In My Opinion (IMO by KNH)...Beethoven Didn't Look Like THAT!

A conscious mind is an educated mind is an elevated mind is a constantly Wide aWoke and aware mind. This evening, I watched Classical Rewind on PBS for a few minutes this evening with my son as the station featured a bio on Ludwig van Beethoven's 5th Symphony in C Minor. The odd thing is that the modern portrayals of Beethoven are 100% historically inaccurate. Contemporary artists painted Beethoven very clearly as a dark-skinned man with curly hair. Even Newsweek Magazine quoted this fact a few decades back. As a matter of fact, his mother was a Moor. Moors were the Black North Africans who ruled Italy and parts of Europe for 800 years. Furthermore, Beethoven was spoken of by his neighbors as a "Black Spaniard". 

So why do 100% of European-authored history and music books show him as a man with Caucasian features? The answer should be obvious. To the victor go the spoils including the ability to re-write history to favor their culture. Since Europeans overran Africa, the America's etc., from the 1500's onward by force, they felt they "earned" the right to write history books with stories favorable to their group. What greater accomplishment than to claim the world's greatest musician as your own? For the historical context of my statements read the piece by Open Salon.

Eye on Fashion Comes to Tampa Florida May 3, 2014!

Tampa Bay's art and fashion scene is buzzing over the highly-anticipated Saturday, May 3, 2014 EYE on Fashion...Wardrobe Stylists Competition, a creation of New York City & Tampa, Florida executive Fashion Producer, Lacey B. Smith. This cutting edge competition will feature four of the finest wardrobe fashion stylists from across the United States who qualified to compete in the event.

- Faheemah Safa - New York
- Melizza Williams - Tampa, Florida
- Ify by Bobi - Virginia
- Tristan Richards - Tampa, Florida

According to Smith, "Eye on Fashion, will bring a direct focus on the contributions Fashion (Wardrobe) Stylists make to the industry. This will shine the spotlight on their brands thus allowing them to become more visible within our fashion community.

Fashion Stylists play a major role in the industry, whether styling celebrities or just styling and advising their normal clientele. It is with this in mind that we present "EYE on Fashion" The Stylist Competition Showcase. This will feature stylists presenting five distinct looks each, while pulling from boutiques, designers or any credible fashion source of their choice.

This competition will also provide the opportunity for Stylists to enhance and develop their portfolios. The first place winner will receive the $550.00 cash prize and the winner’s plaque plus a full spread layout of their styling work in Revized Magazine."

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Eye on Fashion ~ Saturday, May 3, 2014
The Vault, 611 N. Franklin Street
Tampa, FL 33602 (Downtown)

Advance tickets are currently available for a limited time by visting www.thefashionmovement.com or logging on www.eventbrite.com/e/eye-on-fashionan-evening-of-high-fashion-style-tickets-10353645031 . You definitely don't want to miss the must-attend fashion event of the Spring season that everyone else will be talking about!

Blogger is also owner of Kéto the Photo Guy, a Tampa, Florida-based event and runway fashion photographer who loves picturing beautiful things almost as much as he enjoys writing about them... For more information or to view some of his work please visit www.tinyurl.com/KetoTPG

In My Opinion (IMO by KNH)...The Lost Art of Originality

It seems like everywhere we turn the masses are trying to emulate a few. Marky Mark Wahlberg and prison dudes sagged, so then wanna be thugs & suburban teen boys started sagging, not knowing why or what it meant. Dennis Rodman got paid to wear Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars, so then the shoe that poor kids wore in the 80's/90's became the must have for establishing street cred. Michael Jordan made a $200 pair of Jordans that probably an Asian toddler got paid $10 to produce, but hey as long as it had a cool box right? Snoop Dogg said "Fo shizzle ma nizzle" (which he took from Double Dutch Bus), so then everyone started saying some variation of that, whether they knew what shizzle meant or not. Then suburban moms were trampling each other for Tickle Me Elmos. Later a Tony Cornheiser on ESPN made up "efforting", and soon many journalists were saying "efforting" instead of "trying to". Eventually, everything was "Cray cray", and now everyone who has not SWAG but only YOLO wears t-shirts claiming they have and do.

 Legendary R&B artist Aaliyah (January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001)

If you want to repeat random catchphrases or buy faddish stuff because someone else does, then fine... Whatever makes you comfortable or serves a legitimate purpose may work for you, just understand why you are doing it. Oh, and in conclusion, what I meant to say above was: Don't be sexting selfies of you and your baby bump while efforting to reach a party where dudes are waiting to moss wit cha. YOLO but it's styll an epic fail, and ratchet thots get merked for much less. Lol. SMH. And peep my hashtags son! #BeYou #KnowWhy #Original #NotMadJustCommenting #SocialObservations #StillAPositivePost

In My Opinion (IMO by KNH)...Ain't That Bout A Belt?!

Recently there has been a big to-do about a young Black American male, Trayon Christian who was arrested while attempting to purchase a $350 Salvatore Ferragamo belt at Barneys in NYC. Many critics however, are more upset about the fact that he would spend that much money on a belt in the first place. Let's forget the fact the young man in question bought an expensive belt. Why are we criticizing him for that? Is that even the point? No, the point is that he was profiled and arrested in the course of an everyday transaction because store staff wanted to know "how a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt." That is the disgusting thing here...in 2013.

What is valuable to some people is not valuable to others. Some people choose to take their disposable income and buy a Playstation, Nintendo WII, or X-Box gaming system, go skydiving, etc. none of which necessarily add any long-term tangible value to ones life, and for the same or greater amount of cost. I mean, some of the people I hear criticizing the young man are women who have 10 pair of black shoes. So your point is??? If the young man earned that money legally, or his parents gave it to him to buy an belt, or in his case he saved up his money while doing a noble thing (attending college) then so be it. If Barney's treats it's customers in a discriminatory fashion like that, then no one should shop there regardless of color.

"how a young black man such as himself could afford to purchase such an expensive belt,"

Senate Republicans: GOP Didn't Gain Anything By Forcing Shutdown

THIS JUST IN: Sen Ted Cruz (Moron-Canada) just blamed everyone but himself for the mess he & the Tea Party got the entire GOP into. Let's see how the Math has worked out: You grandstanded for over 2 weeks raising lots of cash from the base, The Heritage Foundation (funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers) etc, by swearing you would force the U.S. government and the "imperial" Socialist/Marxist/Communist/Everythingist ruler Obama to defund the Affordable Care Act which had already been a) a passed into law by a majority of Congress & signed by the President, b) Upheld by the US Supreme Court and c) approved of by over 65 million (65,0446,032 to be exact) Americans who voted for President Obama in November 2012. And for your efforts, you walked away with...nothing. This is analogous to going to a jewelry store with notebook paper and bringing home a big bag of sand. By the way, defunding a law that has been passed by Congress is unconstitutional, it literally and procedurally can't happen, which is why it didn't have a chance in hell of actually happening, duh. www.thegreatblogofketo.blogspot.com
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

In My Opinion (IMO A Series of Notes by KNH)...Why Kids Misbehave

An incident I experienced at school today spurred me to write this note on the causes of childhood misbehavior. Have you ever wondered why children misbehave in school? Child psychiatrist and educator, Rudolf Dreikurs proposed that children believe they can gain social status by exhibiting bad behavior. Here are some answers that may help you recognize and address the root of these problems. Students' misbehavior has 4 goals--Attention, Power, Revenge & Avoidance of Failure.

Students of any age may engage in activities that distract from the classroom goal of learning in order to gain attention from peers or superiors that they feel is lacking in their personal life. For some students ANY attention is craved whether it is positive or negative. As long as they are the center of attention, they are happy. How many adults do you know that are like this?

Power is another goal of misbehavior. Power or influence over peers may be gained through intimidation, peer pressure, coercion or other negatively narcissistic methods serves to fulfill some individuals' needs for influence over others. These folks want to be leaders without putting in the hard work of establishing personal relationships or leading by example.

Revenge is the third goal of misbehavior. Someone may have done something to offend this person, so the response whether immediate or delayed is to start a rumor to discredit the offender or engage in physical or verbal altercation to prove who the boss is.

Avoidance of failure is the final goal of misbehavior. Many students haven't a clue what's going on during class and feel they need to mask their ignorance by acting out. As the old saying goes, "An empty bucket makes the most noise."

In My Opinion (IMO by KNH)...Reviewing my Samsung Note II

Got the Samsung Note II this past week and love it. My fingers are large so I'm loving the on-screen touch keyboard. Since I do a lot with graphics & photos, my fave specs are 1080p video res which is as good as a pro camera. How many megapixels the camera has is not as important, since other factors like type of zoom, etc are more important to photo quality. But then again this is not supposed to be a pro camera. The screen is large enough that I can clearly watch Netflix & Hulu TV shows & movies with my son in HD. Not everyone will be comfortable with a screen this large (5.5 in) but for me, it's like having a phone & mini-tablet, so I'm scratching plans for buying an iPad or Droid tablet. More specs below. 

Network

3G: HSPA+21Mbps(HSDPA 21Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps)4G LTE: 100Mbps / 50Mbps

Processor

1.6 GHz quad-core processor

OS

Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

Display

140.9 mm (5.5") HD Super AMOLED (1,280 x 720)

Dimension

80.5 x 151.1 x 9.4 mm, 182.5g

Battery

Standard battery, Li-ion 3,100mAh

Memory

16/32/64GB User memory + 2GB (RAM)microSD slot (up to 64GB)

S Pen Optimized Features

S Pen Experience- S Note, S Planner, Email with hand-writing integration- S Pen Keeper- Quick Command, Easy Clip, Photo Note, Paper Artist- Shape Match, Formula Match

1 Step tasking / Multitasking features

Air ViewPopup Note, Popup VideoPage Buddy / Tag Buddy / Word Buddy

Connectivity / Sharing Features

Bluetooth® v 4.0 (Apt-X Codec support) LEUSB 2.0 HostWiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5 GHz), Wi-Fi HT40Wi-Fi DirectNFCS BeamSamsung AllShare Play & ControlSamsung AllShare Cast (WiFi Display)- Mirroring & ExtentionSamsung AllShare Framework

Other

Samsung TouchWiz / Samsung L!ve PanelSamsung Kies /Samsung Kies AirSamsung ChatOn mobile communication serviceSmart Stay, Direct claa, Screen Recorder,Quick GlanceSamsung ChatOn mobile communication serviceSamsung S Suggest

Camera

Main (Rear) : 8 Megapixel Auto Focus Camera with LED Flash, BSISub (Front) : 1.9 Megapixel VT Camera, BSIBest Photo, Best Face, Low light shot

Video

Codec: MPEG4, H.263, H.264, VC-1, DivX, WMV7, WMV8, WMV9, VP8Format: 3GP(MP4), WMV(ASF), AVI, FLV, MKV, WebMFull HD(1080p) Playback & Recording

Audio

Codec: MP3, OGG, WMA, AAC, ACC+, eAAC+, AMR(NB,WB), MIDI, WAV, AC-3, FlacMusic Player with SoundAlive3.5mm Ear Jack

Content / Services

Samsung AppsSamsung Hub- Game Hub- Media Hub (US only)- Learning Hub / Music Hub / Video Hub※ The availability of each Samsung Hubs may differ by country

Sensor

Accelerometer, RGB Light, Digital Compass, Proximity, Gyro, Barometer

GPS

A-GPSGlonass

Enterprise Solutions

On Device Encryption (H/W)Microsoft Exchange ActiveSyncVPN(F5, Cisco, Juniper)MDM(Sybase Afaria, MobileIron, SOTI, Airwatch)CCXVMware MVP*Some specifications may vary by country

Diversity...In My Opinion (IMO by KNH)

Definition of Diversity: "More and more organizations define diversity really broadly.. Really, it's any way any [person or] group of people can differ significantly from another group of people.” (Definition adapted from SHRM-Society of Human Resource Management). As we can see, “diversity” is an ever-evolving & ever changing word, and this definition allows us to be much broader in defining the concept of diversity than the traditional definition which focused only on factors like age, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, etc.

It makes sense to respect diversity because every single one of us is diverse. Even if you don’t think you’re different than anyone else you are because you’re the only YOU with YOUR unique combination of characteristics and personal attributes out of 6+ billion people on the planet. Example, I’m a 33-year-old, West Indian male with brown skin, 1st of 9 children, born in Haiti but now with American citizenship, speak Creole, Christian, father, teacher, professor, mentor, community organizer, political activist, charity/community service volunteer, musician, writer, blogger, public speaker, Hillsborough Community College and University of South Florida alum, MBA recipient, IT professional, PR practitioner, social media marketer, pro photographer, have helped start several companies as an entrepreneur, and wear many other hats as a diverse individual.

Note: I was inspired to write this piece this week as I put together a Business Communications test for my college students. There are quite a few misnomers and misconceptions about diversity. For example many Caucasian Americans think the term automatically means "Black people and other minorities". Truly in terms of the human race EVERYONE is diverse based on the definition I gave in the first paragraph. So let's start a conversation. What does diversity mean to YOU? How do you live and exemplify diversity? How do you show appreciation for and understanding of diversity on a daily basis? What are the stereotypes you've heard about diversity from those who don't understand what it means in education, government, and the workplace? The truth will set you free...

In My Opinion (IMO by KNH)...Cleanliness & What It Means to Men

Originally I was going to make this a Facebook status update, but honestly this topic deserves a permanent blog post. This weekend, I visited a female acquaintance' home for dinner. I went to wash my hands in the bathroom, and was frankly impressed by it's cleanness, especially the fixtures--toilet, sink, tub, etc. I congratulated her, and she expressed that this was normal due to her military training. I shared a couple things with her. a) Men look at different things when looking at a woman as possible "Wife Material". Cleanliness of a dwelling is pretty important.

If you invite us over and you have urine or other stains on the toilet, the sink is full of grease and soap scum, bathtub has a ring etc. you just X-ed yourself out of some of our lives. A man who has been around a minute knows that if you can't take the time to take care of little details, then you're not his future. It literally takes about 5 minutes each to clean your toilet,sink and bathtub, less if you keep them up at least a couple times weekly.

So you go to work, return home, don't have any children in the house (or you do, but they're of age to take care of themselves), and you can't find 5-15 mins to clean your fixtures for the sake of hygiene and keeping the germs down? But you can quote scenes from Basketball Wives, Hip Hop Wives of Atlanta, The Game, etc which you watch for hours on end once you get home, and hit all-night happy hour on Thursday and Friday. And don't tell me it takes too much time when you spend 1-4 hours in front of a mirror dolling up for events. I'm not saying your house has to be absolutely spic and span with absolutely no dust on the back of your TV, but if you can't keep a man who's willing to marry you, then it may be because we've noticed the small things, and we didn't tell you because we know you should know better by a certain age. If you can't take care of your house, how are you going to take care of our house and children? b) I told her that while military discipline is invaluable, I do know a good number of military vets among friends or family who are not necessarily the cleanest in their civilian life.

As I'm known to say, "If the shoe fits, wear it. If not, put it back in the box." In plainer English, if this post describes YOU, then do something about it. If it doesn't, then you're doing well, and no need to be mad. I was successful in getting a passionate discussion on this topic started on Facebook, and I would love to hear of any horror or success stories out there...

George Zimmerman Not Guilty: Jury Lets Trayvon Martin Killer Go

I can't say I'm angry (at the City of Sanford's law enforcement for having to be pressured to do the right thing)...or outraged (at how 6 mothers could let a child killer go) right now. But I can say I'm sad (for Trayvon, his family & unnecessary loss of his life) and disappointed (that "we make up 80% of those incarcerated for minor crimes, but when major crimes are committed against "us", justice is nowhere to be found). In society, adults are supposed to protect, look out for it's youth, to nurture, role model, and stand up for it's youth. After all we were once in their shoes. Yet, here is an adult who acted contrary to those norms, and he doesn't even get a slap on the wrist?! Now we're again told--as actions speak louder than words that racial profiling is STILL ok in 2013 and that if one of our own suffers...well tough luck. THAT should way heavy on anyone's soul. And if it doesn't, I feel sorry for you. #JusticeForTrayvon ww.thegreatblogofketo.blogspot.com
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

In My Opinion...Heads In the Sand OR The Supreme Court Believes Racism No Longer Exists!

As an American voter, I am outraged this week by the US Supreme Court's majority decision in Shelby v. Holder to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act. Elections have consequences. Voting or not voting also have consequences! I cannot, however, say that I am surprised at the decision. There are good reasons why both Presidents Bush (George HW & George W) stacked the Supreme Court during their Presidencies with Supreme Court Justices (Souter and Thomas, then Roberts & Alito respectively) who when then time came would vote exactly the way they are expected to vote along ideological lines (see 2000 Presidential Election). It is no surprise that Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito & Justice John Roberts voted exactly as they were expected by those who put them in power.

I am most outraged that the majority deliberately chose to ignore the unjust and unfair voting laws passed just in the last 4 years in states like Florida, Texas, N.C. etc that were designed specifically to make voting more difficult and effectively disenfranchise African American, Hispanic, and minority voters in elections which have direct impact on Congress and the Presidency. 40 years of progress since 1966 does not equate to tearing down the voter protections which helped ensure fair elections for the past few decades regardless of race. The Republican party knows that there are far more registered strong Democrat voters nationwide and in states like Florida, so the only thing they can do to "level" the playing field is to prevent as many people from voting as possible. And THAT should make everyone angry regardless of your political bent. If there's one thing you can credit the DNC with, it's that volunteers on the ground in Organizing for America and Democrat leaning organizations in both Obama elections were trained to empower voters regardless of whether those voters indicated they would vote Republican or Democrat!

Photo of U.S. Supreme Court, Wash., D.C. courtesy www.huffingtonpost.com

I 100% disagree with the majority opinion that, "things have changed dramatically” in the South in the nearly 50 years since the Voting Rights Act was signed in 1965." The reality is much closer to the minority opinion stating "40 years has not been a sufficient amount of time to eliminate the vestiges of discrimination following nearly 100 years of disregard for the 15th Amendment."

FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

• Read the ruling here, http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/12pdf/12-96_6k47.pdf. 
• A good primer on the VRA was updated this week by The Washington Post athttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/02/27/the-supreme-court-voting-rights-act-case-explained/. 
• Voting Rights Act Section 4 Struck Down By Supreme Courthttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/voting-rights-act-supreme-court_n_3429810.html
• Gutting the Voting Rights Act: Freedom to Discriminate www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-w-hughey/gutting-the-voting-rights_b_3518756.html
• No, the Voting Rights Act Is Not Deadhttp://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/06/no-the-voting-rights-act-is-not-dead/277281/
• An Assault on the Voting Rights Act http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/26/opinion/an-assault-on-the-voting-rights-act.html?_r=0
• What Would A 2013 Voting Rights Act (Section 4) Look Like?http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/06/26/195907874/what-would-a-2013-voting-rights-act-section-4-look-like

In My Opinion (IMO by KNH)...Father's Day aka "No Ties & Socks"

So Father's Day is Sunday and unfortunately I've observed that many ladies really are not very good at picking gifts that the men in their lives will actually enjoy and appreciate (fathers, sons, husbands, boyfriends, etc). Now we men are expected to be creative, thoughtful & plan ahead when getting YOU gifts for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Anniversary, Birthday & Christmas. So..step up this year please on behalf of all good men everywhere. (And yes, I'm talking about the good Father's who deserve it, not the deadbeats who are nowhere around or the Dads who come home from work, head straight to the recliner/TV & don't interact to their children or have any idea what son/daughter did that day.)

DON'TS:

First things first. The DON'TS comprise a very short list. Don't buy us the cliche gifts of a random tie or a pair of socks, unless we are a man that has so much that we have specifically asked for this, OR we really do need diabetic socks, or we are going camping & we need military grade socks that will protect our feet from hypothermia. You get where I'm going. As for ties, they can be a very lazy "I can't think of anything else to buy you, but you're a man, so hope you like this pink & blue tie" gesture. Ladies think of how overjoyed you would be if we bought you a pair of nylons for your birthday. Now if you do buy a tie, make sure it is a silk tie with matching puff (handkerchief) that will match our favorite shirt/suit set. Silk ties are classy and last forever. Otherwise don't bother. Oh and you you can keep your $5 "#1 Dad" mug. Unless our child made it for us, it doesn't matter. We already have steins & mugs.

DO'S:

Now here are some sites you can peruse that will give you great ideas on what to buy for your man. Go to membership sites like NoMoreRack.com, Amazon.com, Living Social etc.

Jawbone Jambox Wireless Bluetooth Speaker, This is one of the coolest gadgets out right now & your man will love it! It's a wireless speaker that allows you to play music from your phone/computer/device in the kitchen, bathroom, on vacation, outside while barbequing etc & is like walking around with a virtual party!

Jawbone Jambox Wireless Bluetooth Speaker

Shaving Supplies: We can never find enough razors for a decent price. Razor cartridges may easily run us $16-32 for 4-16, so if you ever find us a large supply of razors or one really great travel razor that is say, waterproof/won't rust, etc. that's a big deal since we shave every day. (Well...I don't, but your man probably does).

A Good Watch: A classic, but understated watch can be functional & eye-catching at the same time. The man can wear this to special events, interviews, and a good watch (as opposed to the $10 variety) is a sign of good taste & maturity. Professional male colleagues judge a man not by his phone but by his watch, so help your man out! Check out this cool watch by Invicta from NoMoreRack.com. Amazon.com also has a line of beautiful Invicta watches for about the same price.

Bluetooth headset: Who doesn't want one of these right?

Jim Beam Tailgating Stool: For the man who loves to grill while watching football with the family and the fellas.

Kindle Fire HD Tablet (or comparable Droid or iPad): Why yes, Dad would love to watch his favorite movies & read the Wall Street Journal on a wireless device, duh.

DEWALT DCD760KL 18-Volt 1/2-Inch Cordless Compact Lithium-Ion Drill/Driver Kit: So you nag your man to death to put up artwork, curtain rods, drill this, drill that? How's he gonna do that without a cordless drill which is pretty much the holy grail of do-it-yourselfers everywhere?

GIFT CARDS: Gift cards are one of the most underrated, but fantastic gifts you can give anyone! Let's say after all these awesome suggestions, you still don't have a clue...or have to work a nurses' shift this weekend! Pick a value of the gift you would have given HIM ($25/50/100 etc), and let the man take that VISA gift card to wherever he wants, and he will be able to pick EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTS for Father's Day...which is the point right? We only get one day a year. Let's make it memorable!!!

THAT ONE THING!: Every guy has one item that they like to collect, wear, keep, etc, and treasure anything of similar value. Find out what that one thing is by talking to his Mom or brother/best friend. For me, one of my items is a Fedora/Dressy Hat. I have a collection of very nice Fedoras & Kangols that I have bought or been gifted over the years, and it's nice to know that someone knows enough about my likes to get me one of these.

FINAL WORD: Now one obvious point is that Dad's Day is only 2 days away & you're not going to be able to order any of these items in time for them to arrive on Sunday, especially if next day delivery is unavailable or cost prohibitive. That's ok, you can still order the item, cook the Mr. his favorite meal or take him out to a fun dinner/lunch spot (Lee Roy Selmons, Red Lobster, Thai Palace, etc) and show him a picture of his gift that will arrive in a couple days. He'll be happy b/c he's eating, and he knows you didn't forget, the gift is just delayed. I'd be cool with knowing my flat screen TV is arriving tomorrow instead of today :) You could also use this list of items (which is not comprehensive by any means) and walk Mr. So-and-So into International Plaza-Tampa, University Mall, the Perry Ellis Outlet in Tampa, and let him select the gadgets/clothing/shoes that he wants.

List in progress... Also, ladies & gentlemen, feel free to add to the list by posting comments and/or links below.

Pope Benedict XVI To Resign On Feb. 28 Due To Health Concerns

If it is as the Pope says a matter of deteriorating health, then I 100% agree with his decision to resign. Unfortunately Catholic leadership (and often Protestant Bishops also) have a bad habit of hanging on to power literally until the deathbed even as their health precludes them from effectively serving while being forced to delegate even the smallest tasks to their assistants. I have seen this in my own church organization where Bishops over our millions of parishioners worldwide are elected/appointed for life and often won't give up power because of pride, money, prestige, influence, etc. www.thegreatblogofketo.blogspot.com
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Polls On Women In Combat Find Support For Policy Shift

I believe that women should be allowed in combat. Women have the right to vote, already serve admirably in the armed forces, have capably served as Secretary of State, and can do anything that men can do. In our lifetimes, we will have a woman President. That said, I would not sign for my daughter to enter the military. Then again, I wouldn't sign for my son to enter either. While I have family members who have fought in Africa & Italy in WWII and others who fought in the Korean War, and other family members who current serve in the US Navy, I'm aware that Wars tend to be started and supported by members of the military-industrial complex who disproportionately send children of the poor and middle class to fight wars which benefit them financially. www.TheGreatBlogofKeto.blogspot.com
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

In My Opinion (IMO by KNH)...Lance Armstrong is a Dope Head, You Say (He Say)?

So, Lance Armstrong has admitted on Oprah that he participated in a culture of doping during his hey day as king of the sport of competitive biking. Honestly, who freakin' cares? I barely batted an eye when Charlie Sheen was doping. It's bike riding, not rocket science. Now if NASA astronauts or "that guy" with his finger on the proverbial nuclear button for the US was doping, or my son's daycare providers were hittin' the powder, now THAT would be of paramount concern.

© Getty Images, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-400_162-57564617/lance-armstrong-admits-to-doping/

Frankly, I'm more concerned over things like the NRA willfully targeting the Obama children in retaliation for him proposing anti-gun violence measures, a political and social no-no & a cowardly move.

I'm concerned about the CEO of Papa John's earning 1,000 times more than his employees who make $7/hour but being outraged by Obamacare & threatening to deny them health benefits that would literally cost 17 cents per pizza!

I'm concerned that millionaire Congressmen who themselves enjoy lifetime health benefits at the expense of the government would choose to deny equal, affordable healthcare to 30M Americans.

I'm concerned that when we invaded Afghanistan it was one of the top 5 producers of poppy in the world & is now firmly #1 in heroin production.

I'm concerned that the Pharmaceutical industry has enslaved YOUR children and guaranteed itself unlimited future profitability by creating a psych drug strong enough for adults, Ritalin and THEN created the diagnosis for a made-up disease ADHD, which they then force upon YOU not a cure (because you can't "cure" not being able to pay attention) but a medicine that "manages" the symptoms...again, Ritalin with the help of public school districts and school psychologists licensed by the American Psychological Association!

I'm concerned that these United States of America incarcerates more of it's citizens in numbers and as a percentage than ANY other country in the 1st or 3rd world. I'm further concerned that with 80% of such population Black males, the prison system starting immediately after Civil Reconstruction has become The New Slavery.

I'm concerned that the State of Florida has elected a criminal into it's highest office who created and presided over a healthcare company that received the biggest fine ($1B) in American history by the federal government for defrauding the government in it's Medicaid billing practices for services provided to senior citizens.

Mostly I'm concerned that I can't find a brown hat that is the perfect shade to match any of my khaki pants.

Anything less than these issues is simply irrelevant to me. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Lance-Strong. I just don't care.

Fi-Yah (Or the Story of How My Car Blew Up) 11-20-12

Alright so by now, some who follow this blogger are aware that Tuesday evening, October 20, 2012 between 6:45-6:50pm, my PT Cruiser was totally destroyed by fire as it was engulfed in flames on the Interstate in Florida. I was taking my son for Thanksgiving festivities with the family. I had last texted via voice at 6:40pm. A few minutes later while driving in the center lane, I noticed my car began to smoke slightly and found it strange that the Sheriff in the fast lane next to me was speeding by me so quickly. My car soon started to stall & the engine light came on so I shifted and lightly applied the breaks as best I could and made it through the fast lane into the grassy left shoulder of the Interstate. I knew it was bad, got out with my keys, unbuckled the baby and took him out of the car while calling his Mother to come get him. Thick gray smoke began to billow from under the hood, and I knew it was best to get as far away from the car as possible as I knew what was going to happen. Fire was coming soon. No time to panic or try to gather valuables, I ran with him as far away from the car as possible.

My 2004 PT Cruiser caught fire after the engine stalled, 11-20-12.

Eventually while on the phone with roadside assistance from my insurance company, I was at enough of an angle that I could see the undercarriage of the car start to spark, and within a few minutes the entire car was engulfed in flames. My thoughts now that my son & I were safe was that I'd better a) post on Facebook immediately so my family & friends would know that there was a problem but that we were alright as well as alerting my business partners that obviously I would not be making it to photograph our event and b) take pictures of the car for insurance purposes.

At some point, a volunteer firefighter heading in the opposite direction came over with his wife & baby in their truck, gave me a blanket for my son & checked to see what he could do to help. I called 9-1-1, but emergency vehicles were already on very close by, and soon arrived. It took a few minutes for firefighters to extinguish the blaze and I hoped that my son's favorite bike and new clothes could be extracted from the rear hatch. No such luck.  I confirmed that a tow truck would be there in 40 minutes or so to tow my car the 15 miles or less limit to the dealership where I bought the car last June 2011. The Sheriff then gave me a ride to a restaurant nearby where I ordered 2 biscuits and gravy with 1 scrambled egg. I ate the $2.00 dinner while waiting for  my friend & business partner to come pick me up from South Tampa. There are some other minor details to the story, but I'm no longer interested in writing.

POSITIVES:

• We are in perfect health.
• I was scheduled to make my car payment that week. I procrastinated while waiting for a check to be deposited into my bank account. I would have felt sick had I spent all that money on a car I no longer had.
• All is well that ends well.

Jim Greer, Ex-Florida GOP Chair, Claims Republican Voting Laws Focused On Suppression, Racism

So in other news of the obvious...the pope is really really White. It's as the Florida GOP expected that normal people couldn't see through the blatant "I'm shortening voting days from 14 to 8 in the 5th largest state knowing that 300,000 MORE people would vote in 2012 than in 2008 because I'd like to cut down on the [non-existent] voting fraud in a state that Republicans have completely controlled for years" ruse. My home state of Florida gets what it paid for in voting for a criminal whose company received the largest fine in history for defrauding the fed while providing healthcare. But ironically "this guy" is against Obamacare. Priceless. www.thegreatblogofketo.blogspot.com
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Republican Reckoning Begins After Revealing Defeat

I hope my Republican friends consider the facts about how the majority of America feels about the values and corresponding actions of the Democratic party and consequently why we voted for Barack Obama (again). If the GOP continues to operate in it's own echo chamber and ignores the trends of this election, it will be a long time before they control anything again other than Congress for a few more years and some state governments. Unfortunately if Post-Clinton GOP ideology continues to prevail, Republicans STILL won't get it! They will continue to assume blindly and unintelligently that not only ignoring the Black & Hispanic vote which is now solidly Democratic, but also actively ALIENATING these groups with anti-immigrant mentality is still the key to winning elections particularly in the South. They will also continue to stereotype "OTHERS" and say that Obama won because poor Americans on welfare want to continue to get government handouts. THEY couldn't be more wrong on both fronts, and the numbers prove it. Even the Cuban population is no longer Republican in Fla! Unfortunately, I guarantee that the BLIND will continue to lead the BLIND, and Tea Partying, war-mongering GOP Party leadership will stupidly assume that they lost this election BECAUSE their candidates were not MORE extreme. For their sakes they should get it right because the number of old White men in America is shrinking and you CANNOT win with just their vote. Duh. www.thegreatblogofketo.blogspot.com
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

James Holmes Identified As Alleged Aurora, Colorado Theater Shooter That Left 12 Dead (PHOTOS, LIVEBLOG)

All I can say is "God help us all!". My heart goes out to the victims & their families, even to the rest of the people in the theater. I hope everyone puts themselves in those people's shoes for a moment and imagine how it would feel to wake up knowing that 12-14 people around you were murdered last night and 30-50 wounded.



And no, I don't think that banning violent video games or TV shows & movies with gratuitous violence is the answer at all. Hundreds of millions of people view this type of material and those of us who are "normal" wouldn't think of replicating these actions because we understand that certain things have their place and should stay in books, video games, movies, etc. We know that those types of behavior should not be emulated in everyday life. Even banning guns is not the answer. If someone is crazy enough or skilled enough there are a number of weapons that can be constructed or used in killing large numbers of people.



It does seem interesting to note though that in the world's richest country, the more educated and intellectual we become and with the world's collective knowledge doubling every so many years, the more savagely we behave towards each other. What mental & emotional issues could a well-educated Ph.D. student have that would "make" him premeditate the ending of multiple innocent lives?!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

A Son is Born--The Birth of Mason Salim (11-4-2009)

It took him 2 years to arrive, but after several false labors, our 4th child and 1st son together by marriage was about to arrive any moment! Shirre started experiencing labor pains early Tuesday morning, drove herself to the local hospital in our hometown in Florida and called my job for me to come quickly from work, our son was about to be born! My heart was pounding as I had already informed H/R and my managers at my company that when the call came I would be leaving immediately. They knew to come get me off my current phone call with clients as soon as Shirre called! Well, Shirre dilated throughout the day, but it was slow going, and she didn't dilate enough for the nurses to induce labor, so they continued to give her medicine through the I.V. to help her along. I remember them saying throughout the evening, "She's X centimeters (dilated) and X% effaced..." I had no idea what any of that meant but I soon understood that a mother trying to give birth must meet a specific minimum number in order to successfully give birth. I had read as much of the sections geared towards fathers in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" as I could, but I didn't remember reading about these terms! After a while, the nurses just let Shirre rest, and I took a very comfortable sofa bed in the room to spend the night. The next morning, the nurses got Shirre up early so they could get her going again. I had a little notepad with me, taking a few notes, and I had brought my digital camera so I could capture the big moment when it arrived! I wrote on my hospital pad the following timeline which I've kept for 2 years in my A. Fuente cigar box:

November 4, 2009

• 8:18am: Broke Water, 4.5 cm

• 10:20am: Pain meds twice > Blood work > 6-7cm
• 10:30-11am: Dr. G/Anesthesiologist [gave Shirre] the epidural
• Shirre was now feeling fantastic and at ease in less than a few minutes. I remember her saying something really funny to the effect that these drugs were amazingly good!
• Somewhere around this time, I believe I went to get a haircut because this was a big day & shedding of hair symbolizes something old going away so that new life can come.
  
• 12:25pm: Nurse Woke [Shirre] up.
• 12:33pm: 8 cm dilated (according to Jill, the midwife).
• 1:38pm PUSH!!!! NOW!!!! Dad's camera and Mama's best friend & nurse, Danita's Blackberry were ready as I held Shirre's hand.
• 1:52pm: Birth! Sent out a pre-written text message to close friends & family announcing that "A prince is here! Mason Salim was born, 11/4/09, 1:52pm, 9 lbs/21 inches"
• 1530 (3:30pm): Epidural catheter removed (Danita took notes from this point as I went home for a few hours to check on our 3 older children who were eagerly awaiting news of the new baby brother!)
• 1545 (3:45pm): Shirre breastfed Mason
• [Shirre] Still holding baby at 3:50pm
• 1600 (4pm): Enfamil formula (bottle) fed to Mason because he didn't want to breastfeed.
• That evening, the nurses took Mason to the nursery to monitor his vitals overnight and brushed his hair into a mohawk, a style which lasted for quite some weeks without us brushing his hair!
• 10:30pm: Weighed 8lbs, 12oz (The nurse explained that babies weigh a little less their first night).

Read the following blog posts chronicling Shirre's pregnancy with Mason Salim:

Baby Diary: It's A Boy (5-18-09)

Baby Diary: The Name Revealed! (7-06-09)