Sunday, January 29, 2006

3. Morris & McGann: Condi vs. Hillary



Great fucking book. But towards the end it was a bit redundant.

Before anything, I must acknowledge that one of the authors of this book is Dick Morris. Morris, who was President Bill Clinton's political guru until a high-priced hooker revealed his toe-sucking fetish, has made a second career out of bashing the Clintons. This book should really be titled, The Case for Condi.

I have recently become fascinated by Condoleeza Rice. I read this book more to learn about Condi than to hear about Hillary. I already have my views about Hillary. This book did little to influence that.

It gave an interesting history of the Republican party and it's commitment to civil rights. Beginning wiht Abe Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, etc.. It was a Republican Congress that passed the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments: making slavery and discrimination illegal and granting black men suffrage respectively. Republican President Eisenhower appointed Warren as Chief Justice. It was the Warren court that decided Brown v. Board of Education. When the Democratic Governor of Arkansas moved to block the integration of schools, Eisenhower sent in troops.

"My father joined our party because the Democrats in Jim Crow Alabama of 1952 would not register him to vote. The Republicans did. I want you to know that my father has never forgotten that day, and neither have I."
Condoleeza Rice, Republican National Convention in 2000


Well, what happened? FDR waged an imped an impressive war against poverty and unemployment. When DAR refused to allow Marian Anderson to perform at Constitution Hall, Eleanor Roosevelt organized a rally at the Lincoln Memorial where she sang in front of a modestly estimated 75,000 people.

The challenge for Republicans is to win enough votes among whites to offset the black vote for the Democrats. They never campaign among African Americans, except to convince white voters that they are not racist.. The segregation of the black vote into the Democratic corral is deeply pernicious to our democracy. It eats away at the fiber of our freedom and creates an unchanging mass dedicated to one party regardless of policy, personality, or priorities. It has created a political atmosphere in which neither party cares much about the needs of the black community.


Morris and McGann argue that Condi can challenge the democrats for the vote of unmarried/single females. The two most important issues to female voters are abortion and education. Condi is pro-choice. Her experience as both Professor and Provost at Stanford more than qualify her on the issue of education.

"I am myself a beneficiary of a Stanford strategy that took affirmative action seriously, that took a risk in taking a young Ph.D from the University of Denver. The president of the university did, after all, appoint a thirty-eight-year-old black female professor provost who had never been a department chair."

"I support affirmative action in higher education. It makes the student body and the administration more integrated. It's accelerating the integration of all strata of society... we don't have to wait one hundred years."


Rice was very affected by the 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, only a few miles from her home. She knew 2 of the victims personally, "I remember more than anything the coffins, the small coffins, and the sense that Birmingham was not a very safe place."

Aside from the myopic view of Hillary, the authors feel, "white people may be eager to vote for an African American to expunge our national legacy of racism." Electing a Black President is not going to end racism nor should it signal that Blacks have 'arrived'. This is a most dangerous notion indeed.

happy birthday, my darling.



happy 93rd, Ike. my darling, darling grandfather.

at 93, you are still the most informed man that i know. you watch the news, both ny (consequence of direct tv) and local. all the sunday morning shows and read the paper everyday. you are still incredulous that elton john got married. you look for soul train on tv because 'you like to watch them bounce.' you are a republican but recognize bush is a complete ass. even now at 28, you still correct my speech, speak random phrases in french, and tell me about the cocksuckers running the world. and you've been married to an amazing but difficult woman for 66 years.

it is my pleasure to love you.

i love to hear you reminisce about your days as a philly firefighter. i love to hear you talk about something you will always love. when you started as a fireman in 1940, whites and 'colored boys' had separate firehouses. it wasn't until '49 that you could apply for a transfer into a white firehouse.

what breaks my heart is that one day you will disappear. and i will be destroyed. no one will ever love me the way that you have. and a part of me will die. petal and pollen falling lifeless beside the vase.

so, last night instead of seeing the banker i was here. while gram slept, i listened to you talk about the firehouse and elton john and how condoleeza is probably a 'lezzy'. you ask me if i'm going to see big momma 2. you saw enough in the preview, "a big chick running on a beach in a yellow bathingsuit. she looked like a sherman tank. but i couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman."

i brought you a philadelphia tribune and we sat in the livingroom reading in happy and intimate silence.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

honda: safety for everyone

has anyone seen the honda commercial with the animals? not the cog or the choir that sounds like a civic or the impossible dream commercial. but the other one. i saw it at the end of 2005.

it shows the frame of a honda with three animals inside. it begins with a zebra inside - the wind blowing through it's mane. then the frame is in a forest with an owl inside - his wide eyes blinking. and in a field with a lamb inside the frame. at the end it says - "honda. safety for everyone."

i love this commercial. i can't stop thinking about it. but absolutely no one else has seen it.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Speed Racer



Last night driving back to DC from Annapolis, I had route 50 to myself. It was a beautiful night, warm for January, and I could just go. There is nothing like an open highway in the middle of night. begging to be tested. Sunroof back, the heat on low, and moving fast. There is something supremely exhilarating about speed.

I've got N.E.R.D. 'Lapdance' on repeat as I race past open fields:

I'm just straight ill
Ridin' my motorcycle down the streets
While politicians is soundin' like strippers to me
They keep sayin' but I don't wanna hear it...

Oooh baby you want me?
Oooh baby you want me?
Oooh baby you want me?
Well you can get this lapdance here for free
Well you can get this lapdance here for free
Well you can get this lapdance here for free

Mind you, I do not have a fabulous sports car. Betty, my little red car, has only seen 93 mph. It's funny, most of the people I know with performance cars don't really drive fast, with the exception of my Dad. I remember the first time he took an exit ramp at 122. It was stiff, tight and hungry.

The downside to performance cars, you can't drive them every day. They are a notoriously rough ride at low speeds. Most places are too populated with traffic lights and other drivers to really open your car up.

That's a photo of Danica Patrick, the 1st woman to ever lead the at the Indy 500 (May, 2005) and the 4th to ever compete in the race. She also had the fastest practice speed that month at about 230 mph.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Georgetown Takes Duke (87-84)



I'm not a big Hoyas fan but how could you not be impressed?
It was a thing of beauty. I was shocked.

Friday, January 20, 2006

Serengeti


silver clouds moving fast
above a still and golden plain
rain threatens in the distance

the flames of your body
lick and pulse
until
bones
have melted

dissolved into the rhythm
of your breath
of your longing
of your satisfaction

i sense
your arrival

like the cheetah
senses the gazelle

in the final
silent stretch
between prey and predator

there is no shame
it is the natural order of things

i devour you
without apology

Monday, January 16, 2006

1. Maureen Dowd: Are Men Necessary?



I almost didn't buy this book based on the title. I wasn't paying $30 to read "Men Suck" over the course of 300 pages. I like Maureen Dowd despite the fact that she never has anything nice to say. She is the rare critic offering no one immunity from her acerbic indictments. Which is problematic to some because her allegiances are opaque at best. Who does she like? No one knows. I bought it, for the same reason I buy most books, a fresh perspective.

I consider myself a feminist, despite rejecting most feminist discourse, and had hoped to uncover ideas that might resonate with my own aesthetic. I found that Dowd remains a trenchant observer, her churlishness directed at men and women alike. Her most scathing rebukes directed towards her perceived failures of Feminism and women who have made choices she finds despicable. Page after page she deconstructs woman after woman and the occasional man.
“Maybe there would be more alpha women in the working world if so many of them didn’t marry alpha men and become alpha moms, armed with alpha SUVs, which they drive in an alpha, overcaffeinated manner down the freeway while clutching a venti skim latte. They’re equipped with alpha muscles from daily workouts and alpha tempers from getting in teachers’ faces to propel their precious alpha kids.”
Dowd's a hater. She is righteous in her loathing of Bergdorf Botoxed Blondes and the men who prefer them. Her hate betrays a disappointment that more women are not taking advantage of opportunities created by the Women's Movement and that men are not choosing those that do. Critics of her book, have made it personal, they claim she blames Feminism for her singlehood. I didn't get that at all. I do sense a frustration on her part, but really, how many high-powered women in the public sphere are married?

The Women's Movement, not unlike the Civil Rights Movement, was about creating opportunities where none existed and empowering it's constituents to take advantage. If Feminism is about anything it is about women's choice. Those choices being less and less clear.

The dialogue has shifted and it's no longer a debate between women who work vs. women who don't. It's not just are you playing the game, but how are you playing it?

'Are Men Necessary?' doesn't really make a strong argument for anything in particular, but if you're familiar with Dowd's writing you wouldn't expect that in the first place.

reading in the new year



Above is Picasso's 'Woman Reading' (1935)

Inspired by The Generalists, I am taking on the challenge of reading a book per week in 2006. As month/quarter-end reporting has begun, I am a bit skeptical at how this will play out. As a buffer, unfinished books scattered around my home are eligible.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

baltimore museum of art



so, i've been watching my cousins (boy & girl twins, 14 & girl, 11) for the past week. today, i took them to the baltimore museum of art and we spent alot of time in the modern & contemporary art exhibits. I love modern & contemporary art so i had a great time. i think i made them crazy explaining things, asking their opinions, making them read the placards. then we went to dinner on the harbor.

driving back on 95 south - it's a beautiful night, clear skies, full moon, the highway is relatively empty, music on blast, singing with the kids, heat on, sunroof cracked - Bunny (the youngest) asks me if we're in a rush:

Em: not really.. why?
Bunny: are you speeding or are all the other cars just going really slow?
Em: the other cars are definitely going really slow.
Bunny: but isn't the speed limit 65?

in my defense, we were on 95 and i was going about 87. i was also asked how i was able to get my driver's license since I frequently forget to put on my seatbelt.

i've been forced to listen to chris brown everytime we get in the car. tonight on the way home we listened to one of my mix cd's - they had never heard U2.

Gas = $18
Admission to BMA = $10
Introducing my cousins to warhol, rothko, motherwell, miro, matisse, giacometti, o'keefe & U2 = Priceless

five weird habits



err.. i've been tagged to list five idiosyncrasies:

1. i growl, "err.." when irritated, annoyed, or frustrated - both in person and in writing.

2. i have a dishwasher but insist on doing my dishes by hand. i only use the dishwasher for drying.

3. i like a burger with my ketchup. i put heinz ketchup on both sides of my burger until it oozes out the sides. sometimes even dipping it in ketchup.

4. i drive with the sunroof open and heat on when it's gently snowing at night.

5. i can't sleep over after sex.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

she is disposable



she is disposable
and to survive knowing this,
she must remain self-absorbed
and motivated for her own reasons.

the desire to win
must be her passion alone
because she alone
will live with the outcome

and that
is the only
permanent thing

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Mexican-Style Chicken Tortilla



I came home from work - tried to finish Maureen Dowd's book - and fell asleep. My circadian rhythm is way off. I just woke up and had dinner. Campbell's Select Mexican-Style Chicken Tortilla. I bought 15 cans of that soup, it's my favorite and it was on sale (half-off).

It's a hell of a thing to wake up with one question screaming loudly in your mind, "What the hell are you doing with your life?"

I'm training a new associate tomorrow morning. I've got to get some sleep. Sweet Dreams.

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Affluent Black Investor Trends



Phoenix Marketing, a marketing research company that focuses on U.S. affluent markets, released a study of African-American investor behaviors and attitudes. Over 900 Black investors ($25K-$100K+ investable assets) were surveyed via the internet between August 2004 - June 2005. A few of their most notable findings:

70% of affluent African American investors participate in an employer-sponsored 401(k) or 403(b) plan compared to 56.3% of General Population Active Investors.

64% of affluent African American investors own stocks outside employer-sponsored plans compared to 44% of General Population Active Investors.

61% of affluent African American investors own mutual funds outside employer sponsored plans compared to 38% of the General Population.

58% of affluent African Americans have a trading/brokerage account compared to 31% of the general population.

The first two statistics are of particular interest to me because they compare the investing habits of Blacks to the General Population of Active Inestors. What do these figures reveal, what questions do they raise?

Significantly more Affluent Black Investors (ABI) utilize employer-sponsored plans than the General Population of Active Investors (GPAI). I wonder what percentage of the GPAI has access to employee sponsored plans compared to ABI? The 401(k) is available to most corporate wage earners and the 403(b) is for employees of educational institutions and some non-profits as determined by 501(c)(3) codes. Is it possible that having access to these types of retirement/investment vehicles is almost a predictor of affluent black investment? Is it not only possible but probable that most affluent black investors are not self-employed? Hmm..

Holding Affluence/Income constant, I would hypothesize there are two main differences between Black Investors and Black Non-Investors. Information and Convenience. The presence of a 401(k)/403(b) opportunity offers both. ERISA laws require that participants receive information designed to assist them in making investment and retirement-related decisions appropriate to their
particular situations.
There is no investment opportunity more convenient than the 401(k)/403(b) opportunity. It's an automatic pre-tax deduction. The money is gone before your paycheck hits your account. You hardly miss it and it lowers your taxable income.

The second statistic, 64% own stocks and 61% own mutual funds outside employer-sponsored plans. This is interesting considered in tandem with the first statistic. If 70% participate in 401(k)/403(b) plans and roughly 60% have investments outside of employer-sponsored plans, it's a logical conclusion that a significant portion of the ABI population has at least two investment portfolios. This should make most investment firms take notice.

I am especially curious as to how many affluent blacks are actually investors compared to the general affluent population.

Phoenix has also released 2005 estimates of affluent households. There are 23.6M Affluent households ($250K investable assets/income of $150K), up 19% from 2004. The number of Mass Affluent households ($250K-$1M investable assets) jumped by 30% from 12.5M to 16.1M in 2005. However, the number of households with $1M+ investable assets only grew by 7%