountain

Pete Fountain, 1930-2016

I don’t know how old I was the first time I heard Pete Fountain play, but I remember the song. He took the old gospel melody of A Closer Walk and turned it from a dry, turgid piece of funeral-ready sadness into something with soul. A song that I all-too-well recognized as something that was sung over dead people suddenly had life. That was Pete’s gift. Give him even the shortest rif of notes and he could bring it all to life.

Pierre Dewey Fountain, Jr.,^[3] was born in New Orleans. The rhythm of the city was bred into his veins and infused every note he played. He was sick a lot as a child, probably suffering from undiagnosed asthma. When a doctor advised his father that a music instrument, “something he can blow into,” might help, his father took him to a music store and he chose the clarinet. At first, his lungs were so weak he couldn’t even make a sound. He kept trying, though, and once he started he never stopped. By the time he was a teenager, he was playing regular gigs on Bourbon Street. He never left.

Influenced by the music of Benny Goodman, Fountain created a sound that was unique to New Orleans. A mix of blues and jazz, he created a tone that more woody than most, thanks largely to a crystal mouthpiece he started using in 1958. His sound was fluid and full, never shrill, easy on the ears. He could take the most boring of songs and make them exciting. That didn’t always set well with people who were accustomed to more sedate music. Legend is he pissed off Lawrence Welk with a jazz version of the Christmas classic, “Silver Bells.”

I was thrilled to see Pete live on two separate occasions, the latter being up close in a nightclub where he was unrestrained and played as though every note were made of gold. His style of Dixieland Jazz still lives in artists like Jon Batiste. You can find his recordings in music stores still. There are worse ways to spend your money, to be sure. Take a listen.

Janet Reno

Janet Reno, 1938-2016

Janet Reno is not one of those people who I would have expected to include on a list like this. However, when I mentioned her death a couple of months ago and received, “Who?” as a reply I realized then that her legacy was in danger of going unnoticed. Pay attention, children, some of you may very well owe your life to Janet Reno.

Most notably, Janet Reno was the first female Attorney General of the United States. Nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1993, she served in that position until 2001, the longest anyone had served in that position since 1829. That alone would be enough to earn her a spot in the history books. What she did for women in both the legal and political arenas was immeasurable. Now, add to that the fact that she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1995, understand all the physical challenges that disease created for her, and her accomplishments are even more impressive.

You should know her for more than that, though. Before becoming Attorney General of the United States, Miss Reno was Attorney General of the state of Florida where she broke new ground in the prosecution of child abuse. Most notably, she oversaw the passage of a law that would allow abused children to testify via closed-circuit television so that they would not have to confront the fear of those who had abused them.

Miss Reno’s tenure as Attorney General was not an easy one. It was her Department of Justice responsible for the Branch Davidian standoff outside Waco, Texas, that resulted in the deaths of 76 people. She also oversaw the arrest and convictions of notable criminals such as the Unabomber, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols for the Oklahoma City bombing, and the persons responsible for the 1993 bombing at the World Trade Center.

There is a lot to learn from the life of a woman who was totally and completely committed to the law and justice. Take some time and get to know this incredible woman.

Leon Russell

Leon Russell, 1942-2016

How in the world is Leon Russell on this list? I mean, doesn’t everyone know about Leon Russell? I certainly would have thought so, but after his death last month I mentioned him to five different people, all under the age of 30, and none of them knew who he was. One person thought he was a member of the OJays. Sigh. This is why we create lists like this, children.

Leon Russell was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, a military town surrounded by nothing in the world but dust. I’ve never been there but what I didn’t end up sick. He began playing piano at the age of four, the same age I was when I started playing, and his parents moved to Tulsa. He went to the same high school there as Anita Bryant and formed his first band with Bread’s frontman David Gates. If you ask me who David Gates is I may have to slap you.

From Tulsa he went to Los Angeles where he became a studio musician. His style was popular and he played keyboard on a number of records for groups such as The Beach Boys and Jan & Dean. He was also an active composer and arranger. He wrote Delta Lady for Joe Cocker and over 100 different artists have covered his A Song For You. He produced albums for Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Ike & Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones among others. Perhaps more than anything else, he was a mentor and friend to a young British singer going by the name Elton John.

Through the 70s and early 80s he performed country music under the name Hank Wilson, but he never stopped writing and producing rock through that time, either. If you’ve listened to the 1970s recordings of the Rolling Stones, B.B. King, Helen Reddy, The Gap Band, Bob Dylan, or Willie Nelson, you’ve heard Russell’s influence both in production and often on keyboard.

I could literally go on for pages and pages with this man’s accomplishments. He never stopped. in 2010 he recorded a duet album with Elton John. At the time of his death last month, he was planning on starting yet another tour in January.

You know Leon Russell. You just didn’t know that you know Leon Russell. Now you do. I hope you will remember. Maybe this will help:

Of course, this list, like every other list you’re seeing this time of year, is incomplete. There were many, many more people whose deaths this year deserve observance. This list just touches the surface. One of the most complete lists of notable deaths this year is a “live” list compiled by the Associated Press. Take a look. Go through the names and get to know the people mentioned. They are each notable for a reason. Take a moment and appreciate the way in which they changed their world, then let’s look at 2017 as a chance to change ours.

Current Issues / News & Comment / video

5 Things You Should Know: 12.29.16

December 29, 2016

04:40:59 12/29/2016 Indianapolis, IN

https://youtu.be/BhBApk_RjiU

Nope, 2016 is still not done

Hey there. If you’re waking up this morning wondering if this year is done beating up your emotions, the answer is no. In addition to all the news this morning, the National Weather Service has issued a warning for much of central Indiana on the threat of snow squalls between 3-10pm. Snow squalls are like mini-blizzards, popping up all of a sudden with heavy snow and wind, then disappearing. If you need to get out today, doing so this morning is highly recommended. And if you live in the Northeast, look out. You have as much as two feet of snow headed your direction by Friday morning.

Globally, at least there weren’t any mass shootings overnight. However, stocks fell on the Asian markets, Turkey wants Hezbollah out of Syria, and Philippine president Duterte says he’ll throw people out of a helicopter and that he’s done it before. [Yes, Alex, I’ll take ‘Insane Despots’ for 1,000.] The world is busy today so let’s get right to the 5 Things You Should Know.

A Mother and Daughter Together

We are saddened but not too terribly surprised this morning to learn of the passing of actress Debbie Reynolds overnight¹. Ms. Reynolds suffered a stroke and was taken to the hospital yesterday afternoon. Having been in poor health for some time, and coming just one day after the loss of her daughter, Carrie Fisher, anyone familiar with the situation was expecting this outcome. We can blame the stroke if we want, but certainly, the stress of broken heart was a factor as well.

Ms. Reynolds was an incredible actress and singer who held her own alongside male leads such as Gene Kelly and Danny Kaye in Singing in the Rain. She received an Oscar nomination for her role in The Unsinkable Molly Brown and was nominated for a Tony award for her role in Irene as well. She even had a number one pop hit with Tammy, the title song from the 1957 movie Tammy and the Bachelor.

Her personal life was often tabloid fodder, though. Her first husband, Eddie Fisher, left her for Elizabeth Taylor. Her next two husbands left her nearly bankrupt by the mid-1970s. Through all that, however, she had her children, Todd and Carrie. Now, after years of struggling with her health, it’s understandable how her daughter’s death might lead to her own. She was an incredible talent who raised an incredible talent. Rest in peace, Ms. Reynolds, and thank you for singing.

Important Notice For Heart Patients

Speaking of health, if you or anyone you know has had heart surgery since 2012, you might want to schedule a visit with your doctor, just to be safe. Both the CDC and the FDA have released warnings that a device used to heat and cool blood during heart surgeries may have caused a life-threatening infection². Nationwide, this could potentially affect some 600,000 heart patients at hospitals in every major city in the US.

Locally, Community hospitals have said they’ve sent letters to some 600 of their patients and IU Health is sending letters to approximately 6,500 of their patients this week. Neither Eskinazi nor Saint Vincent used the device. VA hospitals around the nation started sending letters to their patients earlier in the month.

Again, if you receive a letter, or if you have had open heart surgery and since moved, you may want to contact your doctor. The pulmonary infection develops slowly, growing over the course of several months or even years. It can take over a year of antibiotic treatment to cure the infection. While it is not expected that many patients have the infection, the only way to be certain is to check with your doctor.

A Two-State Solution

The United States has had a long history of standing by the side of Israel no matter what they did nor how little sense it might make. That tradition has been broken in the past week as the US first refused to veto a UN Security Council resolution condemning West Bank settlements. Then, as if Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t pissed off enough, Secretary of State John Kerry spent a full hour in a speech at the State Department yesterday, lambasting the country for preventing peace in the region, saying that a two-state solution was the only reasonable avenue to long-term peace³.

Not surprisingly, a number of people disagree with Secretary Kerry’s position purely on an ideological basis. Israel has been the strongest of US allies in the Middle East since its establishment in 1948. However, much of that allegiance is based on religious sentiments and as Israel has ventured more into the West Bank, occupying land claimed by what we now know as Palestine, that relationship has been strained. Israel’s bombardment of schools and Palestinian neighborhoods has been a frequent point of criticism from the rest of the industrialized world, with the US habitually abstaining from saying anything negative about the country no matter what atrocities it might commit.

Now, not only has Secretary Kerry moved away from that support, but it seems Prime Minister Netanyahu doesn’t have as much support in his own country as he thought. Israeli media are reporting that the attorney general will soon announce a criminal investigation into Netanyahu⁴. While the Justice Ministry neither confirms nor denies these reports, Israeli Channel 10 TV says Netanyahu is suspected in two cases, one of which is “grave and supported by evidence.” This entire situation is more complicated than it looks on the surface, so be careful about taking sides.

And The Hits Just Keep Coming

People aren’t the only things dying this year. Sears announced yesterday that it is closing yet another 30 Sears and Kmart stores early next year⁵. While this news really isn’t surprising, it comes as just another nail in the coffin not only for the once dominant retailer, but for mall-based department stores everywhere. This is in stark contrast to the chain’s heyday back in the 1960s and 70s when going to Sears was a big deal. Even as recently as 2011, Sears had over 3,500 stores. This move takes them below 1,500 stores.

I still remember going to the big Sears store downtown when I was little. The multi-story building was the biggest I’d ever seen. It was the only place my parents would shop for my school clothes because they knew I wouldn’t wear them out before I outgrew them. I remember pneumatic tubes at the checkout registers, whisking away checks for approval or credit cards for processing. Now, in this past quarter alone, Sears’ revenue fell 13%, to $5 billion. Same-store sales dropped 7.4%, including a 10% decrease at Sears stores.

There is a lot of question whether Sears and other department stores like it, such as JCPenney and Macy’s can survive. The last time I was in a local Sears store, the place was practically empty. I wasn’t even accosted by a commission-hungry associate. One has to wonder whether the days of the big department stores have come to an end.

And finally …

There is a little bit of good news in the world. I know many new and expecting mothers have worried about their children’s health even before they’re born. One of the biggest increases in childhood disease over the past decade has been the rate of asthma and other breathing difficulties. Now, there is evidence following an exhaustive study in Denmark that consumption of fish oil in the third trimester of pregnancy significantly reduces the chances of a child developing chronic wheezing problems or asthma by age 5⁶.

The speed at which asthma has been increasing in developed countries is one of those things that has confounded doctors up to this point. The level of omega-3 fatty acids, such as those found in fish oil, has been considered before, but the study groups were too small to be considered authoritative. The Danish study looked at 700 pregnant women and their children in determining that the consumption of fish oil may reduce rates of asthma by as much as one-third.

Of course, there is still some need for caution before you go running to your nearest health food store. The fish oil dose in the study was 15 to 20 times as high as the average amount Americans get from food. That might not be such a huge concern were there not problems with the amount of mercury found in the fish we consume in the US. That issue has caused doctors to recommend pregnant women not consume raw fish at all and cooked fish only once a week. More study is still needed and, as always, consult with your doctor before making any changes.

We have filled our allotted amount of time for this morning. There’s not a bit of telling what might happen over the next 24 hours, so please, whatever you do today, be careful. We like having you around, even if it’s only on the Internet. Stay warm and we’ll see you tomorrow.

This article is not sponsored by anyone, but it could be. We’re open to that possibility. Let us know if you’re interested.

Current Issues / News & Comment / video

5 Things You Should Know: 12.28.2016

December 28, 2016

https://youtu.be/yARx2XOyYbE

This year is not over yet

Good morning, we’re back after some holiday complications, ready to tackle what’s left of this tremendously upsetting year. There certainly will be plenty of reasons to celebrate its passing Saturday night. My concern at this point is that the year might try for a big finish. So please, wherever you go, whatever you do, exercise caution and common sense.

As we’re looking at developing news this morning, there were a couple of shallow earthquakes waking up everyone in the Lake Tahoe region this morning. Zsa Zsa Gabor’s adopted son died just a few days after his mother’s passing. And the president, the one who knows what he’s doing, signed a bill yesterday allowing the FBI and DOJ to re-open civil rights cases more than 20 years old. But that’s not what we’re talking about this morning, is it? Here are the five things you need to know.

Our favorite princess has died

Everyone from a devastated Mark Hamill to Daisy Ridley is remembering actress and author Carrie Fisher this morning. Ms. Fisher passed away yesterday after suffering a heart attack while on a flight from London to Los Angeles¹. The actress was on a tour promoting her new book, The Princess Diarist, and had been on multiple talk shows across the US and Europe. The last interview I saw was with Stephen Colbert just a few weeks ago. She seemed spirited and lively.

Fisher’s ability as an author was perhaps greater than that as an actor. Her 1987 book Postcards From The Edge became an international best seller. When no one else wanted to take on the project, she produced the movie version of the book as well. She was open about the challenges she faced and honest about the demons that still dogged her.

Yet, it will always be her role as Star Wars’ enigmatic Princess Leia that we will always remember first. For an entire generation of young people, she was their first Hollywood crush. She played a character that didn’t need to be sexy to be meaningful, but still managed to be sexy anyway. She was tough enough to fight off the boys and take on an empire. She became a part of our lives, our youth, that we will never forget. Rest in peace, Ms. Fisher. You will not be forgotten.

No more mall rats

By now, you’ve likely heard of the numerous incidents that occurred at malls in several cities Monday night. So far, police have not found any evidence linking the different events², but that doesn’t mean there isn’t one and that parents shouldn’t be taking notice for multiple reasons.

First, it has been years since hanging out at the mall was actually cool. I have three boys, the youngest of which is 18. The only way you would get any of them in a mall at any age was if the closest Game Stop was in that mall. Even then, it was go in, buy the game, and get out. The mall was not a place they wanted their friends to see them. This is a large part of why retail malls are in decline. So, if your child is hanging out at the mall, you might consider the possibility they have social issues.

Second, the possibility of a social media connection has yet to be fully explored. Police say they are still investigating that possibility. More than that, though, this is a wake-up call for parents who think they can drop their children off anywhere and not have to worry. Over the past five years, we’ve seen violence break out at everything from graduation parties to church outings. Locally, malls are at least temporarily requiring that any child under the age of 18 must have a parent with them. Parents, time to step up and take some responsibility because your children don’t know what that is.

Behave yourself on that flight

Malls aren’t the only place where one needs to watch their behavior. Incidents of people being removed from flights for various outbursts and bad behavior has increased this past year. In one such incident earlier this month, 80s pop singer Richard Marx and his wife, former MTV VJ Daisy Fuentes, had to step in and help subdue an “unruly” passenger aboard a Korean Airlines flight they were on⁵. Both Marx and Fuentes were highly critical of the airline after the incident, saying that flight attendants did not know how to properly use tasers and ropes that were aboard the plane.

That has now changed. Korean Air told Reuters yesterday, “We have decided to improve our conditions and procedure on using Taser guns to cope with violent acts and disturbances on board in a fast and efficient manner.⁶” What this means is that flight attendants no longer have to wait to assess the level of danger a passenger might pose to others on the plane. Previously, flight attendants were instructed to only use the tasers if the lives of the passengers and crew were in danger or the safety of the flight was threatened.

Exactly how this new policy plays out in the air remains to be seen. Korean Air did not set a time for implementation of the new policy. Still, if I were on a Korean Air flight, I’d think twice before demanding that full can of soda.

Does Versace have a race issue?

Around the world, the Versace fashion brand is known for the look that Donatella Versace herself exhibits: platinum blond hair and a sexy silhouette. We wouldn’t expect to see anything less from her runway shows or her retail stores. However, a charge of blatant racism has been leveled against the brand, complete with a special code used in retail stores to alert employees when a black person enters the store³.

The charge is part of a lawsuit filed by a former Versace outlet employee who says he was fired for being of mixed race. According to the lawsuit, the manager instructed the employee “to say ‘D410’ in a casual manner when a black person entered the store.” When the employee told the manager he was part black, he claims the manager treated him differently and subsequently fired him without cause.

Racial bias is not a new charge for anyone in the fashion industry. Runways are notoriously white, something that has drawn no small amount of attention in recent years. I went back and checked, of the 52 looks shown in Versace’s most recent Ready-to-Wear show, only five were presented on models of color⁴. Yet, that is above the norm and viewed as progressive for the fashion industry. Whether the lawsuit has merit remains to be seen, but fashion as a whole, not just Versace, needs to realize that racism doesn’t work for them anymore.

And finally …

We’ve been told for how long now that print media is dying? I have one word for you: LIES! This may not please the incoming president-elect all that much, but the nation’s largest newspapers are doing quite well, thank you. Several outlets, including NPR⁷, announced yesterday that the Washington Post is expanding their newsroom by adding 60 new journalists. The Post is one of the newspapers the president-elect criticized for their coverage of his campaign. That coverage seems to have paid off, though, as the newspaper reports Post‘s online traffic had increased by nearly 50 percent in the past year, and new subscriptions have grown by 75 percent, more than doubling digital subscription revenue.

At the same time, the New York Times, LA Times, and Wall Street Journal have also reported significant jumps in their subscription rates and profitability. Speculation is that more people are relying on large newspapers and their extensive reporting capabilities to help keep the new White House in check. Throughout the presidential campaign, the newspapers took the lead in fact-checking both candidates and took the lead in presenting any possible scandals or conflicts of interests. Americans who don’t trust the incoming president are hopeful that newspapers continue to force a level of transparency in government despite objections from the West Wing.

Whether this growth trend extends on down to local and regional newspapers remains to be seen, but I certainly wouldn’t count them out so long as newspapers step up to the role of keeping all levels of government responsible to those who elected them.

That’s all we have time to discuss this morning. We’re watching for potential news coming out of the UN this morning as well as a severe weather system forming over Alaska that could affect the Northern US later this week. This year doesn’t need any more causalties so please, whatever you do, be safe out there. We’ll see you again tomorrow.

Current Issues / News & Comment

5 Things You Should Know: 12.26.2016

December 26, 2016

charles i. letbetter - 5 Things You Should Know 122616

The year just keeps getting worse

If you’re reading or watching this, then congratulations, you survived the holidays, which is more than a lot of people can say. We deliberately skipped over all the bad news on Saturday in an attempt to give the weekend a positive spin. It didn’t work, though, did it? The universe just couldn’t go two days without inviting some disaster into our lives.

So here we go, the last week of 2016. We have snow in the Northernmost states, rain across the South and Midwest, with a chance of tornadoes just strong enough to make sure the steps down to your fraidy hole are clear. Bubble wrap your favorite living musician, I have a feeling that fate might try to finish the year strong. From all the disasters, we chose 5 things you should know.

We’ve lost our Faith

Both the US and the UK is in mourning at news of the death of singer George Michael yesterday. The 53-year-old singer is said to have died quietly at his home in London of heart failure. Michael first came to prominence as half the pop duo Wham! but it was as a solo artist that his career really took off and captured the hearts of millions of people around the world. Tributes started pouring in the moment the word hit the news yesterday afternoon.

There are a number of songs for which George Michael is remembered. Faith, Freedom ’90, I’m never gonna dance again, and the holiday favorite of the broken-hearted, Last Christmas. These are the kind of songs that are likely to dominate many of the memorials we’ll inevitably see popping up all over the Internet today. However, the song that might be most responsible for catapulting him to stardom isn’t on most George Michael playlists: I want your Sex.

Released in 1986, the salacious song was wildly popular but left radio stations and the still=new MTV channel with a conundrum as to whether to play the song. Conservatives were outraged that the word sex had gotten onto an album without any warning. Most stations refused to play the song at all. Those who did, limited it to late-night hours. The singer also courted controversy with the song Outside after an LA police officer outed the singer as gay.

Rest In Peace, George Michael, and thank you for letting us know it’s okay to think about sex. Here’s the video:

Russia Loses A Choir

Unfortunately, George Michael wasn’t the only loss to the music world yesterday. There was at first a sense of suspicion when news hit the wire yesterday that a Russian plane in route to Syria had gone down in the Black Sea. The suspicion turned to sorrow, though, when it was announced that the group known widely as The Red Army Choir was on that flight, heading to entertain troops at a military base².

Formally known as the Alexandrov Ensemble, the all-male group was known for their loud if not stirring recordings of Soviet and Russian anthems. However, they group had their lighter side as well and was especially popular for their cover of Daft Punk’s, Lucky during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Sixty-four members of the ensemble, including director Valery Khalilov, were aboard the plane yesterday. Russian officials this morning are saying that mechanical malfunctions were responsible for the plane going down, dismissing any idea that terrorism might have played a role.

While the full group has 186 members, most of the singers were on the flight. While the group will almost certainly rebuild, the loss for the people of Russia is significant. Here is a video of the group doing its cover of Lucky:

https://youtu.be/BYbtAZjB8QM

Carrie Fisher Is Hanging On

Fortunately, not all the news was bad yesterday. Star Wars fans around the world took a deep breath and held it when word was released late Saturday that actress Carrie Fisher had suffered a “cardiac episode” while on a flight from London to Los Angeles. We finally release that breath yesterday when Ms. Fisher’s mother, actress Debbie Reynolds, announced that her daughter was in stable condition and resting comfortably³.

While Ms. Fisher is both an accomplished actor and writer, it is her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise that made her’s a household name. In fact, the actress had been in London promoting her latest book, The Princess Diarist, a memoir depicting her time filming her iconic turn as Princess Leia in the Star Wars film series³. In recent years, Ms. Fisher has not been shy talking about the amount of sex and drug use on the film sets of the 1970s and 80s.

Here’s video of her latest interview just a few weeks ago with The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert:

Fake News Creates An International Incident

Fake news has reared its ugly head again and proven that even those in power can sometimes be fooled by an article that appears to know what it’s talking about. Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif found an article on the site AWD News claiming that Israel’s former defense minister threatened to attack Pakistan if they sent troops to Syria. Naturally, that’s the kind of news that doesn’t set well with a defense minister. Asif did as other world leaders are increasingly doing and took to Twitter to register his objection. He reminded Israel that “Pakistan is also a nuclear power.⁴”

Focus on the key word, “also.” You see, Israel has never actually admitted that they have nuclear capability. Doing so would put any such program under United Nations observation, thus rendering it very much not a secret. Historically, the US has helped keep this not-so-secret secret by blocking attempts within the UN Security Council to demand inspections of the nuclear sites Israel won’t admit that it has.

With that same UN Security Council denouncing Israeli settlements in the West Bank last week, tensions between Israel and much of the world are very high at the moment⁵. The thinly veiled threat was considered very serious. Israel’s defense ministry tweeted back that the alleged news story was fake, but Pakistan has yet to reply to that tweet.

Is Your Makeup Too Heavy?

And finally, here’s something you might not think of too terribly often: the amount of lead in the makeup you use. The Food and Drug Administration released new guidelines last week on the amount of lead to be used in cosmetics made in the US⁶. The non-binding set of guidelines addresses the amount of lead in things such as lipstick, shampoo, eye shadows and body lotions. Generally speaking, most products have a lead content of less than 10 parts per million (ppm). However, there remain a few brands across every category that still have higher lead content.

The renewed concern about lead in products comes as an increasing number of cities are finding high levels of lead in their drinking water due to corroding pipes. Where lead levels in the body may already be higher than normal, lead in other products becomes a more serious issue as the lead builds up within the body and can reach dangerous levels. For people living in places such as Flint, Michigan or St. Joseph, Louisiana, this can be a very serious issue.

Complicating the matter is the fact that not all products list the amount of lead on their label. I talked briefly with Kat about the subject and she confirmed that most makeup artists don’t look at lead content as a point of concern and typically don’t check their products. Again, this new paper is not binding. However, it may indicate a much more carefully managed position by the FDA in the future.

That’s all we have time for this morning. We have some personal obligations today that require us to be on the road early, so we don’t have time to put this in video format before we need to leave. We’ll try and do that again tomorrow. Until then, please stay safe. Hear’s hoping this Monday is a good one.

Art / Holidays / Photography

Holiday Color: A Gallery

December 25, 2016

A reminder that color can exist in a black and white world

The joys of children at Christmas lasts, at the most, five minutes; just long enough for them to rip through the wrapping paper, tear open their presents, then start hitting each other with the boxes. After that, you want, nay, need a distraction. This is our gift to you.

As depressing as the world is, and as committed as we are to black-and-white imagery this next year, we felt it important on this holiday to remind our friends that color does still exists. There is still joy in the world, even though it most certainly has gone into hiding. Peace probably exists somewhere, though I’m beginning it learned the secret to interstellar travel before the rest of us. There are good things, here and there.

We chose pictures that had not been processed before. You’ve likely seen other images from these sets, but not these. We also looked for images with a different, perhaps silly expression; something one doesn’t normally see in our standard portraits. I dared to select some on white backgrounds, though I don’t really like white backgrounds for portraits because it does really strange things to the amber channel.

Holidays do strange things to our senses, as well. We lose many of them. We remember those two or three minutes of joy and then choose to completely forget the rest of the chaos so that we can tell everyone that we’ve had a good holiday. The truth is, for most of us, that holidays fall into one of three categories: a stress, a pain, or a bore. Distractions that can take one’s mind off the reality are welcome.

So, here’s your break. Our gift to you. You’re welcome.

[tg_masonry_gallery gallery_id=”8977″ layout=”contain” columns=”2″]

Art / Holidays / Photography

Ghosts Of Photos Past

December 24, 2016

Memories that won’t scare the Dickens out of you

It’s Christmas Eve. The kids and Kat are all in bed. Even the dogs have snuggled down for the night. Only one kitten, the calico, still roams around, chasing some piece of fluff that is invisible to the human eye. We’ve managed to play it as low-key as possible tonight. Grandpa Bob stopped by for a dinner of ham and dressing, gave the little ones their presents, and watched The Polar Express with them before leaving.

A glass of scotch and a fresh cigar await me. No milk and cookies, thank you. I fear the bump in blood pressure from the cookies more than I do getting cancer from the cigar. The holidays are exhausting and I’m not the one who has to make 28 stops-per-second in order to deliver toys to every child on the planet. The way I figure it, Santa is that alcoholic CEO who barks orders all year and then sobers up just in time to make an impressive showing at the annual stockholders meeting. The elves secretly hate him but he has a face that’s good for business.

Digging back through the archives, again, I came across a couple of photos I didn’t know I still had. They’ve not been seen in almost ten years. I found some others I’d intentionally been ignoring. Between batches of cookies and an absolutely dreadful last-minute dash to the grocery store, a trip that might have cost me my life were Kat not so incredibly calm in a crowd, I managed to edit the set, or re-edit in some cases. They’re not new photos by any means. They’re ghosts of photos past, reminding us of people who were once in our lives with great frequency. As Scrooge missed the merriment of his youth, so we miss the friendships represented in these photos.

Damn it, the little dog just barked at that fat Kringle fellow. I had to ask him (Kringle) to make another loop around the state while I put the fuzzy little beast back in bed. I hope the kids don’t stir. I don’t have the energy to hide the presents. One has to be careful about where they store coal.

[tg_masonry_gallery gallery_id=”8955″ layout=”contain” columns=”2″]

Holidays / PotD

A Walk Through Downtown

December 23, 2016

Seeing the different in the ordinary

Since yesterday was not so blistering cold as to threaten pneumonia simply setting foot outside, I asked Kat to drop me off downtown with the camera for a couple of hours. It has been a couple of years since I’ve gone wandering around down there on my own, so it was interesting to see just how much has changed, and what’s stayed the same.

There’s really no specific point to the photos we took. Part of the challenge of photographing a place with which one is familiar is finding the things that stand out within the things that are ordinary. So as you look at the photos below, see if you can find what’s different in each one. I promise, there’s something in each one. Some are very subtle, others not so much. Enjoy.

[tg_masonry_gallery gallery_id=”8926″ layout=”wide” columns=”2″]

Current Issues / Fashion / News & Comment / video

5 Things You Should Know: 12/23/2016

December 23, 2016

charles i. letbetter - 5 Things You Should KNow 12/23/16

https://youtu.be/QzanwGzbS7I

Festivus for the rest of us

Good morning, and Happy Festivus for those of you who celebrate that particular holiday. Today is the day you get to make your annual complaint. Just don’t make it in my direction because I’m not listening. We have rain moving into the Midwest this afternoon while to our North a major winter storm is developing that could interrupt holiday travel for a lot of people. Wherever you are, please be safe when you’re on the road.

There is a lot to discuss this morning. Uber has moved its driverless car fleet to Arizona after the California Department of Transportation revoked the registration of its 16 vehicles. JetBlue removed some rowdy passengers from a flight carrying Ivanka Trump. And A Lybian plane presumed to be hijacked has landed in Malta. That situation is ongoing and at this point we don’t have enough details to elaborate. Let’s get into our 5 things you should know.

The Tunisian driver in the German market incident is dead

Early this morning, police in Milan, Italy reported that they had shot and killed the man believed responsible for driving a truck into a crowded holiday market in Berlin earlier this week, killing 12¹. Anis Amri had been the subject of a European-wide manhunt, though as of last night Berlin officials said they believed him to still be in that city. Amri pulled a gun when stopped at a routine traffic stop in Milan and was killed in the subsequent shootout.

While attempts to actually connect Amri with the terrorist organization are questionable, the Islamic State has taken credit for the attack in Berlin, which may be part of a broader plan to boost its visibility. Early yesterday, Australian authorities said they foiled a plot to attack multiple locations there on Sunday². The five ISIS-inspired terrorists had planned the attack using explosives, knives, and guns for high profile locations in Canberra, Australia’s second-largest city.

At the same time, there are reports of a list of churches in the United States that have been targeted for attack by the group as well³. National Security Administration officials question whether the list has any authority to it or if it is just rhetoric in an attempt to disrupt holiday celebrations. Security across the US is already heightened after the attack in Berlin, but no credible threats have been identified.

The nuclear arms race may be back on

After decades of deliberate attempts at reducing nuclear proliferation, both Russia and the United States now seem poised to start up the nuclear arms race once again⁴. First, it was Russian President Vladimir Putin stating that strengthening his country’s nuclear capabilities should be a chief military objective in the coming year. President-elect Donald Trump quickly fired back with a tweet saying the United States needs to “greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability” until the rest of the world “comes to its senses” regarding nuclear weapons.

Sounds a bit scary, doesn’t it? There are a couple of things on this topic we need to keep in mind. First, the nuclear arsenals of both countries is getting old. Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties of the 1970s pretty much put a halt to any new nuclear weapons development. As our nuclear stockpile begins to age, there is some danger in radioactive material leaking from corroded containers. Plans have been under discussion for some time as to how the US might upgrade its stockpile without violating existing treaties.

At the same time, however, one has to consider the possibility that Putin was merely baiting the president-elect. If so, it would appear that the trap worked. Mr. Trump’s proclivity toward tweeting before thinking was an issue all through the campaign and this may well be another occasion where someone on his staff shows up today attempting to walk back the gaffe. Either way, there is plenty of reason to be concerned. Talk about nuclear weapons is not a joking matter and taken very seriously by leaders around the world. Any attempt at a new buildup would likely face UN restrictions as well as a Congress not terribly excited about funding such a project.

Worst year in history

If you’re thinking that 2016 has been the worst year ever, you may be correct, at least for the murder rate in Indianapolis. The murder of a man who opened his door and was immediately shot was the city’s 145th homicide. Murder number 146 came late yesterday as police found a man in the 4500 block of East 37th Street who had not only been shot but then set on fire. These murders make 2016 the deadliest year in Indianapolis history⁵.

All this comes on the same day that police chief Troy Riggs announced his resignation and at the end of the first year of Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration. Hogsett ran in 2015 on a campaign of reducing violence in the city. However, despite aggressive efforts to bring the rate of violence under control, homicides have continued to rise. Officials are blaming everything from poverty to substance abuse and mental illness. Chief Riggs said in a statement on Thursday that the fundamental cause remains the fact that too many people are settling arguments with gunfire.

Nationwide, FBI statistics have shown violent crime to be decreasing across the nation. However, in the Midwest both Chicago and Indianapolis have defied that trend with homicides in both cities setting new records each year. Officials in both cities have struggled across multiple administrations without finding an answer to the problem, leaving certain parts of the cities as dangerous as war zones.

Forcing women to work

The president-elect’s transition team is having some difficulty finding artists and entertainers willing to perform at inaugural events next month. Just yesterday, Canadian singer Celine Dion released a statement adding her name to the list of people who have told the president-elect “No, thank you.⁶” This puts her on the same list as Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, and Garth Brooks, among others.

After all the many declines, inauguration planners were happy to announce yesterday that the Mormon Tabernacle Choice and the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes would be performing⁷. Neither addition is surprising as both have performed for inaugurations before. To some extent, their presence is pretty much old-hat.

Wait just one minute, though. It would seem there is some dissension among the ranks of the Rockettes. Pheobe Pearl, one of the Rockettes, wrote on her private Instagram account yesterday that, “Finding out that it has been decided for us that Rockettes will be performing at the Presidential inauguration makes me feel embarrassed and disappointed.”

It’s no secret that an overwhelming number of New Yorkers voted against the president-elect so the dissent isn’t surprising. However, the Rockettes are owned by the Madison Square Garden Company and a union boss responded to Ms. Pearl’s statement saying that any dancer who didn’t participate in the inauguration event would find themselves unemployed. Needless to say, that stance has not set well with the Broadway community nor social media. Something tells me this situation isn’t quite over.

And finally …

We end this week saying goodbye to Franca Sozzani, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia who passed away at her home yesterday with her son by her side⁸. Franca had been editor of the magazine for 28 years, taking on that position the same year Anna Wintour took the lead position at US Vogue. Immediately, memorials began pouring in from fashion’s most notable names expressing their condolences. Ms. Wintour described her as, “warm, clever, funny, and someone who could give the Sphinx a run for its money when it comes to keeping a confidence.^9”Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman and CEO of Conde Nast, the parent company of all the Vogue editions, said in a statement: “France was one of the greatest Editors who ever make a magazine. She was by far the most talented, influential, and important person within the Conde Nast International organization.”

More than just an editor of a fashion magazine, however, Franca Sozzani was a photographer. She was the daughter of a photographer and had an unquestionable passion for photography that was evident in how she put together her magazine. She championed hundreds of photographers over the years, most notably Steven Meisel. She was constantly on the look for emerging photographers and established and supported multiple programs to give those photographers a chance to show their work.

Make no mistake, she was demanding and set a very high standard for the photography that graced the pages of her magazine and even in its more expanded online galleries. Having that small Vogue Italia logo in the bottom left-hand corner of a photo was an incredible achievement, a statement to the world that the toughest of photo editors approved of your work. I am fortunate enough to have that logo on 18 photographs. We normally don’t include those images with our other portfolios, but for the next few days at least we’ve put them all online in memory of a fantastic person who pushed us all to take better pictures. You can see our Vogue Italia portfolio here.

We are once again out of time and space. We hope you will enjoy your Festivus activities and that you will join us again tomorrow as we try to find 5 special things you need to know for Christmas Eve. Don’t forget to subscribe, please. We hope you stay warm and dry. Have a great Friday.

Long Read / pop culture

10 Reasonable Predictions For 2017

December 22, 2016

Some bets are safer than others

Making predictions are always a messy gamble. If you play it safe, your predictions look obvious. If you reach of the extreme you increase the chance of missing, which never looks good. Yet, making predictions for the new year is a bit of a time-honored tradition. Okay, maybe not the smartest time-honored tradition, but hey, you’re the one sitting here reading this stuff, so I’m definitely not alone in the equation.

Typically, predictions stay pretty narrowly focused on a specific genre. There are all kinds of digital media predictions for next year and the number of financial predictions, most of which disagree with each other, is myriad. I’m taking a more global approach this year in an effort to keep it interesting. I mean, how many years can I rehash the same fashion predictions of designers shifting houses and mergers and acquisitions? Oh, and in photography, Canon, Nikon, and Sony will all release new cameras. Yawn. We know those thins are going to happen so let’s look at things that are perhaps not quite so certain.

At the same time, I’m not going to step too far out onto any tree limb. I’ve chosen predictions that are corroborated to some degree by at least one other source if not more. This increases the likelihood of the prediction being correct, even if it seems out there a little bit.

I’m not putting our predictions in any particular order. They’re rather all over the place and trying to rank them feels less than genuine. Any one of them could end up being a huge story over the next year, or no story at all. We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?

The End of Globalization As We Know It

When the Berlin wall fell back in the 80’s, about the time many of you were born, everyone cheered the new openness and the concept of sharing everything and one new, giant world where we could all travel with ease and share common values. We would be citizens of the world, not the US or UK or any other specific country. It was a nice dream and it might have worked were it not for religious zealots bent on taking over the world. Terrorism fueled our fear of immigrants and caused us to guard our borders more carefully. Global recession caused us to question a shared currency and economies where one country’s foolishness can bring down others. Then came global hacking of critical networks.

Now, we feel nothing is safe and as a result we are pulling back. We see this in the British exit from the UK. We see the fear in populist elections not only in the US but around the world. The fear has countries looking for ways to cordon off their section of the Internet, protect their networks from theft or the kind of DDOS attack that took down much of the Eastern United States earlier this year. We are pulling back fast and even if there’s not a physical wall between the US and Mexico, we’ve already started erecting other walls in terms of policy that put us fully in protectionist mode.

Globalization awaits a death sentence in 2017. At the very least, it’s looking at a lengthy prison term until we figure out how to get along.

20% of activities will involve at least one of seven companies.

That list consists of Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. Everything you do, from buying groceries to shopping for blue jeans is going to involve the technology of one of those companies and the greater majority of the time you won’t even know it’s happening. Technology has permeated every part of our lives. We’re not just talking about the Internet here. Financial systems. Appliances. New home construction. Every last bit of it involves some form technology from at least one of those companies.

Where we will feel this transition the most is in the information arena. While social media is already a pervasive source of news, both real and fake, increasingly we’re going to see those same interfaces distributing far more personal information. For example, a simple connection between your Samsung appliance app and your Android phone could pop up a message on Facebook when your cookies are ready to come out of the oven. Or maybe your child’s school sends you a tweet when weather cancels school for the day. Already, Amazon can let you know seconds before the UPS delivery shows up at your front door.

Seven companies control the bulk of digital information and data being transferred from one place to another. These companies are larger than many of the governments around the world. They do what they want and are largely immune to any legislation that might be levied against them. The more I think about it, 20% may be too conservative a number. We’ll wait and see.

Separation of friends along ideological lines

One of the casualties of this past election season has been our friends list and who we follow on social media. We were passionate about this election and many of us were surprised when people we thought we knew, people we otherwise respected and thought were reasonable, expressed support for the political opposition. We unfollowed. We unfriended. And then we blocked. Social media users everywhere reported the destruction of their lists and the frequency with which they had to remove yet another name of what had been a long-term friend.

Now that the election is over, all is forgiven and we’re adding those people back, right? Nope, absolutely not. In fact, we’re still very much on edge about the whole matter. Those who lost are still angry about losing. Those who won are still aggressive about rubbing it in. We’re not friends anymore. That’s not going to change this year, and possibly not any year from here on out. We no longer trust those long-term friendships, not even the ones we held since high school.

Ideological divisions run deeper now than they did a year ago. We’re less likely to agree to disagree because the things over which we disagree matter too much. We don’t want to be friends with someone whose racism rose to the surface three months ago. We don’t want to continue a relationship with people who are willing to judge an entire religion on the actions of extremists. What we have seen this year is that too often those ideologies result in actions we cannot dream of supporting. So, we’ll keep weeding out our friends lists and unlike other post-election years we won’t be making up. Those friends are just gone.

More vegan & vegetarian menu choices

2017 could be a huge year for food on just about every culinary level imaginable. We’re seeing new restaurant concepts popping up in cities such as Indianapolis where food hadn’t been that big a deal before. More people in rural locations are caring about the quality and source of the things they eat. Even small town groceries are changing the stock on their shelves to reflect changes in our eating habits.

Where I think we’ll see some of the biggest changes in 2017 is in the number of vegan and vegetarian menu choices. There are a couple of reasons for this. As much as I thoroughly enjoy being carnivorous, meat prices continue to rise as maintaining production facilities free of diseases seems to be increasingly difficult. I actually saw a roasting hen for which I would never have paid more than $4 or $5 priced at $12 before Thanksgiving. Hell no, I’m not going to pay that price, and chances are a lot of other people are going to, at the very least, cut back on their meat consumption as well.

At the same time, more young people are taking up a pure vegan or vegetarian lifestyle and no, it’s not just a phase. As a result, there is a significantly larger audience looking for meatless options, whether because of price or because of preference. Expect restaurants to take notice of this opportunity and respond accordingly. What we will notice at first is the number of new places opening specifically to serve a vegan/vegetarian clientele. After all, these kids like to eat out. A lot. What will slip up on us, though, is an increase in vegan menu items at traditional meat places, especially fast food. It’s no secret that fast food powerhouse McDonald’s has been testing vegan and vegetarian menu items for a while now. 2017 may well be the year someone finally gets it right.

Streaming video on demand completely takes over

Stop and think for a minute about how many streaming video on demand accounts you have. Netflix. Hulu. Amazon. Those three are likely a given. Oh, but don’t forget HBOGo so that you don’t miss Game of Thrones. And then there’s that Showtime on demand subscription. When all is said and done, you may well be spending just as much money on SVOD services as you once did on a cable package. They add up quickly.

What we’re going to see in 2017, though, is a complete domination of entertainment by various SVOD services. Even the networks are starting to get in on the act with CBS offering its own subscription service apart from needing any kind of cable account to access live shows. Yes, this has your cable company a little frightened, but it’s not something they haven’t seen coming. This is one of the reasons AT&T wants to buy Time/Warner. This is also one of the reasons Comcast and NBC are joined at the hip. Content producers on every level are making deals and acquisitions with streaming providers as fast as they possibly can. By this time next year, you likely will be able to watch any show, any where, any time through a streaming service.

This streaming thing applies to more than video, though. Increasingly over this year, you’ll see more muscle put behind music streaming services, especially through three of the Big 7, Apple, Google, and Amazon. Don’t be surprised if by this time next year they’ve gobbled up smaller services like Pandora and Spotify. If you want to listen to music non-stop it will cost you $10 a month, or you can start buying CDs again. Yeah, they still make those. There could be a backlash against streaming at some point, but I don’t think it will happen in the next 12 months.

Mergers & acquisitions will rock the choice landscape

AT&T and Time Warner. Verizon and Yahoo! and possibly CBS. Mergers and acquisitions are positioned to be one of the biggest areas of business growth, gaining a strength and ferocity they’ve not seen since the late 1990s. What this comes down to is big companies have not been able to develop the technology to keep up as quickly as smaller companies. So, it makes sense for the big companies to buy the smaller companies. This makes the technologies available to a broader audience, increases the services of the larger company, and positively affects the bottom line. Everyone’s happy, right?

Wellllll, that’s not always the case, especially when it comes to technology and media acquisitions. When Rupert Murdock bought the National Geographic magazine, for example, there was wide-spread concern as to whether Murdock’s political ideology might affect the objectivity of the famous magazine. With pending deals such as the AT&T/Time Warner merger, not only does the Securities and Exchange Commission have to look at how the merger affects competition in the cable industry, they also have to consider whether the deal might limit access to content developed by Time Warner’s many creative holdings.

No matter which directions those decisions go, however, mergers and acquisitions are going to be big in almost every industry imaginable. Now is a great time to be an M&A attorney, to be sure. However, if you work at a mid-size company doing work that isn’t highly specialized (such as sales), I’d be sure to keep that resume polished and up to date.

Subscriptions become a really huge thing

Over the past year, I’ve seen plenty of marketing jokes about the dollar shave club. Those jokes are likely to fade into oblivion this next year as subscription services for a variety of products are poised to take off in a major way. Among those who are likely to be big winners are food and conglomerate personal toiletries. Think well beyond the dollar shave club. For $3 or $5 a month you can have everything from vegan toothpaste to organic deodorant along with brushes and combs. At the same time, you’ll be ordering specific food packages personally designed not only for your taste, but emphasizing locally-grown foods, and sustainable desserts.

What fuels this dramatic growth in subscriptions is the fact that the number of people who actually enjoy shopping is diminishing. Our lives are busier than ever and if we’re not working double shifts we’re maximizing our time with friends. The one thing we don’t have time to do is shop even for basic things such as toothpaste and snacks we can binge at 3AM. Subscriptions are an easy answer to that. We give the provider a list of personal preferences and they send us packages at predetermined intervals, all of which is conveniently billed to your credit card.

I’m anxious to see just what services show up with subscription services once they see that the trend has taken off. Will there be taco subscription services? Or maybe we can sign up for regular dress shoe upgrades. I’ve already seen ads for a service that provides one entirely new outfit a month. The foundation has already been laid. Just wait for it to explode.

Lower tax rates, fewer deductions

The last big tax overhaul was 1986 in the middle of the Reagan administration overseen by then Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich. Now, the Republicans are back in control and are ready to do the same thing again. Lower taxes, especially for corporations, were a big part of Republican campaign promises and now it’s time to make good on those promises. Wall Street is pretty much depending on some dramatic cuts and possibly the complete elimination of the inheritance tax, all of which would bouy stock prices.

The downside here is that there are likely to be fewer deductions and individuals and families might even see reductions in the earned income credit. Republicans have opposed raises to that credit the past few times it has come up but have compromised to get bills signed. Now that they don’t need to make that compromise there may be a number of deductions that are completely eliminated in order to pay for those cuts in corporate taxes.

While cutting taxes would seem to require a cut in spending, though, don’t expect that to actually happen. Much of the budgetary spending for the next several years has already been determined by contracts that would be even more expensive to renegotiate. So, it could be very interesting to see how the tax cuts affect the budget without adding more onto the national debt, which is another extremely sensitive topic in Washington. There are still a lot of people up there who don’t understand one can’t have a cake that’s already been eaten.

Your phone is your wallet

Credit and debit cards got an update this year with smart chips designed to make fraud much more difficult. Increasingly, though, we are less likely to have to pull our cards from our wallets at all. A mobile app from Google called Hands Free lets customers pay for stuff at stores without having to pull out their phones. Amazon is already testing their own hands-free technology with a special grocery store in the Seattle area. Plus an app being developed by Visa and Honda to allow drivers to pay for products without leaving their cars.

All this does require that you have a smart phone and that specific apps be functioning. What happens if you pull up to a drive-thru where you have no bars? I’m not sure. No one seems to want to talk about the inherent problems with this new cardless pay system. Hacking of personal data seems to be a high possibility, despite assurance from the big seven tech companies that each step brings with it increased security. The other downside is that this new technology eliminates the need for cashiers, so say goodbye to a whole bunch of unskilled jobs. The move also further marginalizes the poor and those whose credit is insufficient to have a bank account. As the number of stores with cashiers dwindles, where will these people have to go to buy food?

Advances in technology are wonderful and largely inevitable. What we have to do over the next year, however, is make sure that we are not leaving out those who lack the priveledges the rest of us take for granted.

A little more afraid

One of the most certain forecasts for 2017 is that we are all a little less trusting and a little more afraid than we were this year. 2016 showed us just how bad a year could be and how that even the best plans could fail in a colossal manner. Not only does 2017 not look any better, there are plenty of people telling us it could be worse. Given the amount of suffering and difficulty we’ve faced over the past 12 months, we are frightened about what might be coming next.

This fear is driving us in two different directions. On one hand, there is a new wave of activism coming, people who refuse to sit down and let the new administration roll over them and take away their rights. The success of the protests at the North Dakota Access Pipeline this year emboldened many people with its demonstration of how people can stand up to the government and win. Expect to see a lot more marching, a lot more protests, and a lot of requests for money to fund these campaigns.

On the other hand, however, people are more likely to guard their personal finances, to spend cautiously and carefully, and to minimize their personal risks. Expect banks to be more cautious in making loans, which could have a negative effect on the housing and car markets. We are likely to see fewer non-technology startups and people who have jobs are more likely to stay in them even if they’re not especially happy. When our global environment is this uncertain, we tend to be extremely careful about where we step.

That’s the end of our top ten predictions. If I had room to toss in a bonus prediction it would be that alternative energies are poised for a big boost this year, but there are some policy caveats that could derail that growth as well. I’m also concerned about US relations with foreign countries, especially China given its continued aggression in the South China Sea. My hope is that China might back down in order to prevent any disruption in trade, but that entire area of the world is very tentative as we enter the new year.

I’m still working on a separate survival guide for next year so be looking for that within the next week. 12 months can be a very long time and a lot can happen. When these predictions come true, though, remember that you saw it here first. Maybe. Unless you saw it somewhere else first, which would be very, very strange.

Advertising / Current Issues / News & Comment / video

5 Things You Should Know: 12/22/2016

December 22, 2016

charles i. letbetter - 20% of activities will involve at least one of the seven digital giants. That list consists of Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.

04:58:13 12/22/2016

https://youtu.be/eJKvb6KDcp0

A brief moment of clarity between confusion and chaos

Hey there! Welcome to Thursday, the one day this week that doesn’t have some form of holiday attached to it. This is your last chance to catch your breath before all the candles and tinsel and eggnog take over and send the next four days into a complete tizzy. Don’t ask me what a tizzy is. My mother used that word often around the holidays, though, and it is a rather fun way to describe the chaos of the season.

We have seriously bad weather shaping up for this weekend. What it comes down to is if you’re not getting snow you’re probably getting thunderstorms with the possibility of tornadoes across the central states. At least you won’t have to share road space with driverless Uber cars as they’ve had their registration suspended, and the last remaining civilians are leaving Aleppo, Syria today. I look at the news feeds from Reuters and the Associated Press and see a lot of chaos. Let’s see if we can provide a bit of clarity.

North Carolina lawmakers are still jackasses

The whole purpose of the North Carolina state legislature meeting in special session yesterday was so they could repeal the controversial HB2 bill that prohibited transgender people from using the restroom with which they identify. That didn’t happen¹.

Please note that the city of Charlotte kept their end of the bargain. They met Wednesday morning and repealed the anti-discrimination bill that started this whole mess. Heaven forbid transgender people have any legal protections in the state of North Carolina. What was supposed to happen next was a complete repeal of HB2. However, Republican legislators added language to the repeal that would have called for a “cooling off” period of indeterminate length wherein no city or county could enact their own anti-discrimination law, effectively making the repeal moot. Obviously, that didn’t set well with state Democrats who backed off the bill. Meanwhile, hardline Republicans were upset that any repeal was considered at all.

I don’t know what they’re putting in the water in North Carolina but this is one of the most ridiculous displays of improper governance I’ve ever seen. The Charlotte city council has not yet said how they will respond to this breach of trust. It seems almost certain that this could lead to a new round of boycotts and job losses for the state on top of the millions already lost. I think Santa can just skip the entire state of North Carolina this year.

Security concerns across the US

After the attack in Berlin that left 12 dead, and especially given the fact that authorities across Europe are still looking for the Tunisian man accused of the attack, security is on high alert this holiday weekend anywhere large numbers of people are planned to gather². If you are traveling, expect to see more police and TSA officers roaming the concourse and one is likely to see especially high security with international travel to and from Europe.

Here in the US, heavily-armed counterterrorism officers are standing guard at places such as New York’s pop-up Christmas markets in Union Square, Bryant Park, and Columbus Circle. In Chicago, the police presence is especially high at Daley Plaza with police vehicles parked so as to prevent a truck or any other vehicle from getting through. In Los Angeles, where there are several large events planned for the weekend and preparations are under way for the Rose parade, police have placed large equipment at the entrance to large events to prevent an attack such as what happened in Berlin.

While police presence in the largest cities are the most visible, smaller cities across the country have taken their share of precautions as well. Truck rental companies everywhere have been asked to contact local police should they encounter someone renting a truck who cannot give an adequate answer to what their plans for the vehicle might be. Police assigned to large events such as holiday football games and parades are more heavily armed and making good use of canine patrols. If ever there were a time for the phrase, “if you see something, say something,” this would be it.

Telephone patent wars

While many companies are winding down operations for the year and trying to end on a nice, tidy note, Nokia decided this would be a good time to file suit against Apple for patent infringement³. Nokia filed the suits in both Germany and the US, claiming that patents for displays, user interfaces, software, antennas, chipsets and video coding were being used by Apple outside their 2011 licensing agreement.

However, Apple says that Nokia is asking too much for the license to the disputed technologies. To that end, Apple has filed suit against Acacia Research Corp (ACTG.O) and Conversant Intellectual Property Management Inc [GEGGIM.UL], accusing them of colluding with Nokia to extract and extort exorbitant prices for the technology. Where this really gets confusing is when you realize that the Apple suit was filed just one day after Conversant named a former Apple executive as its new CEO.

What this ultimately means for consumers is that new editions of the famous Apple iPhone could be delayed and already high prices could go even higher. While Nokia phones hold an insignificant share of the market, the patents they hold are licensed by a number of phone makers around the world making this an issue that could affect almost everyone’s pocket book over the next couple of years.

The high cost of advertising

Yet another price fixing scandal is in the news this week and this time it involves the four largest holding companies in the advertising industry. Omnicom, Publicis, WPP, and IPG have all confirmed that they have received subpoenas from the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division⁴. The subpoenas are part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of bid fixing for video and post-production services within the industry.

Without talking too much shop, what the Justice Department is claiming is that subsidiaries of the holding group, with the knowledge and implied consent of the partners in each group, are colluding with video and post-production companies to rig bids on large projects in exchange for promising the production companies additional business down the road. Those within the ad industry know this is not an uncommon practice in an effort to win a large, competitive account. Officially, however, the agencies all state that such practices are forbidden.

Where this all shakes out is that the smaller sub-contracted production companies often end up taking a loss while the big holding groups reap the profits. Small companies are hesitant to turn down the request, especially if it means getting to work on a high-profile account such as Ford or Coca-Cola. The downside is that even if the Justice Department is able to prove the big four are guilty of bid rigging, there is not a lot of teeth to their bite. Fines are the only punishment likely to be imposed and the companies would simply compensate by raising prices for their services.

And finally …

We had to do some digging to find much in the way of good news this morning, but we found it out in Arizona where a Virginia couple announced yesterday they had given birth to a set of quintuplets earlier this month⁵. Margaret and Michael Baudinet are the proud parents of four girls and a boy after a very careful and quiet pregnancy. The family temporarily moved to Phoenix moved to be closer to Dr. John Elliott, a specialist in multiple-birth pregnancies.

Anyone who has experienced multiple births knows how fraught with anxiety they can be. Even having twins presents a series of complications not seen in a single childbirth. However, doctors at the Arizona hospital say the delivery of the quints went extremely well. The babies all weighed a little more than three pounds at birth and were delivered within 17 minutes of each other thanks to a team of 24 medical professionals.

While the babies are still in neonatal ICU, they are all breathing on their own and are being bottle fed. The Baudinets plan to return to Virginia with their new family sometime next month.

That’s all we’re telling on this Thursday. Please do be careful as you are out and about with all those last-minute activities. We really do hope you’ll do us the favor of subscribing. That’s all we want for Christmas. Stay warm and we will see you again tomorrow.

Fashion / video

Our 5 Favorite Fashion Films For 2016

December 21, 2016

A different way of looking at fashion

Custom film has become a major factor in how brands communicate their message and even establish some level of dominance. Part of a complicated, multi=-million-dollar marketing campaign, these films are stories unto themselves, dialogues that express a unique perspective on what it means to wear a brand’s clothing. The best frequently employ award-winning directors and several also include recognizable actors.

We’ve watched dozens of fashion films this year, but these five stand out. They go beyond just presenting a set of clothes. They capture our imagination and give us aspirations for how our lives might be should we wear these clothes.

What’s especially interesting is that almost all fashion films are presented without dialog. The viewer is left to interpret the story for themselves, just as we must ultimately interpret a brand’s clothes for ourselves. Labels want to send a strong message that the clothes don’t define the person. Rather, the person defines the clothes.

So here are my five favorites in no particular order. Pour yourself a drink and enjoy.

Christian Dior: Drift

Film by Vincent van de Wijngaard. A little stereotypical with the use of the LA Causeway, but still very well done.

Calvin Klein Jeans, Spring 2016

Featuring FKA Twigs and Kaner Flex

Gucci Stories: The Myth of Orpheus and Eurydice

This is a four-part modernization of the Greek myth that is quite interesting

KENZO: Snowbird

This award-winning film by Sean Baker was shot entirely on an iPhone

https://youtu.be/Bkgc6rqOc8w

PRADA: Past Forward

This very futuristic and esoteric film by David O. Russell is a beautiful piece of noir. Be sure to look for appearances by John Kaczynski and Sasha Baron Cohen.

Current Issues / News & Comment / video

5 Things You Should Know: 12/21/2016

December 21, 2016

charles i. letbetter - 5 Things You Should Know: 12/21/16

8:11:14 AM 12/21/2016

https://youtu.be/w1R_6E5YXRE

And A Happy Solstice To All

Hey there! Happy Winter Solstice! It’s the shortest day of the year, among other things, which means that from here on out the days start getting longer. That’s a good thing, isn’t it? We certainly hope it is. And we’re still looking at warming temperatures as we head toward the Christmas/Hanukkah weekend so hopefully travel problems will be few.

As we look at the news this morning, there is still a lot of clean up from Monday’s events. Police in Germany released the person they initially thought was the driver of the truck that slammed into a holiday market in Berlin and a manhunt is underway. Russia has doubled down on its relationship with Turkey. And officials in Geneva said that the person who shot up a mosque there was not a Muslim extremist. Those situations are likely to be ongoing for a while. So, our five things you should know this morning takes us in a slightly different direction.

And then things went boom

By now, if you’ve been on social media much at all, you’ve likely seen the video a passerby took yesterday as the San Pablito fireworks market in Mexico exploded yesterday¹. While the site was a spectacular event to watch, the death toll in that chain reaction explosion now stands at 29, with 72 still being treated for injuries. Some of those injured have burns over 90 percent of their body.

There is no word yet as to who or what might have caused the explosion. Inventory at the market was higher than usual because of the upcoming holidays. The fireworks market is an integral part of the local economy and something that is carefully guarded. However, this is not the first time that the San Pablito market has gone up in flames. A similar incident in May of 2005 did a similar amount of damage, though fewer lives were lost in that explosion.

Amidst the chaos of the explosions and huge plumes of smoke, survivors ran for the nearest exit, many becoming separated from their families and leaving behind personal items such as cell phones. Relatives are still scrambling to find those who are missing. Sadly, explosions like this are all-too-common an occurrence in Mexico, especially around holidays and religious festivals. Yesterday’s explosion, however, was the worst the country has seen in several years.

Someone has to take responsibility

With tragedy inevitably come lawsuits as victims’ families look to hold someone, somewhere, responsible for the event that took the life of a loved one. Such is the case in Orlando as the families of three men killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting filed papers in Detroit federal court on Monday naming major social media companies Facebook, Twitter, and Google saying that the companies “provided the terrorist group ISIS with accounts they use to spread extremist propaganda, raise funds and attract new recruits.”²

While the grief of the families involved is understandable, one has to wonder if this is not yet again a case of an over-zealous attorney either trying to make a name for themselves or bilking the grieving families out of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees. The families would have to prove intentional and deliberate collusion on the part of the social media giants to win their case, something that is not likely to happen. Pile First Amendment arguments on top of that and the lawsuit is practically dead in the water before it ever starts.

While only Facebook responded to the lawsuit yesterday, the issue of shutting down the accounts of known terrorist cells has been a primary project for every social media outlet over the past couple of years. Twitter was very public back in August when it announced that it had deleted 360,000 accounts since mid-2015 for violating policies related to promotion of terrorism. All three companies, along with Microsoft, are part of a joint effort to prevent known terrorist accounts from proliferating online. Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act protects software companies from speech users post on their sites, making the lawsuit against them even more improbable.

Our sympathies are with the families of the victims, but this lawsuit is nothing but desperate foolishness.

American Apparel is dying

Anyone who once shopped the big malls across the country knows the name American Apparel. They’ve been a mainstay of malls everywhere for over 30 years. However, the retail market has not been nice toward mall-based chains and American Apparel has spent the past several months in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings trying desperately to keep the brand alive. Yesterday, however, a judge agreed to allow the store to close nine locations and approved a liquidation plan should a buyer not be found within a reasonable timeframe.³

The nine stores, which are among some of the brand’s highest profile locations in Atlanta and Dallas, may just be the tip of the iceberg. The entire chain goes up for auction next month, and Gildan Activewear has already set a starting bid of $106 million. However, Gildan is not required to follow through on that bid and analyst are pessimistic about any other buyers attempting to save all 107 locations.

What this means for shoppers is multiple rounds of clearance sales as the company begins divesting itself of as much inventory as possible. However, it is also a warning sign as other mall retailers are beginning to hire bankruptcy attorneys. Fast fashion retailers such as H&M and Zara have taken much of the fire out of mall stores and that entire sector of the industry has been in steep decline for five years now. Expect more fashion-oriented stores to fall over the next two years.

Bobbie Brown exits stage left

The beauty world was caught off guard yesterday as Bobbie Brown, founder of the incredibly popular Bobbie Brown cosmetics line, announced she is stepping away from the brand at the end of the year⁴. Ms. Brown did not say exactly what she was going to do next. She told WWD that the celebration of brand’s 25th anniversary was a milestone “that made me realize it was time to start a new chapter and move on to new ventures.”

The 59-year-old makeup artist certainly has plenty of options available to her as she has dabbled in a variety of closely-related ventures over the years. The brand itself is owned by Estee Lauder and will continue operating under Peter Lichtenthal, global brand president. Ms. Brown is known for being energetic and creative so it will be interesting to see just where she might apply her incredible talent next.

And Finally …

President Obama may have found something that the incoming administration can’t undo upon its arrival next month. Yesterday, the president banned new oil and gas drilling in federal waters in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, a move that, understandably makes environmentalists extremely happy⁵. The move protects nearly 120 million acres of coastal waters controlled jointly by both the United States and Canada.

Normally, we might throw some shade at the move on the expectation that the next president would simply revoke the ruling using the same Presidential power with which it was made. However, this is one instance where the ruling is almost permanent. The president utilized the little-known Outer Continental Shelf Act that allows presidents to limit areas from mineral leasing and drilling. If Mr. Trump attempts to reverse President Obama’s move, he could only do so through a series of lawsuits that would likely take longer to get through the courts than his administration would be in place.

At the same time, it’s not like anyone has been chomping at the bit to drill in the Arctic waters. Shell Oil was the last company to give it a try and they abandoned those efforts after a tanker lost several thousand gallons of crude thanks to a giant gash in its side caused by ice flows in the area. Drilling there is extremely expensive compared to land-based operations. Still, the American Petroleum Institute criticized the move. The president-elect’s transition team has not yet responded.

We’re running incredibly late this morning, so we’ll have to end the conversation there for now. As always, we hope you’ll stay warm and safe. Don’t forget to subscribe, and we’ll be back with more tomorrow.

Just For Fun / pop culture / Social Commentary

10 Things We Don’t Want In 2017

December 20, 2016

Think of this as the anti-list

There are plenty of things we could make lists about, and probably will over the next couple of weeks. One of the big ones, though, is the list of things we really don’t want to see in the next year. With everything we’ve been through this year, there’s not much we really want to carry over. In fact, we’re rather selective about anything new that might be coming along. We’re concerned about what might happen over the next 12 months.

The thing about the future, of course, is that it is what we make of it. No one has a lock on what might or might not happen. We can make the next year better if we put forth the effort.

Of course, I’m not sure I have any faith in people putting forth the effort. We don’t exactly have the best track record given the way we’ve behaved over the past 12 months. So, here’s our list of things that absolutely, positively, unquestionably, should not happen in 2017. And if any of them do happen, we’re going to publicly shame whoever is responsible.

The Bottom Five

10. Awkwardly flavored soda. Actually, we don’t need any new soda at all, but I’m sure someone at Coca-Cola or Pepsi will convince executives that they have a can’t miss proposition that scored really well with a test group that has never actually had soda before. The problem with new sodas now is that, having already explored most of the flavors that occur naturally, all that’s left are the mashups one gets by standing at the soda fountain mixing different flavors together in uncertain quantities. While popular among 14-year-old males, these strange mixes are really just bad ideas with mediocre marketing. No more.

9. Cookie mashups. What are we, two-year-olds trapped in a high chair? I swear, half the new snacks we’ve seen this year have to be the products of parents who were trapped at home with their toddler on a rainy Saturday. Oreos with Doritos? No thank you. Honey-dipped cheese sauce? Please, there’s a reason the kid didn’t actually eat that combination. What’s worse is that these new snack combinations are doomed to some of the worst marketing ideas we’ve ever seen. Honestly, Hershey’s, the Snack Patrol? Someone’s been watching too many late-night reruns. Try keeping things simple this next year.

8. Book sequels not written by the original author. I don’t envy book editors whose job it is to publish material that is going to be profitable before it is actually released. The number of great authors is limited and, for better or worse, a number of those who might have penned blockbuster novels are choosing to self-publish instead. There are a number of classic novels that, at least on some level, seem to demand a sequel that the original author never wrote. Once a writer is deceased, however, there are fewer ethical problems with hiring someone else to write the sequel for them. There’s just one problem with that: the sequels stink. In fact, quite often they stink when written by original authors. Let’s just limit the sequels not part of the original literary plan, okay?

7. New social media sites. Nope, don’t need ’em. I don’t care how wonderful the idea seems. Social media has picked its dominant tools. Only Twitter has any chance of being replaced by a newcomer, and that’s only if it captures the fancy of the Great Orange President. New social media applications are dangerous. We sign up for them, find them to be the most boring things ever, and then promptly forget that we signed up for them, leaving the information in our half-finished profiles open to hackers. Making a bad situation worse is the fact that the hacks are so insignificant that they never get reported. As a result, we don’t know that our information has been hacked. So, let’s try going 12 months without signing up for anything new, okay? Give it a try.

6. New photography/art sites. Photographers and artists are so desperate to sell anything to anyone that they’ll jump on every new site that comes along without bothering to think whether there’s really any chance of one site working any better than another. There’s not. People don’t buy art online in significant enough volume for any site to actually boast any success. Of course, part of that could be due to the fact that the creative work being put on these sites isn’t commercially viable in the first place. Still, we really don’t need any more creative sites that do nothing more than waste our time with empty promises.

The Top Five

5. New terrorist organizations. Sorry, we have too many terrorist groups to keep track of already. I don’t give a fuck how niche your religious beliefs might be or how passionate one might be in their zealotry. Just stay home, keep your fucking opinions to yourself, and put up that bomb-making kit before someone gets hurt. Terrorists need to learn that we’re not going to give in because of violence and they’re not going to win any favor by trying to kill everyone on the planet who doesn’t agree with them. We’re tired of this shit. If you’re thinking of starting a new terrorist organization, just go fuck yourself and call it a day.

4. Attacks on civil rights. One of the most disgusting aspects of 2016 has been the severity with which civil rights have been attacked. This nonsense needs to stop right now and shouldn’t be carried over into the next year. If you’re a member of the KKK or any other white supremacy group then feel free to kill yourself. We promise to not mourn your passing. Hate is a blight on this world and you’re doing nothing but making the planet a less tolerable place to live. And don’t give me that shit about those who dislike hate groups being intolerable. Hate is a choice we can no longer accept. If you choose to hate, you need to not be present in the next year.

3. New reality programming. Reality TV has been nothing but disastrous, culminating this year in the election of a reality personality as president. Given that each new reality program inherently tries to do something more absurd than the shows before it, we simply cannot risk anything new over the next year. We aren’t likely to survive anything more ridiculous and dangerous than the Trump administration. This has to stop here. Please. For the sake of all humanity.

2. Celebrating people who have done nothing of value. This goes hand-in-hand with the reality programming, and for the same reason. Our national obsession with making celebrities of people simply because they’re rich has to stop. We don’t need any more Hadids or Jenners or Trumps. This stupid and nonsensical obsession damn-near destroyed democracy this past year and has placed us on the brink of complete destruction. It is time we started celebrating people who actually help society, people who know what it means to actually work rather than just bossing people around and firing them for stupid reasons. Leave this bad habit right here. No more.

1. Ignorance. Come on, we’re entering 2017. We have access to every bit of wisdom ever recorded and we can get that information at any time on our phones. So, why are we, collectively, so fucking stupid? We need to leave the stupidity behind and make a concerted effort to become a more intelligent and better-informed society over the next year. By doing so, we will inherently eliminate many of the problems that have cause 2016 to be such an incredibly horrible and distasteful year. We also would be taking a giant step toward ensuring that our species won’t be exterminated in the next hundred years or so. If we are going to survive, we have to put ignorance and all the problems it creates right here in 2016. There is no place for it in the future.

Current Issues / News & Comment / video

5 Things You Should Know: 12/20/2016

December 20, 2016

12/20/2016 05:26:21

https://youtu.be/sYns1yuT2TU

It Was A Really Bad Monday

Whew! You made it! You’re one of the lucky ones. Temperatures are even warming up a bit today. We have a balmy 14 degrees here in Indianapolis and the forecast calls for continued warming through the weekend. This is not going to be a white Christmas or Hanukkah for most of the Midwest. Wet, perhaps, but no new snow covering the ground.

I wish I knew where to even begin this morning. Yes, the Electoral College did the deed and elected Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States. China gave the US Navy its drone ship back, and stocks are looking a bit nervous this morning. Yesterday will be remembered, though, as a day of incredible violence, none of which was justified in any way. Of the five things you should know for today, the first three should never have happened.

Death Toll At 12 in Berlin

Berlin, Germany really gets into Christmas. Its open-air holiday markets are a tradition that spans generations. Millions of people from around the world flock to the city during the month of December to shop the artisan crafts and old-world goods that can only be found in this one place. One finds happiness in Berlin this time of year, so it’s not surprising that when a truck plowed into the holiday market there yesterday, the initial reaction was that it must have been a drowsy driver. It wasn’t.

This morning, police in Berlin are saying that the act was intentional and that they are treating the incident as a terror attack¹. Twelve people are now dead as a result of the attack. One of those appears to be the original Polish driver of the truck who was found in the cab. The truck was apparently hijacked earlier by a man German media is claiming to be a Pakistani national. We’re waiting for a press conference later today to confirm that information.

Berlin markets are closed as both the investigation and mourning continues. The archbishop of Berlin held prayers for the victims at noon today.

Assassination In The Gallery

One of the most frightening things about terrorism is that it attacks us in the most unsuspecting of places. When Russian ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov, was invited to speak at the opening of an exhibition of photographs from Russia’s westernmost Baltic region, I’m sure it seemed like another mindless affair of state; the sort of things ambassadors do on a regular basis. He’d read a short speech, shake a few hands, say nice things about the photographs, and be gone.

That’s not what happened. Associated Press photographer Burhan Ozbilici was attending a photo exhibition simply because it was on his way home². He describes the scene as quiet, the ambassador, “was speaking softly and… lovingly about his homeland.” That silence was soon shattered, though, as a police officer fired several shots killing the ambassador. He then menacingly continued yelling, in Arabic, smashing some of the photos on the wall. He would later be killed in a shootout with police.

Tensions between Russia and Turkey have been high over Russia’s support of the Assad regime in Syria, especially in regard to the humanitarian tragedy in Aleppo. Many of the Syrian refugees have fled to Turkey for safety. In a separate attack, a Turkish man is being detained after firing a shotgun outside the US embassy in Ankara³. No one was injured in that incident, but tensions still remain very high even as both Russian and Turkish officials pledge to work together in resolving their differences.

Shooting At Prayer Time

Even Switzerland, which we normally think of as being peace-loving, quiet, and accepting, was marred by violence late yesterday as a gunman opened fire in a Geneva mosque frequented by Somali Muslims⁴. Three men were injured, though, thankfully, none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. A regular worshipper at the mosque said this was the first time they had any problems at the center and that normally no one bothered them.

Even in Switzerland, though, where two-third of the population identifies as Christian, relationships with the Muslim community there, many of which are immigrants from the former Yugoslavia, is tentative. Back in 2009, a constitutional referendum banned new minarets in the entire country.

The body of the gunman was found later on a street nearby, but police in Geneva are being quiet about the shooting, hoping to prevent the panic that often accompanies terroristic incidents such as this. Still, for a shooting to happen in as place like this, where there was no hint of any discord, gives the entire international Muslim community reason to be on guard, especially during this holiday season.

Bathroom Doors May Be Open

The state of North Carolina seems to have difficulty keeping itself out of the news. After passing bills last week limiting the executive powers of the incoming Governor, it appears that same state legislature may be ready to repeal the controversial HB2, dubbed the “bathroom bill,” that required transgendered persons to use the restroom facility matching the gender identity on their birth certificate⁵.

How this all went down is a bit complicated. The whole thing started when the city of Charlotte passed an anti-discrimination bill that guaranteed transgender people the right to use whichever restroom they wanted. That bill motived the state legislature to pass HB2 specifically to stop the Charlotte law. The law proved to be bad for the state, though, costing it several high-profile events and thousands of jobs. So, a deal was made over the weekend. If Charlotte would repeal their law, the state legislature would repeal theirs. The Charlotte City Council took the necessary action yesterday and the state legislature is being called into emergency session specifically to repeal HB2.

Is this really a victory, though? While the elimination of HB2 is a good thing, the deal leaves transgendered people without any legal protection. This sort of “don’t-ask-don’t-tell” approach isn’t likely to work for long. Without specific anti-discrimination laws in place, transgender people are still too easy a target.

And finally …

“You are free to go,” are words being said at federal prisons all across the US as President Obama set a new record yesterday for the most individual clemencies issued in one day by any president. The president pardoned 78 people and shortened the sentence of 153 others convicted of federal crimes⁶. And this is while the man is on vacation with his family, mind you.

Issuing pardons is a fairly common activity among lame-duck presidents during their final days in office. Every sitting president has done the same thing, but President Obama has been much more proactive about the matter. All total, he has pardoned 148 people during his presidency and has shortened the sentences of 1,176 people. He has been very vocal about the need for prison reform, even though his administration was never able to get much legislative traction on the issue.

What many people are waiting to see is whether the president takes any action regarding Leonard Peltier. Peltier is the native tribesman and leader of the American Indian Movement who was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the murder of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1975. From the very beginning of that incident, many have believed that Peltier was a scapegoat and not the person actually responsible for the shootings. Amnesty International still lists this as an unfair trial⁷ and it has been the subject of intense controversy. While native tribes civil rights groups have been lobbying heavily for Peltier’s pardon, however, it seems more likely that President Obama might shorten the sentence to match the time already served. This would allow Peltier to be released but would not remove the conviction.

We are so very out of time this morning. Let’s hope that Tuesday goes much smoother than our Monday did. I have holiday treats to bake. Bundle up and stay safe. Subscribe to our freakin’ post already! Share our articles so we can grow, please. May your Tuesday not be terrible. We’ll see you tomorrow.

Current Issues / News & Comment / video

5 Things You Should Know: 12/19/2016

December 19, 2016

charles i. letbetter = 5 Things You Should Know: 12/19/16

12/19/2016 06:00:43

https://youtu.be/w96bFSw_rpA

A Monday by any other name

It’s Monday and I hope you’re staying warm. The temperature outside is all of one degree Fahrenheit as we look at the world this morning. Most of the nation is going to stay in the ice box for the greater part of the week with some hope for a warm up just in time for the weekend.

Our Muslim friends are celebrating the prophet’s birthday today and for everyone else, the number of shopping days continues to dwindle, especially if you’re ordering anything online. The water is back on in Corpus Cristi this morning, but the good news ends there, I’m afraid. We’ve certified five things you need to know for today, so let’s get to it.

And The Winner Is …

The big day is finally here. In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the Electoral College meets today to put it’s rubber stamp on the United States presidential election. While Hilary Clinton won the popular count by nearly three million votes, Donald Trump took the electoral count sufficiently enough for there to not be any real conflict. While protests are planned for several state capitols¹, quite honestly folks, you’re better off staying inside where it’s nice and warm. You’re not going to change anything.

The Associated Press polled electors yesterday and confirmed that all the emails and letters have not had any effect in changing most elector’s votes.

Wirt A. Yerger Jr., a Republican elector in Mississippi, said, “I have gotten several thousand emails asking me not to vote for Trump. I threw them all away.”

It would take over 70 electors changing their vote for there to be any variance in the outcome. This was the balance the founding fathers wrote into the Constitution². Republican elector Mary Sue MccClurkin from Alabama told the AP: “Our Founding Fathers established the Electoral College because those larger states, those larger areas, don’t necessarily need to be the ones that rule.”

Across the country, Mrs. Clinton won the predominantly urban areas while Mr. Trump swept the rural areas and small towns.

Even when today’s vote is done, however, the election is still not over! Congress must meet in joint session on January 6 to certify the vote of the Electoral College. Our founding fathers wanted to make extra certain there was no hanky panky going on.

Trying to escape Aleppo

The horrendous story of Aleppo, Syria continues this morning, long after this horrible chapter should already have been closed. The latest reports we have from the Associated Press³ and Reuters⁴ say that evacuations are under way this morning after buses were set on fire yesterday, blocking the evacuation of several thousand. Today’s evacuation, which is the last under this very shaky cease-fire, is set to happen in three phases with 1,250 people in each of the first two sets, and the remaining 1,500 in the third.

The United Nations Security Council is expected to vote this morning, deploying U.N. monitors to Aleppo immediately in order to prevent what France has warned could be “mass atrocities” by Syrian forces and allied pro-government militias as they assume control. There are still several thousand people attempting to live in what was once Syria’s largest city. With all the cruelty and genocide we’ve seen over the past several months, the safety of those few remaining is of grave concern.

Of course, this opens questions as to where the civil war might move next. While the battle for Aleppo is ending, the war against Assad-controlled government forces is not and likely won’t be ending any time in the next year. As horrible as this war has been, there is still every chance it could get worse.

Terror at the Castle

Our next story reads almost like the script of an action adventure movie, but unfortunately, it’s all too real. Crusader castle in Karak, Jordan is an extremely popular tourist destination. Built in the 12 century by, you guessed it, Christian crusaders on their way to liberate Jerusalem, the castle was part of a chain built across this region that was once the ancient kingdom of Moab. Tourism in the area is strong and typically does not see much violence.

However, that all changed yesterday as four gunmen took a group of tourists hostage and began shooting at security forces⁵. There aren’t a lot of details other than the fact that the resolution took several hours. In the end, all four gunmen were killed, but so were seven police officers and three tourists, including a Canadian woman. The site is understandably closed this morning as Jordanian security officials try to piece together exactly what happened.

No one has claimed direct responsibility for the attack as of yet, but the Associated Press⁶ notes that violence against tourist areas in Jordan has increased with the rise of Islamic State terrorists in neighboring Iran and Syria.

Death of a Legend

The woman who likely coined the phrase, “famous for being famous,” Zsa Zsa Gabor, died yesterday at her home in Beverly Hills⁷. She was 99, just two months shy of her 100th birthday. Ms. Gabor was one of three sisters, born in Hungary, all of whom made their way to the United States in the 1940s. Eva came first, making a big splash on the big screen. Zsa Zsa came next and tried her hand at Hollywood as well, but turned out to not be the actress or singer that her sister was. Instead, Ms. Gabor became famous for simply being herself, a social icon who married often, flaunted her wealth, and sported a fierce temper.

Zsa Zsa Gabor was known for standing out at a time when most women were expected to be little more than decoration⁸. She not only spoke her mind, but she made sure people heard her when she spoke. Ms. Gabor has arguably been credited, or blamed, for creating the template for those like the Kim Kardashians or Paris Hiltons of the world who become famous without actually doing anything of value. In fact, Ms. Gabor was married for a time to Conrad Hilton, Paris Hilton’s great- grandfather.

Ultimately, though, age took its toll. Ms. Gabor has spent the past five years in her Beverly Hills mansion⁹, suffering from dementia, stroke, and complications from hip replacement surgery, being fed through tubes. In the end, she might not have known who nor how famous she was, but the rest of the world does and remembers her fondly.

And finally …

There is one piece of good news this morning, as National Geographic Magazine revealed that a nine-year-old transgender girl, Avery Jackson of Kansas City, will be on the cover of the magazine’s January issue. Miss Jackson is the first transgender person to grace the cover of the storied magazine and does so as National Geographic devotes an entire issue to changing opinions about gender both in terms of science and public perception.

Robin Marantz Henig writes in the magazine that we are surrounded by “evolving notions about what it means to be a woman or a man and the meanings of transgender, cisgender, gender nonconforming, genderqueer, agender, or any of the more than 50 terms Facebook offers users for their profiles. At the same time, scientists are uncovering new complexities in the biological understanding of sex. Many of us learned in high school biology that sex chromosomes determine a baby’s sex, full stop: XX means it’s a girl; XY means it’s a boy. But on occasion, XX and XY don’t tell the whole story.”

While there has been some criticism, Susan Goldberg, editor-in-chief for National Geographic, says in defense of the issue, “Today, we’re not only talking about gender roles for boys and girls—we’re talking about our evolving understanding of people on the gender spectrum.”

Personally, we applaud National Geographic for taking such a visible stand on gender issues and especially for giving trans people this level of visibility. Hopefully, this facilitates positive conversations and a greater level of understanding.

That’s all we have time to talk about this morning. I’m sure there will be plenty happening today and we’ll do our best to stay on top of everything and bring you the five most important stories you need to know again tomorrow. Thank you for subscribing. By all means, stay warm. Good day.

Art / Photography

A Sunday Gallery

December 18, 2016

Because photography is still our home

I sometimes wonder what it might be like to have a gallery of my own work that I curated for my own amusement. What would I put there? What would I leave out? Would I open my gallery to the public or keep it private?

There are a lot of things to consider in that scenario, not the least of which would be the incredible amount of time it would take to pull prints and have them framed. I rather doubt that I would be up to seeing after everything.

Still, if I were choosing ten pictures for display this morning, it would be the following images. For many of them, this is the first time they’ve been processed and shown to the public. None of them have been processed in this fashion before now. We worked directly from the original RAW files and applied new technologies to our processing methods to create a specific tone that I find intriguing.

I thought oh-so-briefly about adding some type of descriptor but ultimately thought better of it. I will let you see what you want to see and interpret how you wish to interpret. My statement is in the photographs themselves, so nothing more need be said by me.

With our new daily emphasis on presenting verified news, we’re busier than ever now. The process we use is time-consuming as we vet every article and source. That doesn’t leave me a lot of time for just playing with the archives. Perhaps, if you keep reading the news articles, we’ll create a new gallery each Sunday. If you’re really lucky, we might actually shoot new pictures. That would be interesting, wouldn’t it? We’ve not done that in a while.

So, enjoy today’s gallery, please. I’m sorry there’s no way for me to serve you digital champagne. Use your imagination. Make sure it’s the good stuff.

Advertising / Fashion / News & Comment / video

5 Things You Should Know: 12/18/2016

December 18, 2016

charles i. letbetter - 5 things you need to know for 12-18-16

https://youtu.be/6PRETGoM1I0

Partially frozen, never faked

Welcome! This is Sunday morning, December 18. We’re desperately trying to get a grip on things here as we’re now only one week away from both Christmas and the first day of Hanukkah. The prophet’s birthday is tomorrow for all our Muslim friends. The stores would be packed if the entire Northern United States weren’t under a sheet of ice this morning. We’ll talk more about that in a little bit. What’s important is that everyone stays warm and safe as much as possible. We’ll try to keep you informed with what’s going on.

The president-elect is still making more cabinet and senior advisory appointments, there are conflicting reports coming out of Syria as to whether people in Aleppo are actually able to leave safely, and apparently Saturday Night Live was a real hoot. I wouldn’t know, I was already sound asleep. We have confirmed and verified five things you need to know, though, so let’s take a look at those.

One nation, under ice

We’ve been talking about snow and ice for a few days now, but the weather is very much dominating the news this morning as yet another wave of snow and ice fell across the Northern half of the United States yesterday and early this morning. So far, the storm is being blamed for at least nine deaths yesterday, though that number could increase as investigations are continuing¹.

While there were pileups and backed up traffic all the way from Colorado to Maine, the biggest seemed to be along I-95 where reports of anywhere from 55 to 70 cars were involved in a pileup that killed at least two people. Indianapolis police reported over 500 accidents before 8:00 yesterday morning with at least two deaths there as well. The weather has created a mess all across the country that has caused a number of holiday plans to be canceled for this weekend. Exactly how bad this will affect last-minute holiday shopping remains to be seen, but it certainly isn’t good news for retailers who were already struggling to end this year on a positive note.

Don’t think the South got off scot-free, either. From Missouri down through Mississippi there were severe storms and threats of tornadoes yesterday afternoon and throughout the night. While there have not yet been any reports of death, there has been considerable property damage.

Weather like this is enough to dampen even the most stalwart of holiday spirits.

A problem with the water

Everything being cold and wet across the Eastern half of the country reminds us of just how much water has been a factor in news stories this year. Both Detroit and St. Joseph, Louisiana continue to struggle with finding clean drinking water, and this week we added Corpus Christie, Texas to the mix². In case you missed it, a chemical leak is to blame for a ban on any use of water coming from the public water supply in the city of over 300,000 residents. This is so bad, that officials there say even boiling the water isn’t good enough. Bottled water has been brought in and is being distributed.

What we’re hearing now, according to the Associated Press, is that city officials had three warnings prior to this current catastrophe. In fact, Corpus Christie Mayor Dan McQueen, who just took office this past Tuesday, won his position in part by campaigning against the previous mayor’s inability to handle water problems in the city. Officials are hoping that test studies released later today will determine the exact source of the chemical leak. An asphalt plant has been the culprit before, but the city also has a problem with aging lead pipes.

Across the country, the deteriorating conditions of public water systems initially installed in the 1940s and 50s are giving way and pose a serious health threat. Unless Congress acts and provides a serious amount of funding to repair these systems, I fear we could see even more water safety issues throughout the next year.

On your mark, get set …

I’ve heard a lot of people say that they feel like running away, whether because of the political climate or financial pressures or just the challenge of trying to survive. A number of people wouldn’t mind strapping on their running shoes and taking off.

Well, if you can hold on a couple of months, you might be able to get those shoes custom fitted. Adidas has startedselling their 3D-printed shoe in limited release³. For now, if you want a pair of the shoes, you have to order them through the Adidas Confirmed app. Then, when your shoes are ready, you have to be able to pick them up at the Adidas flagship store on Fifth Avenue and 46th street in New York City. You’ll also be paying $333 for the privilege of wearing these state-of-the-art sneakers.

This is a huge move for both the footwear and fashion industries. Designers have been working with 3D-printed clothing and materials for a couple of years now, and both Under Armor and New Balance released their 3D shoes earlier this year. Adidas has significantly larger market share, however, and could easily dominate the market if they are able to get 3D shoes into high scale production quickly. Adidas says this is the first step in being able to provide “customized shoes based on an individual’s footprint – including their running style, foot shape, performance needs and personal preferences.”

With custom-fitted shoes, running may be a lot more plausible.

An insult is a good thing

Around the world, magazines and other periodical publications have struggled to remain profitable in an increasingly digital age. Magazine publisher Condé Nast, who owns brands such as Vogue, GQ, and Brides, has certainly seen its share of problems and has even shuttered some publications and moved several to online-only strategies. However, they may have accidentally hit on a new strategy that could save them all.

Earlier this week, Condé Nast magazine Vanity Fair published an absolutely scathing review of the new Trump Grill in New York⁴. In fact, the headline on the review reads: “Trump Grill Could Be The Worst Restaurant In America.” Now, I’ve eaten in some really bad restaurants and at least three of them were in New York. So, to say the Trump Grill could be the worst in America is really quite something.

Unsurprisingly, the president-elect didn’t like that review too terribly much. He responded with a tweet, as he tends to do, saying, “Has anyone looked at the really poor numbers of @VanityFair Magazine. Way down, big trouble, dead! Graydon Carter, no talent, will be out!” If the president-elect held any respect among the American people, that could have been a death knell for the magazine. But he doesn’t and it wasn’t.

Vanity Fair told Adweek⁵ that subscriptions for the magazine were 100 times the amount they typically sell in a day, setting a record for the number of subscriptions sold in a single day for any Condé Nast publication. The review has had more than a million views online and Vanity Fair’s Twitter followers increased by more than 10,000. Not bad for a “dying” magazine.

Of course, what Condé Nast has to figure out now is how to get the president-elect to issue similar insults for all its brands. One of the best marketing concepts for 2017 may be getting a diss from the new president.

Is all hope gone

The effect of Donald Trump’s insult toward VanityFair underscores not only a severe lack of respect for the president-elect, but a general feeling across much of the United States that we are entering a phase of the country’s history where the president acts without regard to the people on a regular basis.

The current First Lady, Michelle Obama, gave voice to that emotion when she taped an interview with Oprah Winfrey for CBS and the Oprah Winfrey Network that airs this week. Here’s a clip from that interview:

Mrs. Obama’s words struck home:

See, now we’re feeling what not having hope feels like, you know? Hope is necessary. It’s a necessary concept. And Barack didn’t just talk about hope because he thought was just a nice slogan to get votes. He and I and so many believe that what else do you have if you don’t have hope? What do you give your kids if you can’t give them hope?”

The clip has been shared widely since its release this week with a large number of people identifying with the emotion that the First Lady describes. As the nation prepares to inaugurate the 45th president of the United States, it does so knowing that his victory occurred only in the Electoral College and is not reflected in the popular vote nor popular sentiment.

Mr. Trump responded Saturday night to the clip, saying, “she made that statement not meaning it the way it came out.”

We’re out of time for this morning. We’ll have more pictures and possibly a long read later today, so be sure to check back or, better yet, subscribe so that you don’t miss anything! Stay warm. Stay safe. We’ll see you tomorrow.

Holidays / Photography

Making Your Photographer’s Holiday Happy

December 17, 2016

charles i. letbetter - giving your photographer a happy holiday

Because you love us all so much

The holidays are the happiest time of year, are they not? And I just know you can’t wait to share all your happiness and generosity with your favorite photographer. After all, if you had pictures taken any time this year and paid less than $3,000 for the set, then you owe him/her. I mean, my father paid $300 for a single black/white head shot in 1968. What we’ve done for you is probably a bit more complicated. Not that we really care about that sort of thing. We’re only in the business for the art of it all. Eating is totally optional.

Now, I know you must think that we’d all like a new camera, but we don’t necessarily look for you to go with the big bucks. After all, your families should come first. Although, if you think of us like family then, by all means, feel free to respond accordingly. Still, there are plenty of things you could get or do for your photographer that would make them very happy this holiday season. We’ll break them down into three easy-to-remember categories and then you can do what you find appropriate from there.

Big Ticket Items

Okay, so no self-respecting photographer is going to ask you to buy them a new camera for the holidays. Still, some of you have taken advantage of a generous soul and gotten pictures for free. Some of you have been doing this for years and yet, when the holidays roll around, what have you done for your photographer? So, here are some big ticket things you can get that will make them happy.

New Glass. Now, be careful. Not all lenses are created equal and chances are your photographer is pretty picky about the kind they use. Also, not every lens fits every camera. In fact, lenses have to specifically match the brand and type camera your photographer is using. Still, if you have an extra $1,500 or so you’re not using, I’m sure there’s something they wouldn’t mind adding to their collection. Don’t be afraid to ask.

Pack Gear. Carting expensive gear all over the place can be scary. I wince every time I see a camera sitting in the seat of someone’s car with no protection. If you’ve observed your photographer handling their camera in this manner, then getting them some kind of pack or case is something they would almost certainly appreciate. There are several different kinds. My preference for every-day use is an over-the-shoulder bag that allows me to pull my camera out quickly and start shooting. Others prefer backpack styles and hard cases are a must for the photographer who has to fly frequently. This doesn’t have to be a high-dollar buy, but the more padding and flexibility a pack has the better and, sadly, more expensive.

Light Modifiers. Please don’t consider this option unless you know your photographer fairly well and can get the make and model of his lighting gear without being obvious. Many photographers, especially those with smaller operations, are limited in the number of modifiers they can afford. The more modifiers they have, though, the more creative they can be with your photographs. Prices range from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand. Budget accordingly and, by all means, be careful.

Small Ticket Items

Okay, so you don’t have a couple of thousand dollars to dump on your favorite photographer. That’s okay, we still love you and promise you’re our favorite clients ever. You don’t have to spend all that much to make us happy-er. There are a number of things that would make almost any photographer happy to see under their make-shift tree that sits forlornly in the corner of their tiny little apartment.

Camera straps. Think the broad kind. If your photographer is still using that crappy little strap that came with the camera, they need help. Those little straps are practically worthless in a pinch. I’ve been using the same strap for the past 25 years and even though it’s extremely tattered at this point, I know it could still hold my weight if I need it. Embossed leather is a nice touch, or artisanally woven is colorful if your photographer is vegan. Even the best straps are under $200 this time of year, so you should be able to find something that would fit your budget.

Lens Wraps. As simple as these cloths are, they can really do a let to protect lenses, especially if you happen to live in a climate particularly prone to dust and/or sand. They also come in handy if your photographer travels a great deal. Lenses often get jostled around quite a bit during transport and even if the photographer has a good case having a lens wrapped is great protection. This is a perfect gift for the cash-strapped person as most start around $20.

Tripods. Even if your photographer already has a tripod or two, they can never have too many. There are a variety of sizes and kinds appropriate for different shooting situations. Best yet, some table-top varieties cost as little as $20, so it won’t break your budget. Consider what your photographer already has and help them complete their collection.

Won’t Cost You A Dime

Okay, I get it, money’s tight this year for a lot of people. That’s why you asked if we could discount our already-discounted prices. That doesn’t mean we don’t still love you, though, and anything, absolutely anything you want to do for us is still very much appreciated. You don’t have to spend any money to help us out with some of these gifts.

Referrals. I don’t know of any photographer who couldn’t use some extra business this next year. Even if we looked busy this past year, that doesn’t mean we don’t have openings going into 2017. Of course, we’ll be much more appreciative if they’re referrals that pay full price, but we’re honestly thankful for all the business we get. Thank you in advance.

Credit us when you post photos. Chances are we mentioned this when we first took your pictures but we know how easy it is to forget when you’re in the heat of a picture-posting frenzy. We’re not as likely to be upset if the pictures are over two years old and you’re just posting them for memories’ sake, but the new stuff? Yes, please, by all means. We will be most appreciative.

Food & drink. How well do you know your photographer? Almost all of us have a sweet tooth and more than a few of us enjoy an alcoholic beverage here and there. Okay, so this might cost you a little bit. Still, I know very little makes me happier than a tin of homemade fudge or sugar cookies. Granted, they won’t last very long, but for those few moments, we’ll be thinking nice thoughts of you.

By the way, please be considerate when giving a gift to your photographer to make sure you are sufficiently respecting their religious beliefs. Fortunately, both the first day of Hanukkah and Christmas are on the same day this year. If your photographer is Muslim, however, you don’t have as much time as the prophet’s birthday is this Monday, the 19th. Of course, several of us celebrate Festivus and the Solstice and Kwanzaa as well. It’s not going to hurt you to ask which holidays we celebrate, though, because some come with limits on what is acceptable. Me, personally, I’m good with anything at any time. Especially if you’re bringing alcohol. Scotch, please.

Look around. There are a lot of people in your life who provide services for you at or below costs. You know who they are. Show them all some appreciation, even if it’s only a handful of cookies. Your gestures of kindness really are appreciated.

Current Issues / Fashion / News & Comment / science / video

What You Should Know For 12/17/2016

December 17, 2016

charles i. letbetter - 5 things you should know 12/17/16

https://youtu.be/iEwClQMQuck

Chipping away the ice for hot news

Wow, it’s a good thing this is a Saturday and most people can stay home this morning. As we’re writing this, roads around Indianapolis are still a complete mess with a number of people on the Interstate having been stuck in traffic most the night. The good news is that temperatures are finally above freezing and the rain that’s currently falling should help melt most the ice. The bad news is that temps drop back down below freezing after about 7:00 this evening and at that point the rain could turn to snow. Your best best is to stay inside if you can. If you must go out, please be careful.

The news takes a couple of interesting turns this morning. The President reaffirmed his earlier statements on Russian hacking during the election and Republicans in North Carolina are being complete assholes toward their incoming Governor. There’s also plenty still developing so we’ll leave those stories alone and go with these five things you really should know.

China stole our drone ship!

China apparently didn’t think they were getting enough of our attention since the US has been focused on Russia pretty much all week. So, they went out into the South China Sea and took an underwater drone being tested by the US Navy¹. The drone was about 50 nautical miles off the coast of the Philippines and the USS Bowditch was on its way to retrieve the unmanned vessel when China decided to pluck the thing out of the water.

It’s no secret that China has been feeling very territorial about the South China Sea and this event happened the same day satellite photos seemed to confirm that the communist country has militarized a number of artificial islands it has built in disputed waters². Still, this is the most aggressive action that China has committed in the past 50 years and is part of a continuing aggression that is more than a little disturbing.

Fortunately, this morning, China says that the matter is being handled amicably between the two militaries³ and that the US will get their drone back. The Navy says the unmanned vessel was built using commercially available technologies and that no top-secret information was compromised.

Uber Is Making Waves

Uber has been getting in trouble this week with the city of San Francisco after one of its driverless cars was caught running a red light in the city⁴. The problem stems from the fact that San Francisco requires a permit for testing driverless cars, something that limits the days, times, and locations of such testing. Apparently Uber doesn’t like those limitations, so they set about running their cars through the city anyway, hoping that their technology was good enough that they wouldn’t get caught. It wasn’t.

On Thursday, California transportation officials demanded that Uber stop its testing until it had obtained the required permits. Seems like a reasonable request, doesn’t it? Not if you ask Uber. On Friday, the head of Uber’s self-driving car program, Anthony Levandowski, said the company would keep right on testing despite objections from the state. He argues that because there is a back-up driver in the car at all times that, technically, they are not driverless under state law.

Yeah, that excuse isn’t going to fly. Late Friday evening the state’s Department of Justice sent a letter to Uber threatening legal action if they didn’t stop testing⁵. Uber promptly sent another fleet of SUVs into the streets⁶.

Bypassing The Press

Here’s an interesting question for you: how many politicians do you follow on social media? If you’re like me, you see enough of them in the news to not want their ugly mugs popping up between videos of kittens playing and puppies frolicking. Most of us like our social media feeds to be happy places.

You may want to change up your approach, however, if you want to keep up with what’s going on. The Associated Press is reporting that politicians at both the state and federal level are increasingly bypassing the press and using social media as a means of getting their message directly to the voters⁷. Most famously, we’ve all see how the president-elect makes effective use of his Twitter account. By contrast, Mr. Trump hasn’t had an actual press conference in over 140 days according to NPR⁸.

Using social media is attractive for a couple of reasons. First, it’s cheap. All one needs is a cell phone and they can broadcast live on a number of platforms. Secondly, it removes any chance for a sharp reporter to directly challenge the politician’s statements. Without a challenge, however, the politician, as we’ve frequently seen, can lie through their teeth. People then believe those lies and vote accordingly. There’s no question this is a dangerous trend, but those who want to stay informed have no choice but to follow along.

And baby makes … 4?

You know that talk you had with your adolescent child about how babies are made? Well, you might need to adjust your story just a little bit. Britain’s fertility regulator has approved a controversial method through which doctors can use the DNA of three people rather than two when creating new babies⁹. The method is intended to avoid incidents of children inheriting mitochondrial disease from their parents.

This is an extremely significant development in the field of medicine and trying to explain it quickly is almost impossible. Damaged mitochondria can result in life-threatening diseases such as muscular dystrophy, organ failure, and muscle weakness. The new process removes the nucleus DNA from the egg of the would-be mother and inserts it into an egg from someone else which has had the donor DNA removed. This occurs before the egg is fertilized.

The procedure is not legal in the United States at this time. The FDA has been very slow in approving measures such as this given the legal and social implications surrounding parenthood. Critics also claim that this procedure opens the door to genetically modified “designer babies.” The ethics are quite blurry for some, but from here it seems that saving the life of a child is more important than the threat of future misuse of the technology.

And finally …

Five UK modeling agencies are in trouble after Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority fined them a total of £1.5 million ($1.8 million) for fixing prices charged to fashion retailers between April of 2013 and March of 2015¹⁰. The CMA claims the agencies, “colluded with each other over their approach to pricing and, in some instances, the agencies agreed to fix minimum prices.” The agencies involved include some major names in the UK market: FM Models, Models 1, Premier, Storm, Viva, as well as their trade group, the Association of Model Agents.

Of course, the agencies say they’ve done nothing wrong and are only trying to protect the best interest of their models. Yeah, right. What they’re protecting are their profit margins. Models are seen as a commodity and incidents of mistreatment and even abuse run rampant. While the agencies all say they’ll fight the fines in court, the reality is that unless clients are made aware of set minimums ahead of time they’re illegal.

Could the same thing be happening in the United States? Quite possibly so, but since model agencies here are all independent proving such a claim would be almost impossible.

That’s all we have time for this morning. Looking out the window, I’m not sure road conditions have improved from when we started. Please be careful out there. Better yet, stay inside and catch up on some of the stories you’ve missed this week. We have plenty that you likely haven’t seen yet. Take care and make the most of your day.

Holidays / PotD

Snarking Up The Holidays

December 16, 2016

Because holidays aren’t fun if you play them straight

There is so much going on in the world today that makes it almost seem wrong to feel happy or even smile. There’s the election results, the possibility of a Russian intrusion into our system, the upside down, nonsensical manner in which cabinet members are being selected, the whining and the crying over Facebook’s take on fake news, and just an incredible amount of stupidity on the part of far too many people.

This has been a rough year, no doubt about it. As a result, I think there’s plenty of room to be a bit snarky about the holidays. If one has any Grinch tendencies, now’s the time to let them all out, get them aired and out of the way and then everyone can go on with their lives. Maybe if we let the snark out a bit, we might actually feel a little better because one of the less joyous emotions about this time of year is everyone is so freakin’ busy with their shopping and gift wrapping that they don’t actually listen to why you’re saying unless you stomp your feet and shout a little bit.

So, we’re going to go full snark for a little bit and just air some of our grievances about the whole holiday season. I’m putting on my green Grinch suit and hooking the little lost dog up to a sled with the demand he pulls me to the nearest Chinese buffet. It’s time we cleared the air about a few things.

What’s the deal?

Why the fuck is everyone taking a full two-week vacation this year? Late night talk show hosts are wishing everyone a Merry Christmas tonight and won’t be back until January 2 or 3. Most network series have already gone on hiatus for the month unless their ratings need the boost from being the only fresh thing still on television. Companies were all having their holiday parties this week so that no one would be left out. There are even some smaller shops in the local area who posted notices they’ll be closed starting the 19th. What the fuck? Since when did everyone get a two-week break?

Of course, this goes along with the typically inconvenient break kids get from school. Back when I was a kid and we walked across mountains that no longer exist, we didn’t get out for winter break until the 22nd or 23rd of December, depending on what day of the week Christmas actually hit. We were still back on January 2, too. School didn’t let out for just any willy-nilly reason because our parents worked, dammit. They didn’t have time to stay home and take care of our rambunctious asses. That’s probably a good thing, too, because I’m pretty sure that if they had we’d have gone back to school missing a few classmates. Our parents took capital punishment seriously.

The last two weeks of the year are always lousy if you want to actually get anything done at work, too. I remember when I was still considered a rookie and was too poor to take any time off work. Trying to get anything done was impossible. Half the people necessary to sign off on anything were gone until the first of the year. We’d have our weekly department meeting and only three out of 27 of us would be there. And good luck trying to find a model this time of year. The agencies would just laugh when we called. I don’t see how companies don’t go bankrupt with no one getting any actual work done.

None of this makes any sense

I would still like to know who the fuck thought it would be a good idea to put the biggest holiday of the year right smack in the middle of the most inhospitable and contrary weather we have. My guess is it was someone down under where they’re having a nice, cozy summer right about now because a holiday in December makes absolutely no freakin’ sense in the Northern hemisphere. I mean, have you looked outside recently? If you live in the Northern United States, all you see is white and cold. Folks in the state of Maine are looking at temperatures this weekend that could reach -40°! No one wants to get out and go shopping in that kind of weather, and I don’t care how much they’re getting paid, the guys at UPS don’t want to be out there delivering your online orders, either. Having a major holiday that involves traveling and being outside for any reason in the middle of winter is just fucking stupid.

Besides, everyone knows Jesus wasn’t born on December 25. Let’s just stop perpetuating that stupid little myth.

Which brings us to another major annoyance I happen to have. People get all upset about the “war on Christmas” when Christmas is actually a war on Solstice celebrations. Facts are facts, folks, and there are more than enough documents to support me in this. Early Christians flat out stole the Christmas tree, putting candles or lights on said tree, the concept of gift giving, wrapping paper, and even that whole story about some fat guy in a red suit. Every last one of those ideas was stolen from pagans. There’s absolutely nothing genuinely Christian about Christmas, so stop getting so fucking upset if someone says “Happy Holidays” or if the decorations on your coffee cup aren’t too your liking. There is no fucking war on Christmas. The war is in Syria and they don’t have time for Christmas because all the children are dead now, thank you.

Don’t think you’re any better with Islamic or Jewish traditions either. Our Jewish friends are all about celebrating Hanukkah for eight days. They’ve made a party around some slow-burning oil in the middle of a relatively minor skirmish in the middle of a war they actually lost. Yeah, that really sounds like something to celebrate. Meanwhile, Muslims celebrate the birthday of their prophet on Monday, the 19th, assuming they’re paying attention. You see, they use some strange system where the prophet’s birthday never falls on the same day each year. Last year, it was back in the middle of summer, which makes a helluva lot more sense anyway. And they can’t say his name nor depict his likeness without getting into trouble, which makes greeting cards and singing Happy Birthday a little more than awkward.

Have I insulted enough people yet? No? Okay, I’ll continue.

‘Tis The Season To Be Greedy

I’m not so sure but maybe it’s time to revise the whole Santa Claus story. After all, for far too many people in America, the very concept of a fat white guy entering their house in the middle of the night is not a good omen. Shit’s going to go down and it’s not going to be pretty, elves or not. Maybe if Santa took the form of your kind but lonely uncle who never married and spends most of the holidays quietly drinking eggnog in the corner. I mean, we want him to be a kind and familiar figure, but we don’t want to really get all that close to him.

And what the fuck is up with setting children on his lap? Are we trying to encourage pedophilia or what? Stick with the letter writing. More kids need to learn to write letters, anyway. In today’s digital world, there are far too many kids who have absolutely no freakin’ clue what a stamp and envelope even is. Hell, they see a mail carrier and think they’re just a Fed Ex person who lost their truck. Now that I think about it, why don’t we make Santa Claus more like mail carriers: a nice, friendly, gender-neutral person who delivers packages and maces your dog. That sounds entirely workable to me. The damn dog needs to learn to stop charging the fence.

We need to stop encouraging kids to be so damn greedy, too. Why? Because look what they grow into: people like you and me. People who think the world owes them something just for being nice. You know damn good and well that’s a pile of bullshit. The world doesn’t owe anyone anything, and you’re certainly not going to get presents from someone who doesn’t know you.

Besides, the kids aren’t that good anyway. Have you seen kids today? They talk back to their parents as though they had some right to open their damn little mouths. Kids start bullying each other and calling each other names all the way down in preschool. Why are we rewarding that kind of behavior? Maybe if we actually gave more kids lumps of coal and then made them burn it to keep warm they might appreciate just how nice they have it, living in a structure with a solid roof and someone putting clean clothes on their little bodies every morning.

One last thing: Why is no one capable of writing a decent holiday song anymore? I keep hearing these new Christmas songs and every one of them is a complete piece of crap that no one wants to remember two minutes after it’s over. All the good holiday songs are older than I am: White Christmas, Chestnuts roasting o’er an open fire (The Christmas song), Rudolph, Winter Wonderland, Sleigh Ride, and even the ultra-creep Baby, It’s Cold Outside. All of those songs are at least half a century old and we’re getting rather tired of hearing them. Yet, no one seems to be capable of writing a decent holiday song. Grammy awards be damned, if no one remembers your song 12 months later, it was a piece of shit.

Let’s get real: our parents coddled us too much and we grew up into a big bunch of selfish, greedy bastards who deny science and think that electing an utter moron as president is a good idea. That’s right, Trump became president all because our parents were too soft on us during the holidays. This whole freakin’ year is your fault and no one deserves to get a damn thing in their stockings except holes.

There, I think that’s everything. Well, the big things, at least. I’m done snarking up the holidays. Feel free to let me know if I missed anything, though. We still have a couple of days before the first holiday hits. I’d hate to think I missed insulting someone. Everyone benefits from a snowball upside the head occasionally.

Happy fucking holidays.

News & Comment / video

5 Things You Need To Know: 12/16/16

December 16, 2016

https://youtu.be/oF6T8wd7nMc

Do Friday’s Matter Anymore?

Hi there. I would say, “Thank goodness it’s Friday,” but I’m not sure Friday matters that much anymore. The news keeps churning and we’ll be watching it all through the weekend. I’m up at 4:00 AM every morning making sure the world hasn’t completely blown up while we were asleep. There really should be at least six people doing all this work, but it’s just me. Yes, I’m patting myself on the back, and perhaps that’s the value of Fridays. Find a reason to pat yourself on the back, even if it’s only because you managed to survive the other four days of the work week.

We’re skipping over the war between North Carolina’s governor and it’s state legislature for now. We’re also refusing to enter into the speculation of what cabinet nominees might or might not do. We only work with news we can verify as being accurate and you should be doing the same. So, that being said, let’s take a look at our top five stories for today.

1. The White House Says Russia Hacked US

One of the many questions we have this morning is whether the whole Russian hacking scandal has gotten out of control? If you were watching yesterday afternoon, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters, “Only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities,¹” in reference to reports from three US intelligence agencies that not only was Russia involved in hacking the servers of political parties, but that Putin himself knew and directed the attacks. That the White House would officially support the intelligence reports is a pretty big deal since both the Kremlin and the president-elect has been denying them.

If you’re listening to NPR this morning, you’re hearing President Obama tell Steve Inskeep, “I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections … we need to take action. And we will — at a time and place of our own choosing. Some of it may be explicit and publicized; some of it may not be.”²

If the statement from the president sounds just a little ambiguous, it is. That might be because, at least from a public information perspective, actual evidence of Russian involvement is a little ambiguous. Yes, the White House likely has access to evidence that the public does not. What we see on this side of the fence, though, is a bunch of anonymous sources, none of which can be confirmed. We need some names, we need some faces, and we need their butts sitting in front of a Congressional hearing to give validity to all these accusations.

Furthermore, there is no precedent for how to react to this situation if the reports are indeed true. There’s nothing in the Constitution that adequately covers direct intrusion into an election by a foreign power. What President Obama might have up his sleeve isn’t clear, either, but we know he doesn’t have long if he’s going to do something before he moves out of the White House.

2. Venezuelan Parents Are Giving Away Their Children

We talked earlier this week about the Venezuelan government confiscating some four million toys and promising that “every child will get a toy.” News coming out of the beleaguered country yesterday shows us that those toys may be all many Venezuelan children have. Reuters is reporting that three local councils and four national welfare groups are all confirming a rise in parents giving their children away, sometimes to other family members, sometimes to neighbors, because they can no longer afford to feed them and keep them safe³.

If you’re a parent or plan on ever being one, I want you to stop and think a moment about just how desperate one has to be and how devastating it must feel to have little choice but to give up your child. Average wages in Venezuela are less than the equivalent of $50 a month. Normally, in places where wages are so low, we see food prices around the same level. Not here. Food prices are in some cases higher than they are in the US, and that’s when food is available. Food scarcity across the country has caused unrest there for over a year.

Children’s rights groups say that the increase in parents giving away children is exponential, with many of the children already suffering from malnutrition. Plunging oil prices are partly to blame, as well as social policies of president Nicolas Maduro. Yet, more than politics, this is a humanitarian disaster of untold proportion. Some parents are simply abandoning their children, leaving them to die on the streets.

So much for a merry fucking Christmas.

3. Dyllan Roof Found Guilty Of Murder

We knew when the jury left the South Carolina courtroom yesterday that they would come back with a guilty verdict. Roof has been convicted of a total of 33 counts involving hate crimes in the shooting of nine people in a Charlotte, South Carolina church⁴. He never shied away from the fact that he was guilty. In fact, at one point during the trial, he fired his attornies and disastrously tried defending himself. Immediately after the verdict was announced, Roof fired his attornies again.

The jury returns on January 3 to determine exactly what his sentencing will be. There are only two options available: life in prison or death by lethal injection. Roof has already said he doesn’t want to introduce embarrassing evidence that might save his skin. Yet, as we saw last week, lethal injection hasn’t necessarily been going all that well with multiple botched attempts around the country over the past couple of years. There are also plenty of arguments against capital punishment.

One thing for certain is that this horrible massacre has left a lasting impression upon the state of South Carolina. The confederate flag no longer flies at the state capitol. The effects of hate are very visible and efforts to defuse that hate are strong. Dyllan Roof is a good example of why we cannot allow the alt-right white supremacy movement to go unchecked. We don’t need another incident like this to happen anywhere in our country. Ever.

4. A Colorado School Approves Guns in the Classroom

As incredible as it may seem, a school district in Colorado has actually approved a measure allowing some teachers and other school employees to carry guns inside classrooms⁵. That this decision would come the same day as the third anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary shouldn’t be ignored. The Board of Education for Hanover School District #28 voted 3-2 to approve the resolution on Wednesday night.

Now, before we all go off on some knee-jerk reaction, we should be aware that the Hanover School District is very small and very remote. The board’s president, Mark McPherson, who didn’t vote in favor of the plan, told the press that it was the town’s distance from any kind of assistance that fueled support for the resolution. The school is 30 minutes away from the nearest law enforcement. The resolution lists “national events” and, get this, potential trouble from marijuana grows, as the justification for the action.

Now, for any teacher or staff member to actually carry a gun on campus, they must first volunteer for extra duty as a security officer. Then, they must complete training before receiving their permit to carry. There is no limit as to how many of the school’s 20 teachers can carry weapons. Let’s just hope their finals weeks never get too stressful.

5. And Finally …

Facebook announced yesterday that they’re going after fake news and enlisting a number of partners, including Snopes, the Associated Press, and ABC News, to help validate stories⁶. The announcement comes as the world’s most dominant social media company attempts to wrestle with accusations that fake news shared on its site contributed to the outcome of the US presidential election.

Understand, Facebook has yet to say that it would actually remove content that is flagged as being fake. Instead, the content will be marked as “disputed” with a link to the reasons for the decision. In fact, they’re only focusing on what they call “the worst-of-the-worst” of fake news producers, those who create deliberate lies for financial gain.

However, this hasn’t kept publications with a right-leaning tilt from going all boo-hoo over the new policy⁷. Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief of the conservative-leaning Daily Wire wrote, “It’s an attempt to restore gatekeepers who have a bias as the ultimate arbiters of truth.”⁸Perhaps someone should tell the whining little brats that if they’re not producing fake news then they don’t have anything to worry about. Facebook’s efforts are gentle compared to what they could have done. Hell, you’ll still get in more trouble for posting a picture of women’s nipples on your profile than you will for distributing blatantly false news. Some alleged news sources need to grow the fuck up.

But hey, this whole fake news thing is exactly why we bother bringing you these reports every morning. We always verify our stories and provide links to our sources. We want news we can trust and know that you do as well. Thank you for your time. Here’s hoping your Friday kicks some ass.

Personal

Congratulations, Kat!

December 14, 2016

Today, we celebrate Kat graduating from Aveda Fredric’s Institute

She did it! Kat is officially a graduate of Aveda Fredric’s Institute and is a licensed cosmetologist! To say we’re just a little bit excited is an understatement.

Of course, we’ve rather kept our excitement under wraps. There’s no huge party tonight. In fact, we’re just having five-bean soup for dinner. The kids will be in bed before she gets home. No banners. No cards. Just a kiss and a glass of scotch.

That’s how Kat prefers it, though. Don’t throw a spotlight on her, that makes her anxious. Leave her alone, let her do her thing, and watch her excel. She doesn’t yell, scream, and brag a lot when she does a great job because she tries to make every cut, style, and color the best possible. That’s how Kat handles everything. Go for the best.

However, I’m going to take a moment here and do the bragging she won’t because I know just how much of a challenge this has been.

Not What Anyone Was Expecting

When I first met Kat, she would have laughed in my face had I ever suggested she would one day be where she is now. She was still every bit a Marine. She was most comfortable in a green hoodie and sweats with the Marine Corp globe and anchor imprinted on them. She was cautious about everything: where she went, how she got there, what she said to whom, and with whom she associated. She carried a weapon at all times and made it clear she wouldn’t hesitate to use it. During one of our earliest conversations, she confided that she knows seven different ways to kill a person with her bare hands. While I’ve seen a few people scoff that a “girl” with such a small frame could actually do that, let me assure you that I’ve seen her strength in action. Don’t doubt her.

Kat still admits that she’s not someone who likes to dress up all girly and go out. That’s just not her personality. However, when we first met, she hardly knew how to put makeup on her own face, much less anyone else’s. I still remember showing her how to apply eye shadow and a touch of blush without looking clownish. The first time she watched Danelle French apply makeup for one of my photoshoots, she tried to not stare but kept catching herself watch the way Danelle transformed the model’s face.

What Kat does like doing, however, is messing with her hair color. We had been together over a year before I knew her natural hair color. More often than not, her hair had multiple colors in it because heaven forbids that she be boring and only put one color in her hair. When she couldn’t find a color she liked, she’d experiment with mixing different colors until she found something she could tolerate. The sink in our bathroom is a testament to all the different dyes she’s washed out there.

The Challenge of Getting There

Somewhere along the way, as I pushed her to do more with makeup and even encouraged her to try her skill with models who would stop by, a spark caught and she realized that cosmetology was something she could actually do. We agreed that she needed to go to cosmetology school, but where? She did a truck-load of research, not only looking at the schools themselves, but talking to their graduates and their graduates’ clients. It never was about who had the cheapest program or where she could get done the quickest. After all, she’s still a Marine. The question was always which school is the best. By the time she finished asking questions, there was one clear winner: Aveda Fredric’s Institute.

Unlike many other cosmo schools, Aveda offered a three-day a week schedule. That was extremely important. While going back to school was nice, there was no putting life on hold. Kat couldn’t just hit the pause button on being a mom for 12 months. The three-day schedule meant that she’d still have time to work and occasionally be able to be at home before the kids went to bed. She was also impressed by their all-natural line of products, something that was important to both of us. I’d told her horror stories of models sitting in the makeup chair and suddenly having their face break out due to an allergic reaction to the chemicals in the makeup.

Kat going back to school would also mean making some serious adjustments here at home. I would have to be the one to handle the kids, her kids, on a daily basis. I would have to take them to and pick them up from the bus stop. I would have to help them with their homework. I would be the one handling discipline problems. I was already doing most the cooking, so that was no big deal, but it did mean that most nights Kat wouldn’t be here for dinner. Still, we knew the changes would be worth the results. So, taking a collective deep breath, she started.

Had the past year just been a matter of Kat going to school three days a week, we would have probably sailed through the time. Life, of course, always has other plans. Issues at the kids’ school grew severe enough that Kat had to take some time off to intervene on their behalf and find another school for them to attend. Then, there was prolonged illness that sometimes seemed formidable enough to scuttle all her plans. There were weeks when it felt as though every day came with a new punch to the gut.

There were changes to our family dynamic as well. We added a large dog and two rambunctious kittens to the pet mix. In July, my youngest son came for what we all thought was just a moth-long visit and due to unexpected circumstances he ended up moving in with us. We erected a fence around the entire yard. There was always something going on to make sure there were few days when she could actually relax for a moment and catch her breath.

As much as anything, Kat has had to put up with me. Ask anyone who’s had to put up with me more than 24 hours and they’ll tell you just how much of a pain in the ass I am. The grumpy old man thing isn’t an act. There’ve been many days where she’s come in from school and had to calm me down from having to deal with the kids, the pets, the neighbors, models, or technology that didn’t work as expected. She’s also been a constant source of comfort and encouragement as my physical limitations have become more severe and frustrating. She’s picked me up off the floor, hand-fed me medicine when I couldn’t take it myself, and carried me to bed when I couldn’t walk. Yet, no matter how little sleep she might get or how many nights she fell to sleep on the couch from sheer exhaustion, she still got up the next morning, found a smile, and went to school.

So, yeah, we’re more than just a little proud that she’s graduating. We’re also excited to see what comes next. Starting Friday, she’ll be available to take appointments at Snapdragon Salon in Glendale. You can call (317) 255-7965 to make an appointment.

There’s no telling what might happen next, but I’ve worked with over 100 hair and makeup artists over the years and I promise Kat’s going to quickly become one of the best. She surprised herself, and everyone else, with a natural knack for styling, cutting, and color and her makeup is next to impeccable now. The options she’s going to have are considerable.

Yes, I’m biased. I’m also extremely proud, though.

You made it, Kat. Congratulations!

I’ll have your celebratory soup waiting when you come in tonight. I love you.

Music

Our Top 10 Songs Of 2016

December 13, 2016

charles i. letbetter - top songs of 20116

We listen to a lot of music, but these are the top of our list

We get down to this time of year and top ten lists start popping up everywhere. I’m sure we’ll have our share of lists as well. After all, this has been an extremely eventful year. There’s a lot to consider as we move into the new year.

Through everything we’ve endured, we’ve been listening to music. A lot of music. While we do try to keep the mix current to some degree, the songs we listen to the most tend to be older. We’ve needed a lot of emotional comfort this year and the songs that are familiar help provide that. The mix is interesting. I don’t know that I’d actually want to put all ten of these together on a mixtape. At the same time, though, these are some damn good songs. We’ll count them down backward just to create a false sense of drama.

The Bottom Five

10. My Funny Valentine – Etta James

Yeah, it’s old school, but then, so am I. There’s something about the sound of Ms. James’ voice that is like drinking a cup of hot cocoa on a snowy day. I really like the simple guitar accompaniment in this version of the song as well. I can just imagine sitting in some smoke-filled speakeasy when the lights go down, the room gets quiet, and her deep voice begins …

9. New Day – Alicia Keys

Change of tempo, change of style, change of era. New Day is essential Alicia Keys. I have this song on multiple playlists so I’m actually a little surprised that it didn’t rank higher. This is a must for those early mornings when we’re trying to get the kids out the door to school. More than just the song, though, I have mountains of respect for Ms. Keys so just hearing her voice makes me happy.

8. Everyday People – Sly & The Family Stone

This is another happy song with the added benefit of bringing a little high school retro feeling to the mix. The song is a bit of a distraction, though. There’s seldom a time when it comes on that I don’t have to stop what I’m doing and dance in my chair a little bit. If there’s no one around, I might even get out of my chair, though that tends to scare the dog.

7. Embraceable You – Gloria Estefan

Yeah, I know, most people like Ms. Estefan’s livelier music with a Cuban beat. I totally get that. Those are fun songs. But her album of standards really provides a great vehicle for the rich warmth of her voice to shine through, something we don’t necessarily get with all those dance songs. This is ultimately a couple’s song, though. If Kat’s not around when it comes on you can be sure I’m messaging her the lyrics.

6. Focus – Ariana Grande

Ha! I bet you didn’t think I know who Ariana Grande is! WRONG! Just don’t ask me to pick her out of a lineup of children at the mall. How in the world such a powerful voice comes out of a small package defies physics and physiology. As much as anything, though, this is just one of those songs where the rhythm catches hold and my office chair magically starts moving on its own. Seriously. Old men like me aren’t supposed to dance to new music like this.

The Top Five

5. Isn’t It Romantic? – Ella Fitzgerald

The top five has a lot of older standard in it and this is another one of my early morning favorites. The song not only speaks to the romantic in me, the ease of Ella’s voice helps keep me calm on those days when the morning headlines have me ready to punch something. I can just close my eyes and imagine a ballroom full of lovely people, the women all dressed in classic Oscar de la Renta gowns, swaying gently to the music without a care in the world. Sure, it’s pure fantasy, but it works.

4. Thanks for the Memory – Bob Hope

When the late Bob Hope was cast as an unemployed writer for this 1938 movie, I doubt he knew the title song would one day become so closely associated with him that many people thought he was the composer. He wasn’t, of course. Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin wrote the original version. Over the years, though, it became a staple at the end of the comedian’s shows and with each one, he would re-write the lyrics to fit the show. This song is pure nostalgia for me, and hearing Bob’s voice again never fails to make me smile.

3. This Can’t Be Love – Nat King Cole

This is the second of three songs by Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart in my top five. Yes, I know they’re all older than I am, which means a fair portion of you are likely to have never heard it before. Rogers & Hart were staples on Broadway and in pop music of the 1920s and 30s. When you hear people talk about “the standards,” this is the music to which they’re referring. Even Lady Gaga has covered Rogers & Hart songs. If you’re a singer, you have to be able to do well with this songs. Why this song and this version? Because it was the first song to come up after my first date with Kat. Shhhh, don’t tell her.

2. Hold on, Hold on – Neko Case

Neko Case has one of those pure voices I can recognize with the first word she sings. I’ve been a fan of her music for several years now and keep going back to this one song over and over and over. The line, “The echo chorus lied to me with its hold on, hold on, hold on” seems especially fitting right about now. There’s a good reason this song is number two on my list. It’s gotten a tremendous amount of play the past few months. Like, every day, multiple times a day.

1. The Lady Is A Tramp – Ella Fitzgerald

This is vintage Ella Fitzgerald when her voice was at its best. The Rogers and Hart composition is one of my all-time favorites and is at the top of my list of standards. There have been dozens, maybe even hundreds of artists attempt to cover this song, but no one ever has nor ever will do it as wonderfully as Ms. Fitzgerald. When I’m down, this song and lift me up. When I feel like I don’t fit in, this song reminds me that’s okay. The strength and power keeps me moving, keeps my head up, and helps me power through even the most difficult days. Ella recorded this song several times but this is my favorite version.

There you have it, our top 10 songs for 2016. Perhaps it wasn’t quite what you were expecting. I know I was a little surprised by a couple of the songs in the bottom 10, but I love them all. Spotify created a six-hour playlist of my top 100 songs for the year as well. I’m not going to take the time to go through all of them with you, but if you’re interested in listening, you can find the playlist before. Happy listening!

photograph

This Year Of Misery Ends Today

China Is Shutting Down Its Ivory Trade

A Different Kind Of Police Shooting

When Your Birth Certificate Is Wrong

Recognizing The Right To Learn

And Finally …

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So close and yet, no champagne just yet

Dear Russia: You Suck

On The Count Of Three, Stop Shooting

A Tough Year For Law Enforcement

Moving Closer To A Living Wage

And finally …

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So many have died, these deserve to not fall between the cracks

Abe Vigoda

Edgar Mitchell

Andy Grove

Fred Hayman

Alan Young

Pat Summit

Alan Vega

Pete Fountain

Janet Reno

Leon Russell

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Nope, 2016 is still not done

A Mother and Daughter Together

Important Notice For Heart Patients

A Two-State Solution

And The Hits Just Keep Coming

And finally …

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This year is not over yet

Our favorite princess has died

No more mall rats

Behave yourself on that flight

Does Versace have a race issue?

And finally …

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The year just keeps getting worse

We’ve lost our Faith

Russia Loses A Choir

Carrie Fisher Is Hanging On

Fake News Creates An International Incident

Is Your Makeup Too Heavy?

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A reminder that color can exist in a black and white world

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Memories that won’t scare the Dickens out of you

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Seeing the different in the ordinary

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Festivus for the rest of us

The Tunisian driver in the German market incident is dead

The nuclear arms race may be back on

Worst year in history

Forcing women to work

And finally …

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Some bets are safer than others

The End of Globalization As We Know It

20% of activities will involve at least one of seven companies.

Separation of friends along ideological lines

More vegan & vegetarian menu choices

Streaming video on demand completely takes over

Mergers & acquisitions will rock the choice landscape

Subscriptions become a really huge thing

Lower tax rates, fewer deductions