KLCS - About The Brand

NYTimes: At War With São Paulo’s Establishment, Black Paint in Hand

2012-01-29T09:29:00.001-08:00

The São Paulo authorities have tried for years to stop pichação, graffiti that reflects urban decay and deep class divisions. http://nyti.ms/yyybWF

Check out: 'A new book asks, "Are we becoming China's bitch?"' on the Foreign Policy

2012-01-22T17:04:00.001-08:00

I thought you might find this Foreign Policy article interesting:

A new book asks, "Are we becoming China's bitch?"
By Isaac Stone Fish
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/01/20/are_we_becoming_chinas_bitch?wpisrc=fp_ipad

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
Sent from my iPad

Mutabaruka

2012-01-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

Mutabaruka Lyrics

DIS POEM
Life Squared - Album Cover

dis poem
shall speak of the wretched sea
that washed ships to these shores
of mothers cryin for their young
swallowed up by the sea
dis poem shall say nothin new
dis poem shall speak of time
time unlimited time undefined
dis poem shall call names
names like lumumba kenyatta nkrumah
hannibal akenaton malcolm garvey
haile selassie
dis poem is vexed about apartheid rascism fascism
the klu klux klan riots in brixton atlanta
jim jones
dis poem is revoltin against 1st world 2nd world
3rd world division man made decision
dis poem is like all the rest
dis poem will not be amongst great literary works
will not be recited by poetry enthusiasts
will not be quoted by politicians nor men of religion
dis poem s knives bombs guns blood fire
blazin for freedom
yes dis poem is a drum
ashanti mau mau ibo yoruba nyahbingi warriors
uhuru uhuru
uhuru namibia
uhuru soweto
uhuru afrika
dis poem will not change things
dis poem need to be changed
dis poem is a rebirth of a peopl
arizin awaking understandin
dis poem speak is speakin have spoken
dis poem shall continue even when poets have stopped writin
dis poem shall survive u me it shall linger in history
in your mind
in time forever
dis poem is time only time will tell
dis poem is still not written
dis poem has no poet
dis poem is just a part of the story
his-story her-story our-story the story still untold
dis poem is now ringin talkin irritatin
makin u want to stop it
but dis poem will not stop
dis poem is long cannot be short
dis poem cannot be tamed cannot be blamed
the story is still not told about dis poem
dis poem is old new
dis poem was copied from the bible your prayer book
playboy magazine the n.y. times readers digest
the c.i.a. files the k.g.b. files
dis poem is no secret
dis poem shall be called boring stupid senseless
dis poem is watchin u tryin to make sense from dis poem
dis poem is messin up your brains
makin u want to stop listenin to dis poem
but u shall not stop listenin to dis poem
u need to know what will be said next in dis poem
dis poem shall disappoint u
because
dis poem is to be continued in your mind in your mind
in your mind your mind

Julie Dexter

2012-01-15T21:57:00.001-08:00

Great Performance!

Julie Dexter

2012-01-15T21:09:00.001-08:00

@CNBCtopStories, 1/11/12 3:42 PM

2012-01-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

CNBC Top Stories (@CNBCtopStories)
1/11/12 3:42 PM
McCulley: We Are In a 'Liquidity Trap!' bit.ly/wwFrKg $$ #Cnbc.com

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett

770-601-7441

Sent from my iPhone

Common Puts Down 'The Torch Of Consciousness'

2012-01-10T08:38:00.001-08:00

I found the following story on the NPR iPad App:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/01/03/144436571/common-puts-down-the-torch-of-consciousness?sc=ipad&f=124289519

Common Puts Down 'The Torch Of Consciousness'
by Kristin Braswell

NPR - January 3, 2012

The Chicago rapper Common has been in the hip-hop game for almost two decades. He released his debut, Can I Borrow a Dollar?, in 1992, and his ninth album, The Dreamer, The Believer, two weeks ago.

In his latest work, the rapper-actor has not strayed from the themes listeners have come to know him for. It is an album of lyrical prowess, lovelorn tributes and good old-fashioned name-calling. Producer No I.D. makes his mark on the entirety of the album, much like he did on the critically-acclaimed Resurrection — most notably on the hip-hop classic "I Used to Love H.E.R."

In a phone interview, Common told me he was "inspired to make music that is the essence of hip-hop and to let it be something that goes beyond that." Going beyond that included letting go of what he called "the torch of consciousness" he often felt he had to carry in his lyrics. Case in point? The fiery wordplay and hard-hitting beat behind the track "Sweet," which was the focus of our back and forth.

What is one of your favorite tracks on The Dreamer, The Believer, and what was the inspiration behind it?

The song that has been getting the most attention has been "Sweet." A lot of people are trying to figure out who I'm talking about. There was no one I particularly had in mind, but if you're offended, then there's something to be said about how you see yourself.

How would you describe the feel and production of the song?

It's rough. When No I.D. first played it for me, I just knew it was going to be a problem. We were going through some samples, and when I heard this I just knew I had to go in on it.

How does "Sweet" fit the natural progression of the album?

It represents the aggression and determination of the believer. The cat that walks into the middle of the ring and just knows he's the best. That knows he's the greatest.How do you want people to feel after they hear it?

To feel that old school, in-your-face hip-hop. It's confrontational, sometimes telling you what you don't want to hear, but it's passionate and honest. We all could use a little more fire.

How do you feel you've changed lyrically in this track and overall on the album?

I went back to working one producer, and what better person than someone I've grown up with? I feel like this album captures that old thing and gives a look on my past, present and future frame of mind.

As an actor I'm able to be more expressive. Acting has helped me to be more open in my music. With songs like "Sweet," I'm able to be like, "You know what? I ain't holding back nothin'." Because in acting you can't hold back. As an artist, at a certain point I felt like because I established a certain consciousness in my lyrics that I wasn't letting myself express that different side. I got to explore that side more with this album, with songs like "Sweet."

I consider myself a work in progress. Any time I'm asked about my style I say I'm progressing. How I describe my music I say is progressive because I know that I'm constantly changing and growing and evolving. To the core, Common Sense is a loving, creative, Southside man who loves life, believes in God and loves love. [Copyright 2012 National Public Radio]

To learn more about the NPR iPad app, go to http://ipad.npr.org/recommendnprforipad

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett

Sent from my iPad

Free MIT Certificates

2012-01-01T07:39:00.000-08:00

http://chronicle.com/article/MIT-Will-Offer-Certificates-to/130121/

NYTimes: In Washington, Large Rewards in Teacher Pay

2012-01-01T07:03:00.001-08:00

In a new system to retain young talent, about 476 teachers received sizable bonuses this year, with 235 of them getting unusually large pay raises. http://nyti.ms/vQ9XUv

Been Thinking

2011-12-30T21:19:00.001-08:00

I've had some time, some time to think about things. And lately I listen to the wind, and watch the stars, and stare at nature doing its thing. And I've come to realize my struggles, my flaws, the imperfections that make me who I am in life. And I've been thinking about all the different ways I've viewed the world. And lately, I've been exhausted from dreaming, dreaming all these years about things getting better for me - momentum. And I've been thinking about reality, and what makes it so threatening to my dreams. And the liquor doesn't taste good anymore, and the things that used to move me don't register like they used to, and I've given up on hoping for better, because it is what it is. And I've been thinking about the beauty of time, and how it reveals the things that are real and true, and exposes those things that are not true, and I've been thinking about how time has revealed the things about me that are true, and not true. And whether I like what I see or not, it truly is what it is. And the people that hurt me in the past don't hurt as much anymore, because I've realized that I've hurt people too. And maybe, just maybe, we are all doing the best that we can. If it were more it would have been that - no need in dreaming about it. And I've been thinking that as much as we think the world has changed over time, we have always done the best we could.

I've been thinking a lot lately, that maybe I'm over-thinking this thing.

For 2012, just be glad you have a shot at it - win or lose. You've got another chance.

Best wishes,

Ex-dreamer.

Sent from my iPhone

Great Quote

2011-12-27T11:55:00.001-08:00

"Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage." - Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett

770-601-7441

Sent from my iPhone

(BN) U.S. Consumer Confidence Climbs More Than Forecast on Improving Job Market

2011-12-27T10:21:00.001-08:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPhone.

Gain in U.S. Consumer Confidence Exceeds Forecasts: Economy

Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence among consumers rose to an eight-month high in December as an improving job market helped Americans regain all the ground lost following the mid- year government budget battle and credit-rating downgrade.

The Conference Board's index increased to 64.5, exceeding all estimates in a Bloomberg News survey and the highest since April, from a revised 55.2 reading in November, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. Another report showed home prices fell more than projected in October.

Unemployment that dropped last month to its lowest in more than two years and the cheapest gasoline since February are prompting households to take advantage of discounts during the holiday shopping season. The improvement in sentiment may help sustain household purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the economy, into the new year.

"A large part of the problem in the economy is one of confidence, and to the extent that sentiment begins improving it would be a positive for growth," said Dana Saporta, director of U.S. economic research at Credit Suisse in New York, one of three forecasters that projected a reading of 63, the highest in the Bloomberg survey. "There are still a lot of headwinds out there, including the continued decline in home prices."

Stocks were little changed after the reports as concern about Europe's debt crisis overshadowed the improvement in confidence. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.1 percent to 1,266.76 at 12:01 p.m. in New York.

Italian Retailers

Italian retailers had the worst Christmas in 10 years, consumer group Codacons said today, as austerity measures to combat the sovereign debt crisis prompted households to cut spending. Italians spent 48 euros ($62.75) less per person this holiday season than the average of the past five years, Rome based Codacons said in a statement on its website.

In China, profit gains at industrial companies cooled. Net income increased 24.4 percent in the first 11 months of 2011 from a year earlier to 4.66 trillion yuan ($737 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website today. The pace compared with a 25.3 percent gain in the first 10 months and a 27 percent rise in the first three quarters. The lingering Europe debt crisis and a cooling domestic property market are dimming growth prospects for the world's second-largest economy.

The median forecast of 69 economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast the U.S. consumer confidence gauge would rise to 58.9. Estimates ranged from 52 to 63. The measure averaged 53.7 during the recession that ended in June 2009 and 98 during the economic expansion that ended in December 2007.

Confidence Measures

Other surveys have reflected similar gains in optimism. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index improved to minus 45 in the period ended Dec. 18 from a reading of minus 49.9 the prior week, marking the biggest seven-day gain since January. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment rose to a six-month high in December.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home values in cities dropped 3.4 percent from October 2010 after decreasing 3.5 percent in the year ended September, the New York-based group said. The median forecast of 27 economists in a Bloomberg survey projected a 3.2 percent decrease.

The real-estate market is bracing for another wave of foreclosures that may keep pressure on home prices, indicating any housing recovery will take time to develop. Nonetheless, rising builder confidence, a pickup in construction and fewer unsold new properties for sale are among signs the industry that triggered the last recession is steadying.

Striving for 'Equilibrium'

"It's a picture of a market that's trying to get back to equilibrium," Karl Case, co-creator of the index, said today in an interview on Bloomberg Radio. "Different things are happening in different markets. It's very segmented. You've got these huge inventories that we've never really had before."

The Conference Board's confidence data showed a measure of present conditions increased to the highest level since September 2008. The measure of expectations for the next six months also climbed.

The share of consumers saying jobs were plentiful rose to the highest since January 2009, while those saying employment was hard to get decreased to the lowest since the same month.

Confidence slumped in August when S&P stripped the U.S. of its AAA credit rating after congressional gridlock on raising the debt limit almost forced a government shutdown and brought the nation to the brink of default.

Debt Limit

A similar battle may be on the horizon. The Obama administration will ask Congress to increase federal borrowing authority by $1.2 trillion as the nation approaches the debt limit set by law, according to a Treasury Department official. The White House will send the request to Congress on Dec. 30, the day the debt is projected to rise to within $100 billion of the $15.194 trillion limit, the Treasury official told reporters today on condition of anonymity.

Americans will be helped by Congress' decision last week to pass a two-month payroll tax cut extension, eight days before its scheduled expiration. Yet fiscal policy uncertainty remains as congressmen are debating measures to cut the budget deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

The labor market has gained traction in recent weeks, gasoline prices have fallen and stocks have climbed as European leaders worked to resolve their debt crisis, helping revive confidence.

Fewer Firings

Initial claims in the week ended Dec. 17 declined by 4,000 to 364,000, the lowest level since April 2008, while those continuing to receive benefits fell by 79,000 to 3.55 million in the prior week, the lowest since September 2008.

The unemployment rate in November fell to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009, while the S&P 500 gained 9.2 percent from Nov. 25 through Dec. 23.

A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline fell to $3.21 on Dec. 20, the lowest since February, according to AAA, the nation's largest automobile association.

Holiday sales will rise 3.8 percent, compared with a 5.2 percent advance last year, according to the Washington-based National Retail Federation.

As they have throughout the season, retailers continued to discount and keep stores open longer than ever. Almost all 600 Toys "R" Us U.S. locations were to remain open from Dec. 20 to Christmas Eve -- or 112 hours straight.

"We took a number of actions to drive our business, including running effective promotions across multiple channels," Brian Dunn, chief executive officer at Best Buy Co., the world's largest consumer-electronics retailer, said on a Dec. 13 conference call. "We're excited about momentum we've seen in hot products like mobile phones, tables, and e-readers for the rest of the holiday season."

To contact the reporter on this story: Bob Willis in Washington at bwillis@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz cwellisz@bloomberg.net

Find out more about Bloomberg for iPhone: http://m.bloomberg.com/iphone/

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett

770-601-7441

Sent from my iPhone

Hitting the Finish Line

2011-12-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

As I come close to the end of a very interesting year, I am reflecting on what has been learned to establish some goals for 2012. We've sen a lot of changes globally this year, in the midst of a very stagnate economy. That being said (or written), it appears that success will be difficult to fake in the future. Maybe we partied too much. Maybe it's a good thing.

If I had to make predictions for the future of marketing, business, and strategy, I would say that hitting the fundamentals will be essential to success. Unfortunately, we have partied so hard that no one has an idea of what "fundamentals" means anymore. It means 12-hour days reading, thinking, and struggling with concepts. It means getting out of your chair, or couch, and living the experience. It means serving to understanding leadership. It means practicing the right way to do it so much that it becomes second-hand during execution. It means that the numbers can't lie for your anymore, and faking the funk will only prolong your recovery. It means BEING ALL ABOUT IT!

Go to work!

Job Training for American Workers Must Change

2011-12-19T07:29:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SGvNp8dDF4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
Sent from my iPad

(BN) Alwaleed Buys $300 Million Twitter Stake Amid Wave of Social Network IPOs

2011-12-19T07:21:00.001-08:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPad.

Twitter Wins $300 Million Alwaleed Investment Amid Site Revamp

Dec. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Twitter Inc., the microblogging service with more than 100 million users, won a $300 million investment from Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal as it pushes through a redesign of its site to attract advertisers.

Alwaleed, ranked the richest Arab businessman this year by Arabian Business magazine, and his investment company agreed to buy a "strategic stake," Kingdom Holding said today. Alwaleed is the largest individual investor in Citigroup Inc. and his other investments include holdings in Apple Inc. and General Motors Co. Riyadh-based Kingdom Holding jumped as much as 8.9 percent on the local exchange.

Twitter, which lets its users send 140-character messages, is revamping the site to make it faster and simpler to navigate. The San Francisco-based company may boost ad revenue by 86 percent next year as it attracts more international advertisers, according to EMarketer Inc. Alwaleed's investment comes as Facebook Inc., the most-popular social networking site with more than 800 million users, is said to consider raising about $10 billion from an initial public offering.

"Twitter are looking to give themselves some more running space," said Jeff Mann, an analyst at Gartner in Amsterdam. "Their strategy has always been first get big, they're still holding reasonably close to that. Having a big audience is more important than a short-term revenue stream."

'Strategic Asset'

Twitter confirmed the investment in an e-mail, declining to give additional comments.

Demand for technology IPOs reignited in November after a summer lull, setting the stage for Groupon Inc., Zynga Inc., the largest maker of games for Facebook, and Angie's List Inc. to go public. Facebook may file for an IPO before the end of the year, a person with knowledge of the matter said last month. The sale may value the company at more than $100 billion, twice as high as it was in January, when the company announced a $1.5 billion investment from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other backers.

Alwaleed's investment may value Twitter at $10 billion, said Jack Neele, a fund manager at Robeco Groep NV, which had about $194 billion under management at the end of June. DST Global, the technology fund managed by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and an investor in Facebook, led an $800 million financing round in Twitter in August. That investment valued the short-messaging service at $8 billion, people with knowledge of the plan said at the time.

"Twitter is seen as a strategic asset within the social media space, given its large user base," Neele said. "But the business model in its current form isn't ready for the public market."

Co-Founders

Twitter is seeking to speed up its ad rollout program, its main source of revenue. The microblogging service's revamp will feature tabs at the top of the screen that let users more easily access their home pages, connect with others and discover new content. EMarketer cut its estimate for 2011 ad revenue to $139.5 million from $150 million in September because Twitter has been slow to roll out some services.

Twitter is also facing the loss of its two of its co- founders. Both Evan Williams and Biz Stone have lessened their involvement under Chief Executive Officer Dick Costolo, who took the reins in October 2010. Mike Abbott, a vice president in charge of engineering, also has stepped down.

The agreement followed "several months of negotiations," Kingdom Holding said its statement. The company, controlled by Alwaleed, a nephew of Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, added 5.1 percent to 8.25 riyals at 3:39 p.m. in Riyadh. Before today, the stock had lost 4.3 percent this year.

'Savvy Investor'

"Kingdom realizes the importance of social networks like Twitter and their future growth prospects, and decided to benefit from this trend," said Samer Darwiche, an analyst at Gulfmena Investments in Dubai.

The prince was ranked the richest Arab businessman this year by Arabian Business magazine with assets valued at $21.3 billion. Kingdom Holding, 95 percent owned by the prince, is building the tallest tower in the world in Jeddah at a cost of 4.6 billion riyals ($1.23 billion).

Alwaleed "is a savvy investor and the hot thing in the I.T. world is social networking," said Nabil Farhat, a partner at Abu Dhabi-based Al Fajer Securities in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mourad Haroutunian in Riyadh at mharoutunian@bloomberg.net Jonathan Browning in London jbrowning9@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net

Find out more about Bloomberg for iPad: http://m.bloomberg.com/ipad/

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett

Sent from my iPad

@HarvardBiz, 12/14/11 1:19 PM

2011-12-14T12:07:00.001-08:00

Harvard Biz Review (@HarvardBiz)
12/14/11 1:19 PM
Three Innovation Trends in Asia s.hbr.org/vHa48n

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett

Sent from my iPad

Monetary Policy in 2011: Unconventional and Necessary

2011-12-14T11:37:00.001-08:00

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2011/1214_monetary_policy_kohn.aspx

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
Sent from my iPad

San Diego

2011-12-03T14:18:00.000-08:00

I just returned from a good conference in San Diego. I really like that city. I'm ready to move!

Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone. I am still digging out of my coursework problems. The pressure and circumstances at work presented more of a problem than I anticipated. I will do my best to limp through the semester. I'm running out of time to deal with my doctoral program the way I would like to. I guess the important part is simply finishing the journey.

Give back today, to someone or something, even if it is a smile. Do it for those who don't have the capacity, the drive, or the discerning power to give.

5000

Chattanooga mayor faces recall vote

2011-11-26T19:44:00.001-08:00

Chattanooga mayor faces recall vote

Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield's detractors have won the latest round in their long-running bid for a recall election.

Original Page: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111118/NEWS02/311180065/1972/news02

Sent from Feeddler RSS Reader

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett

770-601-7441

Sent from my iPhone

Maybe We Should Be Working On Something Else

2011-11-19T15:06:00.001-08:00

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Sad Moment

2011-11-19T08:45:00.000-08:00

After ten years of operation, I have officially closed down the business of K.L. Creative Solutions, Inc. It has been an awesome experience; something you can't buy anywhere on this planet. I will wait to reflect on the journey until I reach the end of this calendar year. But briefly, I want to lay out my thoughts about K.L. Creative and my role as the CEO.

The business had been on my mind well before 2001. The only reason why I launched the business was because of my dissatisfaction with my job and the market, my need to grow and develop new skills, and my belief that I could one day become an entrepreneur. All of these objectives were met in some form or fashion. Unfortunately, the process was somewhat unplanned, and the launch began with extreme pressure to render quick results - 5-month old daughter, wife, mortgage, and bills. Even worse, my business skills were lacking on many fronts, and my professional development was mediocre at best. But, it was a failure I would not trade for the world.

I'm not sure what will become of me as a professional, entrepreneur, or leader. I've come to understand that I can only concentrate on the things in front of me. If I have that magical shot at doing something "big", I know this experience with K.L. Creative Solutions will be the difference-maker, in terms of my ability to understand what is involved with running a business. More important, having the opportunity to stare failure dead in the face has forced me to appreciate the little things that lead to success.

This blog entry goes out to all the small businesses out there trying to survive. The world has no clue about what you go through. Wall Street couldn't understand your challenges if it hit them dead in the face. Washington can't comprehend how important your efforts are to freedom.

I remember the day I began the business, and it felt like a start of a new life; a chance to do it the right way. Today, I mourn for that life I failed to keep alive.

Keep surviving. Keep trying. Keep believing.

IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL. IT'S ONLY BUSINESS.

Technology Access Center of Nashville

2011-11-17T17:20:00.000-08:00

I am proud to be a board member of this great organization. I encourage everyone to consider supporting our Holiday fundraiser. Technology has made a significant difference in the livelihoods of our disabled and impaired citizens.

Transformative Infrastructure to Boost Exports and Manufacturing

2011-11-17T07:13:00.001-08:00

http://www.brookings.edu/testimony/2011/1116_infrastructure_puentes.aspx

Thank you,

Sent from my iPad

Movember

2011-11-14T20:41:00.001-08:00

Rock your mustache for Movember - http://us.movember.com/

Good News, or Not

2011-11-11T10:06:00.001-08:00

Okay,

Before I could sulk too much about the state of public education, I stumble on this video. What's my point? If we, public education, choose not to modernize, don't be upset when Wall Street, or someone else, does it for us. If public education, especially higher education, believes the recent crackdown on for-profit colleges and universities settled the score, you are sadly mistaken. When they (for-profits) recover, the issues of quality, cost, and relevance to the immediate community will more than likely be non-issues, just saying.

What Happened

2011-11-11T06:51:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I took another tour of a high school using thecareer academy model – Whites Creek High School. Overall, the tour was veryinformative, and I am very impressed with the progress being made at theschool. However, the experience has inspired me to present a thought to youabout overall performance of our school systems, and how has inequitysolidified itself in the system.

I am a graduate of Whites Creek – class of 1989. In mygraduating class, we have a Harvard lawyer, the youngest African-AmericanNashville judge in history, a full professor at the University of Utah, alawyer for the state of Tennessee (now deceased), surgeons and doctors,engineers and educators, vice presidents and pharmacists, and pro athletes –one with a Super Bowl ring. This was a predominately African-Americanpopulation – 75%. Our class size is nearly the size is nearly the size of thecurrent student population. I graduated number 16, and I remember my friendsand I being upset about not making a 32 on the ACT.

Fast-forward 22 years later, and the percentage of thispopulation that scores above a 21 at this same school is 6% - point zero, six.While I am grateful of the hard work of Marc Hill and the Nashville Chamber,Dr. Register and Jay Steele, the current principal of Whites Creek and others,I am at a loss as to what actually happened to the school. More important, Idon’t know what happened to the school system. Granted I’ve only been back inthe area for only seven years, and it may be out of line for me to questionthis matter. But, what changed in our approach, our view of education, and thestudents we are serving?

I think we are looking at this thing totally wrong - totallywrong. For a prosperous city like this, this is a scary reality.

Rough Year, but Good Ideas

2011-11-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

This has truly been an eventful and rough year for me. I will fill you in on the details later. For now, just know that I can't wait to get my thoughts on this blog. I have some new concepts and schematics in education, business strategy, and organization development to consider. Also, I have some new systems perspectives on technology, risk, and public organizations that I think may be useful to understanding how to make improvements in circumstances that fall outside of the traditional business view.

In any case, it will all have to wait until I finish these two courses this semester.

Khan Academy

2011-11-06T18:06:00.001-08:00

http://www.businessinsider.com/khan-academy-snags-5-million-to-blow-up-education-2011-11

Sent from my iPhone

CNBC.com Article: Wal-Mart Poised to End Nine Quarters of Sales Declines

2011-10-12T09:11:00.001-07:00

CNBC.com Article: Wal-Mart Poised to End Nine Quarters of Sales Declines

Wal-Mart Stores said it is finally poised to end its nine straight quarters of declining sales at stores open at least a year in its core U.S. business, SW Retail Advisors analyst Stacey Widlitz told CNBC.

Full Story:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/44874256

------------------------------------------------
Download CNBC Real-Time from the App Store for Free and get Streaming Real-Time quotes, breaking news and the latest videos from CNBC.
http://www.itunes.com/apps/cnbcreal-time

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett

770-601-7441

Sent from my iPhone

The Markets

2011-09-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

I question what "they" are going to do about the valuation of all things economic. What is anything really worth, and how is inflation not in play - after all of this? Anyway, I can't wait to see what's going on.

Love Fido

2011-09-24T14:51:00.000-07:00

Moving Forward with Strategy

2011-09-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Strategy in the public sector is a very difficult endeavor. There are a lot of moving parts to consider. One, there are many values and objectives to consider. Two, there are varying definitions for the relevant metrics and measurements. And three, there is a reluctance to exclusion, and a perception of the possibility of inclusion.

This post will not answer the question of how to move forward with a good strategy for a public organization or institution. Rather, I would like to highlight the importance of creating new forms of syntax and linguistics to better aggregate values and objectives. We have been taught to dwell on our differences to extend the debate of anything. But, we have yet to develop a mechanism to collect the similarities in values and goals to move the conversation forward.

For example, why did we spend all that time on the healthcare debate, with ridiculous concerns? We could have started with a vote among our representatives, or the people, with an initial question - "Is healthcare a right or privilege?", and this could shape the path moving forward.

This is just a random thought.

Check out: 'The Renminbi: The Political Economy of a Currency' on the Foreign Policy

2011-09-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

I thought you might find this Foreign Policy article interesting:

The Renminbi: The Political Economy of a Currency
By Arthur Kroeber
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/09/07/the_renminbi_the_political_economy_of_a_currency?wpisrc=fp_ipad

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
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The Theory of Everything

2011-08-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, while walking with my father, he mentioned how the scientific community was looking for the theory of everything. I'm no scientist, and even worse barely getting through my doctoral program. However, the concept of a universal theory is very interesting to me.

If I had to answer this question right now, I would say this:

Everything acts and responds according to the values (gravity, money, etc.) inherit in its design. Everything has the ability to design other things. Context constitutes the independent variables, and values are dependent variables.

I know, this makes no sense, but I had to get the thought out.

Cool Hunting: Google+

2011-08-12T08:16:00.002-07:00

Google+

How some of the most tech-savvy are using the latest social network

With any new networking platform, the tech crowd always takes the lead while the rest of us are still complaining about our parents joining Facebook. When Google+ launched last month it seemed like a particularly novel way to stay socially organized, but we still weren't quite sure what to do with it. Turning to the digital community and beyond, we asked around to see how some of the earliest-adopters are engaging. From Refinery29's VP of Engineering Jorge Lopez, Gina Bianchi (who herself enabled anyone to make their own social network by co-founding Ning) and Selectism editor Jeff Carvalho to Jean Aw, Notcot founder, the overwhelming response from the total of 10 people that we surveyed was that, while there's tremendous potential, there's still a lot of learning that has to happen on both the consumer and Google's side.

Brett Renfer (Interaction Designer at Rockwell Group Lab told us that the more he uses it, the more he's discovered a need to share in the selective way that the site allows. Many from our list were on Google+ (or Plus, as some call it) since its launch, like technologist Joel Niedfeldt who described it as a "veritable ghostland at first." Matt Spangler (a friend of CH and digital entrepreneur) relays his more common experience, "I've read about it in articles more than I've used it."

Despite initial hesitations, most are checking Google+ two or three times a day. Ben Lerer, a Thrillist co-founder, and Taj Reid, who's the brains behind WeJetSet, point out they visit more thanks to the mobile app. And, as illustrator Keren Richter predicts, while it doesn't have the same activity as Twitter or Facebook, it "has a chance of catching on."

Which feature do you use most often?

Jeff: Circles, based on common interests. I have circles for people I know interested in technology and music, for example.
Jorge: The Stream is pretty much as far as I go with it. Going to Google+ has pretty much been a chore.
Taj: Definitely the Stream and Circles. I'm also interested in making more use of the photo section.
Gina: My team and I kicked Skype to the curb and now use Hangouts for our daily stand-ups because of the higher quality and reliability. I think they just nailed it.
Keren: I use the Stream, I post photos and update my status.

What's different about Google+ that you really like?

Ben: It feels like a blend between LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter to me, but it has some advantages of all of them.
Brett: The Circles more closely mimic real-world social structure. I can see Google+ growing into more of a hub for me, especially in a work context.
Joel: They've built a very mature social networking platform that does away with the early-stage stuff that just annoys me now on Facebook. It's more of a tool.
Jorge: If they had events, I like that I could create a public event and exclude some people. (Sorry parents, I love you, but I don't want you to hang out with my drunk friends.)
Taj: I like how the posting works—it encourages stickier conversations.
Matt: I like the simplicity and clarity of its design and user interface. Its biggest advantage is integrating the magic of push notification alerts into my everyday media activity.
Gina: It's seamlessly connected to Gmail as well as my Google docs and apps, so it fits in beautifully with the fabric of my workday.

Is Google+ better for business or social aspects?

Brett: My job is very tech-centric, so my circles lean more towards people I'm interested in because of work rather than people I know in a social context.
Jeff: Socially. We'll see how their business model turns out for the service. I have a feeling it will not be free.
Jean: So far it's the same mess I have on Facebook and Twitter.
Matt: I've started creating some client-specific circles that I'm monitoring, but its just the beginning of that. Once they open up the API and allow for third-party developing, I think I'll both use the system more and it will drive a lot more adoption. I can imagine ways my small groups of trusted individuals can connect in more exciting ways, but it will depend on how well done the API is.
Keren: I'm not the most business-minded. Right now, it's mostly for friends and memes, but it's not SO much better than Facebook that there will be a mass exodus.

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Cool Hunting: Jojo

2011-08-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Jojo

A more transparent brand of social entrepreneurship showing you exactly how shoes change the world

Jojo, an altruistic Belgian shoe brand, picks up where philanthropic companies like Toms leave off. Designed to look like a bandaged foot, for every pair of Jojo shoes purchased, they plant one tree or provide one person with a year of clean drinking water. But you don't have to just take the company's word for it; the enterprising young pair behind Jojo allow customers to track the progress of their contribution well after the point of purchase.

With a "choose, act, check" tagline, Jojo co-founder Matthieu Vaxelaire explains that the last step—following the progress of your contribution—is the most important part. In the future they envision shoes labeled with unique code that buyers can use to locate via GPS the well or tree they helped fund, "to really see their personal impact."

The passion that Vaxelaire, along with his friend and business partner Christoph Nagel, share for bettering the world shows in every aspect of the brand. The Jojo blog is filled with Instagram photos of current inventory and brainstorm sessions, outtakes from video campaigns (such as their inventive pigeon delivery video), business information and more.

While they set out to produce the shoes in Brazil (where they first conceived the idea), after four months of working with manufacturers, the twosome realized this was nearly impossible and almost gave up. Their tenacity led them to finding a producer in China, who now makes the shoes in a clean facility using fair work ethics.

They put that same undaunted enthusiasm into finding Tree Nation and The Water Project, the charitable organizations with which they partner. Vaxelaire explained the need for "reliable NGOs, because it takes months and months to find the right place to build a well and we needed to be with them on every step."

To help with the replanting of trees in Niger or the building of water pumps in Sierra Leone, purchase one of seven styles of Jojo shoes (€80 per pair). Simply choose the color, decide which project to support and then check in online to follow its development.

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Kenyatta Lovett

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(BN) Wal-Mart Joins Amazon to Pitch State Law for Tax Benefit Plan

2011-08-08T21:17:00.001-07:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPad.

Wal-Mart Debates Amazon on State Sales-Tax Plan at ALEC

Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- In a windowless hotel ballroom, Utah State Senator Wayne Niederhauser presented his idea for a streamlined state sales tax to a task force subcommittee of the American Legislative Exchange Council.

The proposal would allow several states to impose the same sales tax rate on both brick-and-mortar retailers and online outlets. Seated around the table were representatives from Wal- Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com, along with other state legislators from Oregon and New Hampshire, which have no sales tax.

"The group was pretty polarized," said Niederhauser, a Republican. People argued back and forth for about 15 minutes in what he called an "animated debate" before the idea was tabled.

ALEC is a Washington-based non-profit group that brings state legislators, corporate lobbyists and policy experts together to write model state laws. Niederhauser was one of more than a thousand state lawmakers who traveled to New Orleans on Aug. 3 to attend the group's 38th annual meeting.

This week's conference included workshops on health care, energy and states' rights. To sit on a legislation-writing task force, Wal-Mart and Amazon would have had to pay a fee between $3,000 and $10,000, in addition to their membership dues which range from $7,000 to $25,000, according to ALEC's website.

ALEC Critics

ALEC has become a target for some activist groups who contend that corporations, which finance most of ALEC's operations and reimburse the travel costs for some elected officials who attend the meetings, shouldn't have a seat at the table when lawmakers are writing bills.

"Legislators are voting behind closed doors alongside corporations to change our rights," said Lisa Graves, executive director of the Center for Media and Democracy, a Washington- based group that tracks news sources, who traveled to New Orleans to provide a counterpoint to ALEC's messages.

Niederhauser, whose home is in Sandy, Utah, said the criticism is overblown. "I get lobbied much harder in my own state," he said. He and other elected officials attending this week's gathering said they come to ALEC meetings to network with colleagues from other states.

Corporations are "definitely here, but I've not been lobbied at all," said Kansas Representative Mike Burgess, a Republican who has served in the state legislature for nine years. "I've not been subjected to any arm twisting."

Wal-Mart and BP

Companies definitely were there. Officials from Wal-Mart, oil giant BP Plc, and drug-maker Allergan Inc. were among the hundreds of private sector members at the New Orleans meeting. Three boards more than six-feet tall listed the event sponsors, which included United Healthcare Inc., cigarette-maker Altria and pharmaceutical-maker Johnson & Johnson.

When Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican, spoke at the opening day luncheon, the logo for PhRMA, the lobbying arm of the pharmaceutical industry, was displayed on a screen behind him. Shell Oil Co.'s yellow shell logo hovered over the head of economist Arthur Laffer when he spoke at a breakfast.

Corporate sponsors of organizations' annual meetings aren't unusual. It is ALEC's task forces that are coming under most scrutiny.

The committees meet in sessions closed to reporters and the general public, during which they debate and vote on model bills. Legislators and private-sector task force members must vote to endorse any model legislation -- and each group must deliver a majority before it is officially adopted, said Raegan Weber, ALEC's spokeswoman.

Elected Officials

Adoption doesn't mean it will automatically be considered for passage. It's up to the elected officials to bring the proposed bills to the state Capitol and usher them into law. Burgess of Kansas says he has gotten ideas at ALEC but has never brought a model bill home.

Representative Tim Brown, an emergency room physician who serves in the Indiana legislature, says last year he introduced a bill that would prevent Governor Mitch Daniels, a fellow Republican, from preparing to implement President Barack Obama's health-care law until a challenge to its constitutionality is settled. The bill died in the Senate.

To join ALEC, legislators pay $100 for a two-year membership. ALEC has task forces devoted to civil justice, energy and environment, commerce, education, international relations, public safety, taxes and telecommunications.

'ALEC Exposed"

The Center for Media and Democracy created a website last month called ALEC Exposed where it posted about 800 model bills from ALEC's library that previously were available only to members. The bills include measures that have passed in dozens of states, including laws requiring voter identification; measures requiring states to pull out of cap-and-trade programs, which are designed to curb carbon emissions; and bills that prohibit states from implementing the national health-care law.

Common Cause, a Washington-based group that advocates for limits on money in politics, said companies affiliated with ALEC, along with their employees, spent more than $38 million electing state legislators and governors in 2009 and 2010.

The non-profit investigative reporting group ProPublica on Aug. 1 published on its website a guide for reporters to trace ALEC bills to their states.

The exposure doesn't appear to have hurt. More than 2,000 people signed up for the conference this week, about a 25 percent increase from last year's meeting, said Weber. The group has also attracted many more corporate sponsors, according to its program.

ALEC's mission is to promote free markets, limited government, federalism and individual freedom, according to its website. Legislators at the meeting said they joined because it represents their beliefs.

As for the corporate members, Brown said, "I'll take their money but I'm going to vote the way I want."

To contact the reporter on this story: Alison Fitzgerald in Washington at afitzgerald2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

Find out more about Bloomberg for iPad: http://m.bloomberg.com/ipad/

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Cool Hunting: Cool Hunting Video Presents: Making the Evoque

2011-08-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

Cool Hunting Video Presents: Making the Evoque

A behind the scenes video with Range Rover learning about the bridge between design and manufacturing

When Range Rover asked me to be a City Shaper and help tell the world about their all-new Evoque one of my first requests was to meet the car's designers and visit the factory where they're being built.

Exploring the role of design at Range Rover we visited their creative team in Gaydon, England to learn about how the LRX concept vehicle was translated to the all-new Evoque. From there we traveled north to the factory in Halewood to see how the cars are manufactured and what it means to bring a design to life.

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Conceptual GPS

2011-07-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've provided a good personal account of my thoughts and what's going on in my professional/academic world. While the articles and news I post are very relevant to the focus of this site, it means nothing if I can't synthesize the information I want to share with the world. If you read my blog, I have no doubt you know what's going on in the world for the most part. It's a game of musical chairs, but every time the music stops they add another chair. Today, I would like to discuss some issues I've noticed in the realm of local business and education matters.

Of late, I've been heavily involved with the efforts to improve education and economic development in the Nashville metropolitan area. I have to admit, I've never been a fan of the city, and always thought the town was somewhat backwards in their view of the world, and how they enacted their version of being like other progressive cities (be careful who you compare yourself to). However, I have always told my friends that Nashville typically does well over the long-run because it never overcooks the meal in times of economic prosperity, and thus never loses the farm in economic downturns. No better example could be true than right now this nation.

When I begin to think of the states and cities I admire and have a desire to live one day, I see very little difference in terms of the assets that make them that much different from Nashville. While in terms of culture and diversity Nashville struggles to make the top 50 of 40 options (that was a joke, not a typo), this depression (yes I used the "D" word) has placed everyone on relatively the same footing. In that I mean, the presence of resource scarcity can make the most liberal of towns become ultra-conservative, racist, and isolationist. Not that Wisconsin is on my list, but they are going through some serious changes as a result of scarce resources.

I went on Zillow to look at the value of my first home in Atlanta. I bought the house for $140,000 in 1999, and sold it in 2003 for $170,000. The house is now worth $120,000, which more than likely means it could move today for $110,000. Using basic calculations, some would say "that's a 29% decrease in the home value, which is about the norm for today's market". How ever you choose to look at it, that &^$% hurts! Even worse, I'm not the proud owner of a home that is priced at 1990 levels, but was built in 1999. Needless to say, the markets in Nashville have remained relatively steady in these unfortunate times. Sure, I'm taking a bad hit on my home, which was purchased in 2007 - the peak of the lunacy period. But, I feel better about my chances to retain value in the region in comparison to Atlanta, Florida, California, and other places.

I love the concept of change and progression. More important, I want to always be associated with change and progression for the sake of collective improvements. Of late, I've experienced some great beginnings to significant improvements in the Nashville area. There is an energy within the Nashville Chamber, the school system, and the citizen base to truly make the overall state of education more advanced in the city. People and organizations are putting their money where their mouth is these days. Even outside the city, such as Sumner, Robertson, Wilson, Trousdale, and Macon county, I have witnessed a change in rhetoric and actions toward economic development and education. The reality of bleak employment outlooks has forced everyone to wake up and realize how accountability and responsibility can save the day. However, there are two things I am still looking for that will totally transform this region to become an emerging market in this nation: collective capacity and inertia.

During a recent educational summit I attended at Libscomb University, a speaker called for more initiatives related to collective capacity. I'll give you my definition, which is influenced by concepts of institutional and governance theories. Essentially, collective capacity, in the context of local governments and organizations, calls for the sharing of resources, assets, and infrastructure to develop a more comprehensive product/service platform for a particular region. From an educational standpoint, a system of sharing hard-to-find STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) faculty and support staff among a few counties could allow the relevant counties to have a more robust offering of courses and options for their students, in the midst of cost-sharing and strategic alliances through technology. For counties with limited funds and tax bases, they would have the opportunity to significantly increase capacity that would otherwise be unattainable because of cost. Another example of this centers on the regional dream of developing a rail system for collective travel. If cities can begin readjusting their infrastructure through codes and city planning to accommodate this new mindset of mass transit, it can allow for companies to consider the region more, due to the improved access of the desired workforce - capturing citizens from a wider region than the city limits. In short, collective capacity is the game-changer for the region. However, the concept creates political challenges that require internal consultation to develop a clear plan of action.

The other missing piece has to do with institutional culture. Although there is a lot of movement in the region toward education and economic development, the effort is a new concept, requiring people to consciously, and intentionally, work at being progressive. Great organizations, successful teams, and impressive societies find a way to take these intentional actions and make them normative behaviors and beliefs. Eventually, inertia sets in and an outsider would be hard-pressed to move this group of people off the goal of success. Why is inertia important for the Nashville region? When successful attitudes and actions are the norm, the transactional cost associated with high achievement are relatively low. If the region is unable to establish inertia for success in the culture of the citizens, government, and businesses, the surge in funding will eventually lose the ability to influence the forward movement. The problem with changing the culture and setting the right path for inertia to take place is that no one person or group can create it. However, it begins with a series of successes and achievements. I'm not talking about the traditional form of Nashville's version of success that compared its performance against itself. I'm talking about making comparisons against other relevant cities in this nation, and even international markets. I know, it may be wishful thinking, but can't let the idea go away without arguing for it.

In any case, I am very impressed with the city, for the first time in my life, for its effort to be progressive. This economy has done a good job of dispelling myths for regions, and Nashville has certainly had its share of them. While the window of opportunity is there, let's do all we can to create new values and targets for the region. Ones that will sustain the region for more than twenty years. I encourage everyone to make the decision today to get involved with the many efforts to improve education and economic development in the region. Blog about it, talk about it, and BE ABOUT IT!

Plan To Bring 900 Jobs To Nashville Called Off

2011-07-19T10:28:00.001-07:00

Plan To Bring 900 Jobs To Nashville Called Off

Story posted 2011.07.19 at 12:03 PM CDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A deal to bring 900 jobs to Nashville has been called off after concerns that the company closed several offices in Canada and laid off workers.

On Tuesday, Matt Wilshire, director of the Mayor's Office of Economic and Community Development issued a statement saying that the city is "no longer in conversations with IQT (Solutions) regarding locating their operations here."

The statement said that they spoke with the company, which is based in Canada, on Monday evening and said it is unlikely that they will move forward with their proposed operation in Nashville.

It went on to say:

"We are disappointed these job opportunities won't be available to Nashvillians, but it is important to point out that no incentive dollars were expended. We are dismayed about what happened in Canada and don't think workers anywhere should be treated that way."

On Friday, IQT Solutions announced they were closing three call centers in Canada.

Other reports revealed that the company had not informed its workers in advance, and some workers said they had not gotten paid.

In June, the company had revealed major plans to move their corporate offices to Nashville and also build a customer support center. To encourage them to make the move, and bring hundreds of jobs with them, Metro even offered them a city grant worth $1.6 million .

In a statement issued Monday, Mayor Karl Dean said "We were surprised and concerned to hear about the developments in Canada, and I was dismayed by the way the company treated its employees there. Rest assured, Metro taxpayers are protected. Metro's agreements with IQT have not been finalized, and no incentive funds have been paid to the company. Consistent with my philosophy on economic development, the incentives offered to IQT are based on the company's ability to bring jobs to Nashville. If they don't create jobs here, they don't get incentives. We are not moving forward on this deal unless we get answers from IQT that satisfy my concerns."

NewsChannel 5 also got a copy of a letter that Mayor Dean's director of Economic and Community Development, Matthew A. Wiltshire, sent to IQT Chief Executive Officer Alex Morton.

He wrote: "we are deeply concerned about the announcement on Friday that IQT Incorporated had closed three operation centers in Canada. We prefer to be notified about this sort of substantive development prior to reading about it in the press. While we remain interested in attracting jobs to Tennessee, we will need a much clearer understand of IQT's plans and the commitment of your clients before we move forward with our discussions."

IQT is a Canadian based company that does technical support for a number of major companies, for devices like cell phones.

Past Stories: July 15: Reports: IQT Solutions Laying Off, Not Paying Workers June 9: 900 New Jobs Coming To Downtown Nashville

Story posted 2011.07.19 at 12:03 PM CDT

.........

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett

770-601-7441

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Cool Hunting: Ideas Not Airships

2011-07-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

Ideas Not Airships

Hangar Design Group's newest book commemorates 30 years of design brilliance

Italy's heralded multidisciplinary creative agency Hangar Design Group (HDG) recently announced the upcoming release of their book, "As I told you before, Ideas not Airships," to celebrate 30 years of creativity. The lengthy book aims to reveal the intricate narrative between creatives and their unique design process through over 500 pages of inspiring imagery and thought provoking text.

Within seconds of getting our hands on this hefty coffee table book we were enamored with the brilliant graphics and modern mantras of design and creativity. The life of the studio is traced by taking the reader "on an unconventional figurative journey: suggestions, inspirations, memories, faces, places... belonging to anyone devoted to the process of shaping an idea into its full form."

Leading from HDG's first design sketches to the recent Sunset mobile home project—winner of 2011 Compasso d'Oro Award—this retrospective operates as a bound, over-sized mobile inspiration board delivering seemingly endless content.

Keep your eyes open come September to find a copy of "As I told you before, Ideas not Airships," presumably available through the Hangar shop.

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Cool Hunting: Maharam Digital Projects at VitraHaus

2011-07-16T13:58:00.003-07:00

Maharam Digital Projects at VitraHaus

Artist-designed digital wallpaper installations bring innovative beauty to interiors

New York interior textile supplier Maharam recently continued its foray into digital design with the newest edition of Maharam Digital Projects opening last month to coincide with Art Basel. The digitally-printed wallpaper patterns are installed at Weil am Rhein, Germany's VitraHaus, where they are on display to the general public throughout the rest of the summer.

VitraHaus, Swiss contemporary furniture company Vitra's stunning Herzog & de Meuron-designed flagship, provides a fitting backdrop for the seven Maharam designs. Spanning all four floors, each UV-resistant wall covering is the product of a different emerging or established artist (Cecilia Edefalk, Jacob Hashimoto, Maira Kalman, Harmen Liemburg, Karel Martens, Sarah Morris and Francesco Simeti) and is expertly styled with Vitra furnishings.

These tableaus show how the collection introduces a more affordable large-scale alternative than artwork or other pricey wall treatments into the home and office. As such, the wallpapers sell onsite at Vitrahaus, as well as through Maharam online.

Each design functions as a self-contained aesthetic while also exemplifying a conceptual reality. "Dutch Clouds" by Karel Martens (above) plays on perspective with a composition of artist-designed symbols which together form an image of the sky over Holland on the day of his grandson's birth.

"Coastal Plants" (above) chronicles a three-year period in which artist Cecelia Edefalk traveled the European seaboard and contains over 200 watercolors expressing her interest in the painted image.

Maira Kalman's "On This Day" (above) shows the illustrator's recordings of modern daily life's quirks and absurdities.

Francesco Simeti mixes hunting decoys and toy birds into his piece "New World" to playfully change up traditional nature-themed wallpaper.

Also on Cool Hunting: CH Editions: Maharam and Nike Sportswear and Maharam

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Cool Hunting: Media Design School

2011-07-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

Media Design School

Study with some of the world's best creatives at New Zealand's award-winning design school

Advertorial content:

Given that technological advancements in digital art are progressing by leaps andbounds, it's almost impossible to produce an excellent portfolio by just playingaround on your laptop after work. If you've decided to bite the bullet and get backin the classroom, New Zealand's Media Design School is becoming one of the best places to get a visual arts qualification (undergraduate or graduate-level) in a range of specialists, ranging from interactive advertising, 3D animation and graphic design.

Located in stunning (and outrageously livable Auckland), Media Design School started with a class of30 in 1998. Over the past decade and a half, it's become one of the best places in the world to study creative technologies. Young Guns named Media Design School the fourth most creativeschool in the world over the past decade, a hefty accolade coming from the organizationdevoted to spotting young talent. Graduates have gone on to work with George Lucas'Industrial Light Magic and Microsoft Game Studio, among many others. And New Zealand VFX and post-production powerhouse Weta Digital (owned by Peter Jackson) do their part too–they are the largest employer of Media Design School graduates in New Zealand.

But the best testimonial on behalf of the school is the work of the students themselves.Led by James Cunningham, a 3-D filmmaker whose most recent work premiered at the 2009 Telluride Film Festival, Media Design School students produced "Das Tub." Cunningham directedthe short film, and acclaimed New Zealand screenwriter Nick Ward wrote the screenplay.The film recently won Best Short Short at the Aspen Shortsfest, one of the world's top film festivals, and now qualifies for Oscar consideration—a considerable achievement for a film animated by students, who now have industry connections far and beyond what any of them might have imagined when they started their program.

Students in the 3-D department can also showcase their talents with Media Design School' Real or Render Challenge. Evenseasoned connoisseurs of 3-D will have a difficult time pinpointing the differencesbetween real photographs and student-produced 3-D renderings of household objects.Even an intricately detailed map offers no obvious clues.

All classes take place in Media Design School's beautiful Auckland campus.They're currently accepting applications online, for both domestic New Zealandand international students. For more information on the courses and how to apply,check the Media Design School website.

You can check out the school in this video:

Video Walkthrough - Media Design School from Media Design School on Vimeo.

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Kenyatta Lovett

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New Visualization Design - Envisioning Technology

2011-06-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

Michell Zappa has developed an interesting mapping for understanding technology. The explanation on the site states:

“Envisioning technology” is a speculative and subjective overview of potential future technologies. Based on personal research and observations, this map is intended to facilitate predictions of where the technium is going, as well as provoke thought and stimulate debate.

Due to the intrinsic difficulty of speculation, the visualization is not to be interpreted as a roadmap, but rather as a point of reference for those investigating (or designing) the future of τεχνολογι

Mapping exercises are very helpful in understanding thought patters, especially your own. I currently use MindMeister to quickly map my thoughts during meetings using my iPad. The results have been tremendous. Most people are visual in nature. My maps have helped to frame conversations in a more effective light. Have you ever tried to explain servers and networks to a leadership team that's not very technical? Mind mapping is a good option for bringing in a translation source to create common modules of discourse.

No One Is The Problem, No One Is Winning, and Everyone Is Doing There Job

2011-05-26T07:47:00.001-07:00

Football Analogy
Imagine a quarterback coach telling the quarterbacks to get in the pocket, and then take off running. The running back coach is telling the running backs to be prepared to run a lot up the middle. The wide receiver coach is telling the speedsters that is all about being in position to catch the bomb. And the line coach is promoting the value of sticking together.

During the game, they all execute their plans based on the directives of their division. Everyone has a plan for winning the game, but they can't seem to score a point. Theoretically, everyone is right, but collectively they are wrong. In the end, the team has three options. One, they can blame other units for the collective failure. Two, they can go deeper in protectionism for their individual game plans. Or three, they can get a head coach who sets priorities among the individual units.

The game plan and priority list is all about realistically dealing with the opposing challenges, and nothing personally to do with the talent of each individual or division. This analogy is about discretion - mainly the degree to which it should be dispersed in a given plan. Priority places the ordinal context necessary for individuals and units to understand the freedom of discretion available within a given plan. Either unit plan mentioned above may work as a strategy, but the collective success will require all other units to alter what they originally planned for success.

Democracy rarely works in a social setting. It's even more difficult to execute in organizations, especially if you want to achieve certain goals.

Seth's Take on Legacy Costs

2011-05-24T10:48:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs/bloggers, Seth, recently posted his thoughts on legacy issues in organizations. For a few years now, I've been working on the best way to work new ideas in the presence of dominant legacy factors. Legacy issues are one of the two major problems with bureaucracies, goal displacement being the other. To be honest, I don't really know how to effectively deal with the drowning man holding on to the float that's running out of air. Honestly, I don't understanding the thinking in total. True, we all have our issues with legacy factors in our life or on our job, and maybe the situation is the equivalent to the story of Doubting Thomas.

My major fear for this nation is that we stall and stagnate the young leaders so much that when the obvious becomes apparent, it will be too late to effectively respond. After all, how many backup quarterbacks who sit the bench for years ever develop into superstars? Not many, if you are curious about the answer.

I guess I've reached a point of total frustration. Things are not quite that obvious now, but as Machiavelli wrote in The Prince, “In the beginning, problems are easy to cure but hard to diagnose; with the passage of time, having gone unrecognized and unattended, they become easy to diagnose, but hard to cure.” (1515)

I don't have the answer, and I'm not sure how to solve the problem. But, I do know it's a real problem.

Your thoughts.

Book Recommendation: Mojo

2011-05-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

I very rarely look into self-help books. They typically repeat the same things. However, I have discovered an exception. In my first session with my new mentor, he challenged me with making a decision on who I want to be in the future - with some degree of detail. From this vision, we will work on charting a path, including some derivative of a SWOT Analysis. For my homework, he recommended that I read Mojo by Marshall Goldsmith. In fact, he sent me a copy of his book to read.

The book has been an enjoyable and easy read. I'm getting a lot out of the experience, and digesting a wide array of food for thought. The most important thing I've come to realize about my career/personal journey is the true lack of clarity in my mission. I've spent too much time being me to not know what I should be doing, or who I am in life.

Again, I highly recommend this book, as well as recommend that you find a mentor to keep you moving in the right direction.

(BN) IPad Maker Foxconn Will Have Limited Effect From Plant Fire, Analysts Say

2011-05-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPhone.

Foxconn Faces Limited Impact From Chengdu Fire, Analysts Say

May 23 (Bloomberg) -- Foxconn Technology Group, maker of Apple Inc.'s iPhones and iPads, should have limited impact from an explosion and fire at its Chengdu plant in southwest China's Sichuan province, as the base isn't a main production site, analysts said.

Foxconn makes most of the iPhones and iPads at its base in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, Vincent Chen, head of Greater China technology research at Yuanta Securities Co., and Macquarie Group Ltd. analyst Daniel Chang said by phone from Taipei on May 21.

"The Chengdu plant is primarily for computer assembly and the iPad assembly is being pilot run," Chen said. "Foxconn is a very professional manufacturer and is very experienced in making adjustment in times of crisis, and the impact should be very minimal."

Terry Gou, chairman of Taiwan-based Foxconn, has been shifting production to Chengdu and other interior cities in China such as Wuhan and Chongqing, where labor is about a third cheaper than in the country's south.

Three people were killed and 15 injured in the blast that occurred at about 7 p.m. local time on May 20. Of the injured, six were treated at a local hospital and released, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The fire triggered by the blast was later extinguished, Edmund Ding, a company spokesman, said by phone. He declined to say what products the factory makes or estimate any financial loss related to the accident. Initial findings show the accident was caused by an explosion of combustible dust within a duct at the facility, the statement said.

Opened in October

The $2 billion laptop plant where the explosion took place opened in October, Xinhua reported May 20.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the flagship of the Foxconn Group, fell 1 percent to NT$103 at the close of May 20 in Taipei trading before the incident. Apple Inc. dropped 1.6 percent in New York.

The affected plant makes Apple's iPad2 tablet computers, the Economic Observer said on its website on May 20, citing unidentified company workers. Gou flew to Chengdu, the Beijing- based newspaper said, citing unidentified company employees.

Production has been suspended at the site of the explosion until the completion of an investigation, Foxconn said in an e- mailed statement May 21.

The stoppage shouldn't cause any production disruption, Macquarie's Chang said, as iPads and iPhones are mostly made in Shenzhen.

"We are working closely with Foxconn at this point to understand what caused this terrible event," Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, said in a phone interview. "We are deeply saddened by the tragedy."

Dowling declined to comment on any possible supply disruptions, referring questions to Foxconn.

Police in Chengdu said they concluded preliminarily that the explosion, in a polishing workshop, wasn't intentionally caused, China News Service said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chinmei Sung in Taipei at csung4@bloomberg.net .

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Tighe at ptighe@bloomberg.net

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Goal Displacement in Marketing

2011-05-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, a local hospital network decided to run a billboard campaign that provided a real-time digital display on their emergency room wait times. While I'm sure it seemed like a good idea from someone's perspective, the concept and execution is operationally a disaster for many reason.

One, anyone in a medical emergency, more than likely, has an urgent need to get to the closest hospital. It's very rare someone in cardiac arrest would say, "Honey, look that hospital has only a 15 minute wait time. Please drive past the other two hospitals so we can go there." So in terms of driving demand, this strategy has no impact at all on establishing new sources of revenue.

Two, and possibly the most crucial reason, the real-time display also lets the public know when the wait times are not that good. So, the person driving by the billboard looks at the 75-minute wait time, and then looks at the name of the hospital, and makes up their mind that they will never go there. This is why transparency doesn't apply to everything. Somewhere in their marketing arsenal, someone is apply the wrong marketing strategy to the wrong business.

First, transparency is a good thing for government (public sector) and not necessarily for private sector operations. Second, service metrics such as wait-times in the private sector are best suited for operations that have the risk of jeopardizing quality due to overwhelming demand, like a call center. The incentive is to discourage callers from staying on the line. You don't want to discourage people from going to your hospital. True, there is a customer service component to running a hospital, but you've never seen a restaurant post their actual wait-times on a big sign in front of their establishment, the same applies for a night club.

If you ever want to kill your brand in an automated fashion, you can do it in several ways. One, you can discourage people from even trying your product/service. Two, you can attempt to promote an operational metric you can't control. And three, you encourage potential customers to try other brands that simply sold the sizzle.

Your thoughts?

Cool Video

2011-05-12T06:46:00.000-07:00

Cool Hunting: The 99% Conference 2011: Day One Recap

2011-05-09T08:39:00.000-07:00

The 99% Conference 2011: Day One Recap

Our day one overview of the idea-making conference

Now in our third year, the 99% Conference speakers are a group of hard-workers at the forefronts of their fields, carefully selected by Behance and Cool Hunting for how they manifest Edison's notion that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.

The 2011 line-up features 16 thought-provoking leaders taking the stage over the course of two days, including designer Yves Behar, Google Ideas director Jared Cohen, partner at IDEO Diego Rodriguez, Pixar's Dr. Michael Johnson and more. In other words, there's no shortage of information on how to break a creative sweat, and yesterday started things off with some of those great ideas on how to produce ideas, which we've recapped below.

Simon Sinek

Author and leadership expert Simon Sinek spoke to the group of nearly 400 people about the importance of trust, providing several examples on how the concept stems from an authentic set of common values. Sinek explained its significance lies in the fact that trust encourages confidence in experimentation and exploration. Proving the premise that "as a group we're pretty damn amazing," Sinek showed the power in numbers and delved into how much more successful an organization can be when they are consistent in their beliefs and authentic in their actions. The professor and communications strategist also touched on how much generosity impacts action. While there's "no equation" for this selfless sentiment, Sinek left us with the thought, "If you don't understand people, you don't understand business."

Tony Schwartz

Giving the audience a sigh of sleep-deprived relief, President and CEO of The Energy Project, Tony Schwartz explained the importance of shut-eye. Describing how you should "live life like a sprinter," Schwartz broke down some common myths about being a workaholic, explaining "human beings are designed to pulse" and that intermittent breaks yield far greater capacity for doing quality work than marathon all-nighters. Also emphasizing the importance of focus, his approach isn't to be confused with multi-tasking (or shift tasking as he calls it) since the brain actually can't do more than one task at once. Shift tasking actually disrupts the work flow and, according to Schwartz, you need to skillfully manage technology and focus on one task at hand for an extended amount of time. Summing it up with "sleep is the most important behavior in your life to get right," he advocates practicing renewal and recovery to align you with a natural rhythm that will give you the capacity to do better work.

Patrician McCarthy

Rounding out Schwartz's pragmatic approach to making ideas happen, Mien Shiang Institute founder Patrician McCarthy demonstrated how analyzing personality types can affect how you work. A professional in the Taoist technique of facial diagnosis, McCarthy gave an array of face shape examples, linking them to behaviors and explaining how to use them to find more a productive balance in the workplace. Understanding a face based on her classifications of Water, Wood, Earth, Metal and Fire helps better collaboration with colleagues by knowing their work habits.

If you weren't lucky enough to snag one of the now sold-out tickets, make sure to keep up with the action on Cool Hunting's twitter feed, the official 99 Percent feed or catch it all at the #99conf.

Photos by James Ryang

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Choices Webisode 5: Evolving | Terence Blanchard

2011-05-08T20:36:00.001-07:00

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXpzwql_ZrY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
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(BN) Geithner Will Urge China To Allow Higher Interest Rates, Stronger Currency

2011-05-08T11:42:00.001-07:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPhone.

U.S. Will Urge China to Boost Interest Rates in Washington Talks

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will urge China to allow higher interest rates when he meets with Chinese leaders this week, as the U.S. extends its push for a stronger yuan.

Geithner will say China should relax controls on the financial system, give foreign banks and insurers more access and make it easier for investors to buy Chinese financial assets, said David Loevinger, the Treasury Department's senior coordinator for China. Officials from both nations are meeting in Washington today and tomorrow as part of the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue.

The U.S. is pushing for greater market access for financial firms as part of its broader effort to persuade China to ease the restrictions blamed for fueling global imbalances. U.S. officials argue that a yuan kept artificially cheap to help exporters also makes it harder for China to lift interest rates and curb an inflation rate that hit a 32-month high in March.

"It's pretty clear that the current system is hurting them in their inflation fight," said Dan Dorrow, head of research at Faros Trading LLC, a currency trading firm in Stamford, Connecticut. "The reason for that is the improperly-priced exchange rate."

China has raised interest rates four times since late last year and reserve requirement on banks seven times. The benchmark one-year lending rate was lifted 0.25 percentage point to 6.31 percent on April 5. The benchmark one-year deposit rate stands at 3.25 percent after four 25-basis-point increases since October.

The median forecast of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News is for an annual inflation rate in April of 5.2 percent, down from 5.4 percent in March.

Budget Deficits

Chinese officials, for their part, blame record U.S. budget deficits for contributing to lopsided global flows of trade and investment. China held $1.15 trillion in Treasuries at the end of February, more than any other country. The U.S. trade deficit with China came to $18.8 billion in February.

Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said on May 6 that China is paying "close attention" to U.S. efforts to reduce its budget deficit, and his country will focus on improving the quality of its exchange-rate mechanism.

Geithner and Vice Premier Wang Qishan will meet alongside Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and State Councilor Dai Bingguo at this week's meetings, which will draw about 30 top Chinese officials.

The Obama administration and U.S. lawmakers say China's currency policy gives the nation's exporters an unfair competitive advantage, costing U.S. jobs. Geithner is trying to convince Chinese officials that a stronger yuan has benefits for their economy.

'Enhanced' Ability

Geithner said last week that allowing the yuan to rise and making their financial system less dependent on government- controlled interest rates would give Chinese leaders an "enhanced" ability to damp inflation.

The Treasury argues that higher interest rates on deposits will also encourage consumer spending in China, another way to reduce imbalances.

"We're going to encourage China to move more quickly in lifting the ceiling on interest rates on bank deposits in order to put more money into Chinese consumers' pockets," Loevinger said at a briefing last week in Washington.

Investors are betting the yuan's rise may be limited over the next 12 months. Twelve-month non-deliverable yuan forwards dropped 0.81 percent last week to 6.3520 per dollar on May 6, their biggest weekly loss of the year, on speculation that China won't allow faster appreciation to reduce inflation.

17-Year High

The yuan closed little changed in Shanghai on May 6, ending a run of seven weekly gains that drove the currency to a 17-year high of 6.4892 on April 29, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

John Frisbie, president of the U.S.-China Business Council, said support for a stronger yuan among Chinese leaders has increased in the past year.

"The strong hand has switched over to those who are saying that the exchange rate can help us fight inflation," Frisbie said in a telephone interview. He said his group, whose members include companies such as Apple Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Coca-Cola Co., wants China to resume opening its financial services sector to allow more foreign investment.

The American Chamber of Commerce in China said in a report last month that foreign banks play an "insignificant role" in China.

Foreign lenders' market share in China has dropped since the government first opened the industry in December 2006. Banks such as New York-based Citigroup Inc. and London-based HSBC Holdings Plc want to tap household and corporate savings that reached $10 trillion in January as China overtook Japan to become the world's second-biggest economy.

Foreign Exchange

The U.S. has delayed its semi-annual foreign-exchange report, which had been due on April 15, until after this week's meetings. The previous report, due on Oct. 15, 2010, was released on Feb. 4 and declined to brand China a currency manipulator while saying the No. 2 U.S. trading partner has made "insufficient" progress on allowing the yuan to rise.

The yuan goes beyond the U.S. and China to become "a multilateral issue, in terms of the impact on Brazil, Korea, Thailand and India," said Edwin Truman, a former Federal Reserve and Treasury official who is now a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

'Causing Trouble'

The "slow" appreciation of the yuan "relative to the dollar in an environment where the dollar is going down against other currencies is causing trouble for other countries and currencies," Truman said.

Diplomats at the Strategic and Economic Dialogue also will discuss events in the Middle East, including military operations in Libya and the ramifications of the region's popular uprisings.

Officials are likely to discuss efforts to revive six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. Negotiations between the two Koreas, Russia, Japan, China and the U.S. stalled in December 2008 and tensions flared on the peninsula after North Korea's Nov. 23 bombing of a South Korean island.

"We want to compare notes on where we stand with respect to North Korea, and we will be very clear on what our expectations are for moving forward," Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said on May 5.

To contact the reporters on this story: Rebecca Christie in Washington at rchristie4@bloomberg.net Ian Katz in Washington at ikatz2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net

Find out more about Bloomberg for iPhone: http://m.bloomberg.com/iphone/

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett

770-601-7441

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NYTimes: Now, to Find a Parking Spot, Drivers Look on Their Phones

2011-05-08T11:40:00.001-07:00

In San Francisco, a phone app gives information about areas with available parking spaces. http://nyti.ms/iAFcgJ

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett
770-601-7441

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(BN) Tsunami Speeds ‘Terminal Decline’ of Japan’s Fishing Industry

2011-04-24T21:22:00.001-07:00

Bloomberg News, sent from my iPad.

Tsunami Speeds 'Terminal Decline' of Japan's Fishing Industry

April 25 (Bloomberg) -- The wreckage of a 379-metric ton tuna boat blocks the road to the deserted fish market in Kesennuma, once Japan's largest port for bonito and swordfish. Even after the debris from last month's tsunami has been cleared away, the industry may never recover.

"Thirty years ago we used to think Japan was the number one fishing country in the world, with the best catching and processing methods, but that's really no longer the case," Ryosuke Sato, chairman of the Kesennuma Fisheries Cooperative Association, said in an interview in the town, 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Tokyo. "We've been in terminal decline."

Traffic at the port had dropped by 90 percent over the last 20 years as seafood imports rose, even before the country's northeastern coast was devastated on March 11. Destruction of boats, harbors and processing plants, coupled with fears of radioactive contamination in marine life, threatens to hasten Japan's turn to overseas for its most important food staple after rice.

Japanese eat more fish per capita than any other developed country, consuming 56.7 kilograms (128 pounds) annually, compared with a global average of 17.1 kilograms, according to the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization. Fish accounts for 23 percent of protein in the daily Japanese diet, compared with four percent in the U.S.

Fish Broth

Consumption begins with breakfast in Japan, an archipelago of nearly 7,000 islands, where a traditional morning meal consists of rice and grilled fish. In addition to sushi, staples including miso soup also contain fish broth. To feed the habit, Japan is the world's largest importer of fish, buying $14.4 billion worth in 2008, according to data from the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization.

"We're the biggest fish lovers among the major industrial nations and the number one consumer," said Masayuki Komatsu, a professor at Tokyo's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies specializing in ocean and marine resources. "It's like water and air to us."

Auctions at Tokyo's Tsukiji, the world's largest fish market that stretches over an area the size of 43 football fields, influences prices all over the world, according to Sasha Issenberg, author of 'The Sushi Economy.'

"It's like a combination of Wall Street and Sotheby's in the art market and a commodities trading floor," he said.

Five Years

Last month's earthquake and tsunami, which left almost 28,000 dead or missing, disproportionately affected Japan's northeastern fishing ports and towns. In Iwate prefecture, the tsunami caused about 106.6 billion yen ($1.3 billion) of damage to the fishing industry, according to data from the government. That's about ten times the combined total for the prefecture's agriculture and forestry industries.

Fishermen in Kesennuma, which has a population of 73,000, expect it to take as long as five years to rebuild the port and market, central to a fishing industry that provides 85 percent of the town's jobs.

The city government says 837 townspeople died and 1,196 were listed as missing as of April 22. A further 5,838 people, or 7.8 percent of the population, are in evacuation centers. In addition to the destruction of maintenance and refueling facilities, about 40 fishing vessels were lost, the cooperative's Sato said.

'Not Alone'

"There's so much damage, this is a crisis for the town and the fishing industry," said the 69-year old Sato, whose Kanedai Co. fish company has sales of 9.4 billion yen in Japan and China, with 230 employees. A poster on the wall signed by wholesalers and customers reads: "You're not alone, everyone is with you. Thank you always for the delicious fish."

South Kesennuma, where most of the fish processing plants were located, was the first area to be hit by the tsunami after it passed the island of Oshima that creates the entrance to Kesennuma's harbor about two kilometers off shore. In the harbor, trawlers and a refueling tank were slammed together, spewing fuel. Fire spread across the fuel-water mix, creating an inferno.

The 50-meter-long Myojin Maru No.3, licensed to catch yellowfin and albacore tuna in the Indian Ocean, is one of at least 10 giant vessels dumped around the town. It towers over gutted two-storey buildings owned by fishing companies about 500 meters from the fish market.

"Companies may have the money to rebuild but people are saying they don't want to come back," Yaeko Komatsu, 53, said as she gazed at the rubble of her seafood company employer she didn't identify. "They say it's dangerous."

Planned Reopening

The fish market is planning to partially re-open in June to provide a sales floor for the expected arrival of bonito boats. Longer-term plans depend on the amount of central government assistance, the cooperative's Sato said.

Reconstruction needs to happen fast to prevent workers from leaving the town for good, Itsunori Onodera, a Diet Member representing Kesennuma, said in an interview at the city hall.

Like many ports in Japan, Kesennuma developed a reputation for handling specific kinds of fish. Ships from all over Japan came to the town to sell saury, sharks and tuna. By adding maintenance and refueling facilities, Kesennuma became one of Japan's 10 largest fishing ports, Sato said.

The importance of fishing and towns like Kesennuma in Japanese culture belies the fishing industry's declining status in the economy. Fishing contributes about 0.2 percent of Japan's GDP, and the number of fishermen has dropped to about 200,000 from about a million after World War II, according to the National Graduate Institute's Komatsu, also a former official at Japan's Fisheries Agency.

Indonesian Workers

For fishermen like Tokio Takatsuka, who returned to Shiogama Port, 315 kilometers north of Tokyo and 80 kilometers south of Kesennuma, earlier this month to sell yellowfin tuna from the Pacific, that means hiring more crew members from the Philippines and Indonesia to make up for the shortage of Japanese applicants. They come as part of a government plan to ease labor shortages, and signs at the port are now written in Bahasa as well as Japanese.

"My generation never considered doing anything besides fishing," Takatsuka, 62, said in an interview last week next to his boat. "It's different for young people now."

Even as the government hurries to rebuild facilities, fishermen and consumers are worried about radiation from Tokyo Electric Co.'s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, Akira Sato, mayor of Shiogama, said in an interview after the town's first fresh tuna auction since the March 11 earthquake. The fisherman Takatsuka sailed more than 60 kilometers wide of the plant on the way to the port, rather than hugging the coast, in order to reassure buyers.

'People Are Spooked'

"It puts a cloud over the entire fishing industry and Japan's food culture is suffering as a result," Jeff Kingston, director of the Department of Asian Studies at Temple University's Japan campus said. "People are spooked."

The level of radioactivity in water leaked from the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant was 20,000 times the regulatory limit, Tepco said on April 21. A total of 520 tons of contaminated water leaked between April 1 and April 6, said Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at the utility.

At Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market, sales of fresh fish fell to an average 583 metric tons per day in the week ended March 17, down 28 percent from a year earlier. The following week they dropped by 44 percent.

"If this continues for two or three years we don't know what will happen to our bodies from consuming contaminated fish," Yasuo Kawada, a 59-year-old manufacturing employee said in an interview. "I do worry."

Fish Bans

Radiation from fish and lobsters near the U.K.'s biggest nuclear polluter suggest radioactive material dumped into the sea from Tepco's Fukushima power plant isn't a long-term health threat, according to Richard Wakeford, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Manchester's Dalton Nuclear Institute.

The Sellafield nuclear-processing plant in northwest England has discharged at least 320,000 times more radioactive material into the Irish Sea since 1952 than what Tepco released from Fukushima this month, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from both sites. Still, average radiation doses by seafood-consumers near Sellafield over 15 years have been half the recommended limit, studies show.

That hasn't stopped China, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong from banning fish imports from parts of Japan. The countries accounted for about 70 percent of Japan's fish exports in 2009, according to Japan External Trade Organization figures.

"Radiation is a grim reaper, you can't see it and you can't smell it," said Ken Banter who has worked as a fish importer in Tokyo for 22 years. "I would say it would have a profound effect on sales from those areas."

Still, overall sales at Tsukiji recovered to pre-quake levels last week, indicating Japanese consumers are returning to fish. Prime Minister Naoto Kan proposed a 4-trillion yen ($49 billion) extra budget that is likely to be the first of several packages to rebuild areas devastated by last month's record earthquake and tsunami, which will include assistance for the industry, the government said in an April 22 statement.

"It'll take three years, at most five years to rebuild the fish market," said Sato, in his ninth year as head of the Kesennnuma Fisheries Association. "In the meantime we need to know how we can continue to live here today, tomorrow, without jobs at plants which don't exist anymore."

To contact the reporters on this story: Stuart Biggs in Tokyo at sbiggs3@bloomberg.net . Kanoko Matsuyama in Tokyo at kmatsuyama2@bloomberg.net Frederik Balfour in Hong Kong at fbalfour@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bret Okeson at bokeson@bloomberg.net

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Cool Hunting: Luxe Home Swap

2011-04-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

Luxe Home Swap

Five elite homes in unexpected places and an exclusive offer for CH readers

Even the most opulent hotels can't replace the comforts of home, where decor and amenities truly speak to your interests. While plenty of alternatives exist in the form of apartment swapping and rental sites, few tailor their offerings to the style-minded and are as affordable as the membership-based Luxe Home Swap.

The site allows users to browse thousands of homes from around the world to find a retreat specific to their holiday desires. Fans of mid-century Danish design can choose a contemporary flat in NYC or a historical apartment in Copenhagen, with quality assured by the membership-based model. The concept also means that you don't have to do a direct swap, but can visit any home that's available.

Even more tempting, Luxe Home Swap lists several options in locations so far-flung that there's no hotel for miles even if you wanted one. Below are our some of our favorites, each the perfect place—from houses in nature preserves to cliffside pools—to really get away from it all.

And if all that's not enough for you, Cool Hunting readers now get a Luxe Home Swap membership for $125—that's 20% off the annual fee.

Contemporary living a world away in Waikato, New Zealand

Nestled deep in the forests, this beauty has won awards for both sustainability and design. Achieving complete isolation is no chore here.

The house itself is as carefully put together as you could imagine, offering the ultimate wilderness retreat without losing any comforts of home.

Thoughtful design between land and sea in Brittany, France

With 26,000 square feet of open property to explore, a gorgeous indoor pool and a manicured Japanese garden, this architect-designed house is a perfect rural refuge.

The house is also located close to the Bay of Saint-Brieuc nature reserve, which has two rivers flowing through it and is known as "a paradise for bird watchers."

A modern house on the prairie in Kerry, Ireland

A modern holiday home only minutes from town and local entertainment. Surrounded by rolling hills and overlooking the Beara Peninsula, it's an ideal place for the family to discover Ireland's natural beauty and rich history.

The house is also great for the adventurist. It comes equipped with four bicycles, is located near two 18-hole golf courses—one of which is the century-old world class Kenmare Golf Club. For more rustic activities, the house is also near the sea, which offers great trout and salmon fishing.

A home as stunning as its view in Cape Town, South Africa

Four stories of pure luxury and 180° breathtaking views put this home in a class of its own. Swim in one of two pools, relax in the jacuzzi or walk to Clifton Beach—a laid-back riviera with beachside cafes perfect for sipping cocktails while the sun sets.

The house also comes with a manager on call to handle all of your requests, such as transportation to the heart of Cape Town or further out to the beautiful wine country.

A floating flat on the river in Vecht, Netherlands

This quaint houseboat has a contemporary feel. Collect yourself in the serenity of the garden or cruise the canals in the 21-foot motorboat that's also at your disposal.

The historic village of Loenen aan de Vecht is only a half-mile away, and both Amsterdam and the bohemian town of Utrecht are just 20 minutes away.

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Kenyatta Lovett

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What Lowering Taxes Won't Do

2011-04-13T08:28:00.000-07:00

This is a quote this morning from a politician in response to questions about the rationale behind lowering taxes:

"I am a small business owner myself, and I can tell you that if we have less taxes and were able to put more in into our business, we can hire more workers."

Just so we are on the same page, businesses don't hire people because they have more cash. They hire people when they need to increase capacity. Capacity is determined by the potential for demand. Okay, I see some blank stares in the crowd, so let's look at it a different way.

I am a small business owner, selling $5 milkshakes. Let's say my taxes go down by 50%, so now I can keep more of my profits. You, the customer, still have the same amount of money, along with price increases in gas, food, and other things. So, you buy the same amount of milkshakes from me that you normally do - 1 a month. So, my demand hasn't really gone up any, but I have all this "NEW CASH". So, here are a few options for my cheddar.

Hire a new person to sit around and give me new headaches
Buy a new milkshake machine that does the job of two workers
Buy a new foreign car
Take advantage of low prices from excess capacity in some other industry, like travel and foreclosed homes
Invest my savings with the guys on Wall Street

Tough choices right? If you are still stuck, number one is probably not going to happen, unless (1) there is demand to justify the increase in capacity, (2) it is a wasteful and inefficient operation, or (3) your wages are so low that it's no skin off your back.

Essentially, lowering taxes only means that government needs less to do its job. The disabled person in need of services and the fact that you need to hire a new person to handle "all the new work" have nothing to do with each other. In this same interview, the politician said that several business owners are unwilling to hire new people because of what's going on in Washington. Now think about that for a moment. You have demand, and you've maxed out capacity, but the situation in Washington is forcing you to walk away from new revenue. Really?

I remember a friend once complaining about their spouse not working, but spending all the money. I recommended influencing the spouse to work to cover some of the expenses. The response, "the taxes would kill us". So let me get this straight. If I make $150,000 a year, with taxes in excess of 35%, and my spouse gets a job to make $24k a year, I go in the hole for the effort. There's not even an increase of $1 in my household. It made no sense, and this makes no sense. When the line gets long at the milkshake stand, trust me, I will be hiring more people.

That's it class, place your excuses on my desk when you leave.

By the way, I called for a Fed Funds rate increase to 8%, in 2006.

Quantitative Problems and Qualitative Attitudes

2011-04-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

I am amazed by the inability of people to match up their quantitative problems (budgets) with the qualitative behaviors (must haves, needs, pet projects, etc.). It appears they understand that their paycheck is supplied with money, but they can't seem to correlate the money they receive to the money they waste in their operation. It's like saying, "I understand that I need four dollars to get this item, but how do I get this item with one dollar?"

The answer is fairly simple. If you can't accept the answer "you can't", then you only have two options left: three more dollars or a pistol. That's it. I honestly don't get it. The sick part of this problem is the intellectual presentation of this "need".

So, you ask the question, "how did we get in this bad financial state as a nation?". The answer is right in front of you. If you can't make a decision when your "political career" isn't riding on it, then how in the world would you expect a CEO, a senator, or some other leader to make the tough choice.

Please understand, this has nothing to do with hard times. We all have them. This is all about our problems drowning our preferences. If it's not all about money, then why are you using money in your operation? Just saying.

The new tax havens

2011-04-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

American companies are finding new overseas tax havens to legally protect some of their profits from the U.S. tax rate of 35 percent, among the highest in the world. Lesley Stahl reports.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7360932n&tag=api

Sent from 60 Minutes on iPad
Download 60 Minutes for the iPad here.

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett

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BBC E-mail: Young people redefine the American Dream

2011-03-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

I saw this story on the BBC News iPad App and thought you should see it.

** Young people redefine the American Dream **
US pollster John Zogby says fewer Americans think it the American Dream is attainable but many have redefined what that dream means.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12839437 >

** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/email >

** Disclaimer **
The BBC is not responsible for the content of this e-mail, and anything written in this e-mail does not necessarily reflect the BBC's views or opinions. Please note that neither the e-mail address nor name of the sender have been verified.

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
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NYTimes: Arizona, Bowing to Business, Softens Stand on Immigration

2011-03-20T09:32:00.001-07:00

Theory #423: The rationale of business is reducing discrimination more than policy or social movements. Sports provides somewhat of an example of what happens - objective measures for supply/demand and performance.

From The New York Times:

Arizona, Bowing to Business, Softens Stand on Immigration

The State Senate voted down several anti-immigration bills, an admission that last year's laws had hurt the state's tourism and convention industry.

http://nyti.ms/e3rGJs

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett
770-601-7441

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NYTimes: The Japanese Could Teach Us a Thing or Two

2011-03-20T09:25:00.001-07:00

From The New York Times:

OP-ED COLUMNIST: The Japanese Could Teach Us a Thing or Two

The selfless teamwork in Japan following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis can inspire us all.

http://nyti.ms/eRfF47

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett
770-601-7441

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Thoughts and Prayers for the Problems in the Pacific Today

2011-03-11T06:15:00.001-08:00

Cool Hunting: Terada Mokei

2011-03-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

Terada Mokei

Paper pop-ups shrink everyday life into adorably tiny scenarios

by Meghan Killeen

A slice of life shrinks even smaller with the miniature design line, Terada Mokei. Architect-turned-modeler Naoki Terada's Architectural Model Accessories Series is a monochrome microcosmic representation of everyday life. Terada adopted a 1/100 scale ratio for the series, promoting a metric-based "global standard" that adorably scales down the largeness of reality to one-hundredth the size.

Populating the paper environments, Terada's version of the modern man and his archetypal family consist of featureless cookie-cutter silhouettes of male, female and child figures. Each series places a variation of the family in different scenarios, ranging from park activities to earthquake-disrupted dinners and office obsequiousness, all packaged in single-colored sheets of pre-cut parts, reminiscent of model die-cuts.

Terada Mokei also features a line of Architectural Model Greeting Cards. Pop-up figures with word-bubble expressions say it when you can't with this sentimental stationary.

The 1/100 Architectural Model Accessories Series retails for ¥1,575, with the Architectural Greeting Cards selling for ¥580, both from the Terada Mokei website.

Read on Cool Hunting
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Kenyatta Lovett

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Cool Hunting: Alfa Romeo 4C

2011-03-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

Alfa Romeo 4C

Alfa Romeo's supercar concept hints at re-entry into the U.S. market

Drawing steady crowds when it debuted at the Geneva International Motor Show last week, Alfa Romeo's new 4C concept was on the tip of nearly every editor's tongue as a show favorite. While the allure of the two-door's matte red finish and seductively crisp design flourishes turned heads, the marriage of supercar inspiration with a compact body will go into production in 2012 and suggests a bold future—perhaps even a hotly-anticipated return to the U.S. market—for the brand.

Based on the success of their flagship, limited-edition 8C Competizione, introduced in 2007, as well as the 8C Spider, the rear wheel-drive 4C shares a look "shaped by the wind." Designed by the Alfa Romeo Style Center, the body doesn't just borrow lines from vintage Alfa Romeo's, like the famed 6C 1500 and 6C 2500, but uses the same weight and power distribution ratio that made those cars so fast.

What the 4C lacks in power (four-cylinders compared to the brawny eight of its forerunners), it makes up with clever suspension layout and a lighter-weight frame, comprised mostly of carbon and an aluminum rear, to ensure maximum agility—which isn't to say that the engine doesn't pack a punch. At 200+ horsepower with a top speed of 250 km/hr, a new "twin dry clutch" transmission, going from zero to 100km in under five seconds) and a system that eliminates turbo lag, you can already find this gasoline engine in current production models like the Giulietta, a compact Alfa that has fans salivating for it to come stateside.

If parent brand Fiat coming to the U.S. is any indication, the company will likely use its Chrysler platform for the 4C, which would make it the first model to hit these shores since Alfa Spiders ceased production in the mid-'90s. While there's no word on price yet, (though it will hit somewhere below the Competizione's $100,000 tag), here's hoping a suitable repair network comes with it.

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Cool Hunting: Bos Iced Tea

2011-03-09T08:01:00.000-08:00

Bos Iced Tea

A wholly indigenous iced tea that reflects South Africa's bold spirit

Bold "Afro pop" graphics set the tone for South Africa's newest cold beverage, an iced tea bursting with fruit flavor. Utilizing the region's indigenous Rooibos plant, Bos offers five caffeine- and preservative-free blends—Peach, Apple, Lemon, Energy and Slim—each mixed with spring water from Western Cape's Cederberg mountains.

Already an inherently healthy herb for its high level of antioxidants, the Rooibos in Bos tea is also ethically sourced from the Klipopmekaar farm and nature reserve. Klipopmekaar uses renewable energy and certified organic farming methods to cultivate the portion of land they dedicate to growing Rooibos—the rest of the 11,000-plus acres they keep as a bio-diverse wilderness reserve.

Reflecting the contents inside, Bos' graphic design for the slim tin cans combines African mythology with the continent's classic bright color palette. This attractive packaging recently placed Bos as a finalist for Design Indaba's "Most Beautiful Object" award.

Made entirely in South Africa, Bos has yet to take an international stage but sells from cafes around the country.

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Kenyatta Lovett

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What Are We Doing?

2011-03-05T16:16:00.000-08:00

It's been sometime since I've written in this blog. I've been bummed out from work and school, and the flat economy has me losing my enthusiasm for most things. Anyway, it's time to write and get my thoughts out there, with the hope of influencing others to do something positive. My topic for today has to do with democracy without consensus.

I just finished watching Waiting for Superman, which is a documentary on the public school system in the United States. Instead of being inspired and pumped up, it made me very depressed for many reasons. One, the debate about public schools is a conversation between those who benefit directly from its failure or success, but don't want to be responsible for either outcome. It would be easier to watch the end of Titanic than to explain the mentality of those in the conversation. Two, we, the people, have allowed others to use improper definitions and terms to justify unethical decisions. And finally, we all want our freedom, our rights, and the notion of decentralization. However, we also feel that this right justifies the rationale behind never reaching a consensus - never making the tough decisions. I like to call this the "drowning debate, while drowning".

I don't have a point to make today. I am just frustrated with our bad solutions to make due until we can make up another bad solution.

Cool Hunting: Cool Hunting Video Presents: Marvin Watches

2011-03-03T21:33:00.000-08:00

Cool Hunting Video Presents: Marvin Watches

In our latest video a revived Swiss watchmaker takes us behind the scenes to look at design and handcraft

We traveled to beautiful Neuchâtel, Switzerland to learn the history of Marvin Watches, a brand celebrating it's 160th birthday and its re-introduction to consumers. Once one of the largest watchmakers in Switzerland the company suffered at the end of the last century, and was resurrected by husband and wife team Cécile and Jean-Daniel Maye eight years ago. Their hard work has paid off, and Marvin Watches was just launched in the U.S. and most European markets in October 2010.

Cécile shares Marvin's story and walks us through the year-long process of making a watch. Celebrated watch designer Sébastian Perret has been instrumental in Marvin's renaissance, and he shares his process for creating a watch from sketch to prototype.

While we were at Marvin we worked with Cécile and Sébastien to design our "Toujours Plus" Malton 160 Cushion, a Cool Hunting Edition collaboration.

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Kenyatta Lovett

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Meditation And Modern Art Meet In Rothko Chapel

2011-03-03T07:24:00.000-08:00

I found the following story on the NPR iPad App:
http://www.npr.org/2011/03/01/134160717/meditation-and-modern-art-meet-in-rothko-chapel?sc=ipad&f=1008

Meditation And Modern Art Meet In Rothko Chapel
by Pat Dowell

NPR - March 1, 2011

The Rothko Chapel is an interfaith sanctuary, a center for human rights — and a one-man art museum devoted to 14 monumental paintings by abstract expressionist Mark Rothko. The Houston landmark, commissioned by John and Dominique de Menil, opened its doors 40 years ago, in February 1971.

For the past four decades, the chapel has encouraged cooperation between people of all faiths — or of no faith at all. While the chapel itself has become an art landmark and a center for human-rights action, the sanctuary's creator never lived to see it finished. Rothko committed suicide in 1970.

A Quiet Space

Approaching the chapel from the south, visitors first see a steel sculpture called Broken Obelisk by Barnett Newman in the middle of a pool — it appears to be floating on the surface of the water. The chapel itself is a windowless, octagonal brick building. Solid black doors open on a tiny glass-walled foyer. (The foyer was walled off from the rest of the interior when the Gulf Coast's notorious humidity began to affect the paintings.)

The main room is a hushed octagonal space with gray stucco walls, each filled by massive paintings. Some walls feature one canvas, while on others, three canvases hang side by side to form a triptych. A baffled skylight subdues the bright Houston sun, and the surfaces of the paintings change dramatically as unseen clouds pass outside. There are eight austere wooden benches informally arranged, and today, a few meditation mats. A young woman brings the meditation hour to a close by striking a small bowl with a mallet, creating a soft peal of three bells in the intense silence of the room.

Concerts, conferences, lectures, weddings and memorial services all take place in the chapel throughout the year, but on most days you will find visitors — about 55,000 annually come to see, to meditate, to write in the large comment book in the foyer, to read the variety of well-thumbed religious texts available on benches at the entrance.

'It's Their Place'

There is always an attendant to greet people, answer questions, and, if necessary, ask visitors to put their cell phones away. Suna Umari has worked at the chapel in various jobs for 30 years, most recently as historian. She also takes a turn as attendant, and her eight-hour shifts have given her a new sense of what the chapel means to visitors.

"People feel it's their place," she says. Her relaxed, almost musical voice fits well with the atmosphere of the place. "They come, and they have a problem, and they cry in this space. If you look at the comment books, they make comments to each other as though this was their personal little diary."

Umari says there's one couple who visits the chapel every six months:

"The first time I saw them, they must have had a fight, because she came in and sat down; then he followed," Umari says. "He sat next to her, and she ignored him. She kept turning her head away from him. They whispered to each other, and pretty soon they made up."

When the couple came out to the foyer, the man wrote a declaration of his love in the comment book — he used a whole page. The woman wrote that she loved him back.

For one visitor with a very personal connection to the chapel, the experience was unnerving.

"I wasn't prepared for that when I walked in the door," says Christopher Rothko, the painter's son. He was a child when the Rothko Chapel opened. He didn't come to see it until he was 33 years old, and he was surprised that at first, the paintings didn't really communicate with him. After all, he points out, he's used to conversing with Rothkos on a daily basis. But not that day.

"I almost left with nothing," Rothko says, but he lingered for a little while, "and ended up spending an hour and 15 minutes there. The time just sort of stopped running. I can't even tell you where I went at that point. I just know it was a Rothko experience unlike one I've had before."

'Looking At The Beyond'

These paintings do not feature the luminous color fields that made Rothko famous. The paintings in the chapel are dark, in purplish or black hues. And there's a reason for that, says Umari.

"They're sort of a window to beyond," she explains. "He said the bright colors sort of stop your vision at the canvas, where dark colors go beyond. And definitely you're looking at the beyond. You're looking at the infinite."

At first glance, the paintings appear to be made up of solid, dark colors. But look closely, and it becomes evident that the paintings are composed of many uneven washes of pigment that create variations in every inch. Stepping back, waves of subtle color difference appear across the broad surfaces — leading to an unmistakable impression of physical depth.

The canvases are huge; the largest is about 15 feet by 11 feet. Susan Barnes, author of The Rothko Chapel: An Act of Faith, was at the chapel the day they were installed.

"What I remember most of all was these large paintings, one at a time, being put in a sling and lowered through the skylight," Barnes says. "The largest of these ... the four single monochrome paintings ... barely cleared."

In fact, the first day, the truck and the crane had to be sent back because it was too windy. Think about a massive, wall-sized painting, Barnes says, "and think about as it as a sail. It was too dangerous."

'A Holy Space'

Back in 1970 when the paintings arrived, Barnes was fresh out of college and working for the de Menils. They hired architect Philip Johnson to design the building and Rothko to fill it. But the painter had such specific ideas about the space that Johnson bowed out.

It was always intended to be more than an art gallery, though. In a 1972 interview, Dominique de Menil said she saw it as a meeting place — a gathering place "of people who are not just going to debate and discuss theological problems, but who are going to meet because they want to find contact with other people. They are searching for this brotherhood of humanity."

Religious leaders from around the world participated in the chapel's dedication in late February 1971. Forty years later, the chapel continues to be a space devoted to personal contemplation, interfaith dialogue and the fight for human rights. Though Mark Rothko didn't live to see the sanctuary he created, Christopher Rothko says his father knew what it should be.

"It took me a while to realize it, but that's really my father's gift, in a sense, to somebody who comes to the chapel. It's a place that will really not just invite, but also demand a kind of journey."

The journey for onetime art-history student Barnes led to a ministry in the Episcopal Church. She says that over the years, the chapel has become a sacred place.

"You walk into this chapel and you know, now, that it has been sanctified by the prayers of the people. There is something you feel in the chapel that tells you it is a holy space." [Copyright 2011 National Public Radio]

To learn more about the NPR iPad app, go to http://ipad.npr.org/recommendnprforipad

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Kenyatta Lovett

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The Surge In Digital and Direct Marketing Hiring Has Begun - Supergroup

2011-01-23T10:31:00.001-08:00

This is the latest from Jay Dunn's SuperGroup posting.

http://www.supergroupnetwork.com/profiles/blogs/the-surge-in-digital-and

Sleeping with the Dog May Be Unhealthy

2011-01-23T10:21:00.001-08:00

This is news?

Sleeping with the Dog May Be Unhealthy

Story posted 2011.01.22 at 10:48 PM CST

NASHVILLE, Tenn.- A new report finds sharing a bed with a pet can sometimes be hazardous for your health.

The Centers For Disease Control warns that pets can bring a wide range of zoonotic pathogens into our environment. Zoonotic pathogens are infectious agents that can be transmitted between animal and humans.

Experts say the odds of actually getting sick are high, but kids or people with compromised immune systems could catch a disease.

In a survey from the American Kennel Club 21 percent of dog owners admit they regularly sleep with their dogs.

Story posted 2011.01.22 at 10:48 PM CST

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett

770-601-7441

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Thinking in Terms of Systems

2011-01-18T09:35:00.000-08:00

There was a recent article about American Airlines joining forces with Priceline.com. I begins to show how companies are truly becoming virtual - nodes of core competencies and competitive advantages formulated by data to make money. Where does the value exist in this new game? Is it all about things, or systems - access to these systems. Your thoughts

How 50 Cent Made 8 Million Cents on Twitter | Futurelab

2011-01-18T09:12:00.000-08:00

How 50 Cent Made 8 Million Cents on Twitter | Futurelab

Higher Education: Product versus Function

2011-01-15T18:29:00.000-08:00

I must admit, my class today was quite interesting. I enjoyed the lecture. More important, I appreciated the discussion on a particular topic: products. For a few years, I have tried to wrap my mind around developing an argument position against the current structure of higher education. This argument is not intended to discredit the existing structure. Instead, I would like to recommend an alternative solution for institutions pursuing better standards in the midst of a sharp reduction of resources – primarily funding. It would be incorrect for me to recommend any organizational suggestions to successful colleges and universities. However, there are several institutions that have either been unsuccessful or ineffective when it comes to improving standards and performance. I believe many of these organizations have some major issues applying their perception of their product with the mission.

Walker and Lorsch (1968) provided a structural analysis of how companies can best achieve efficiency, responsiveness, and the other operational attributes associated with long-term survival. The book, Organizational Choice: Product vs. Function, analyzed organizational structures that were contingent on the institution’s perception of environmental stability or strategy related to the final product. For some organizations, it was better to structure their operation to carry out a specific function, such as delivering mail or offering vaccinations. These systems could function at a high level of efficiency, but only in stable environments, with more constants than variables in the operational equations. Burns and Stalker (1961) influenced this writing by highlighting the differences between, Mechanistic and Organic Systems, focusing on the contingent nature of organizational structure and strategy. The flipside of the coin for Walker and Lorsch’s work is the product-focused organization.

Some organizations are designed to operate with the final product in mind. The two choices may appear to be the same, so let’s look at it a different way. Let’s take a generic company that produces MP3 players. This company would have a team of product developers, engineers, software developers, and other related professionals. The output of the company would be a variety of MP3 players to sell in the marketplace. A company focused on function would organize the operation by like functions – engineering division, software division, etc. All these units would function within their own individual vertical unit. Product-focused structures would organize the operation by product type – sports solutions, home/office, etc. The difference between the two has to do with a term the authors coined, “differentiation and integration”. Sparing you all the details, product-focused structures offer more flexibility to changing environments. Based on this information, I believe many higher education institutions could benefit from a structure that valued product more than function, especially community colleges.

Community colleges are designed to offer responsive and efficient modes of higher education. Although many perceive the value of the currency of community colleges to be inferior to universities, the attempt to compare the two would be similar to comparing net-books to laptops; the price point and functionality are uniquely positioned in the value-chain. Back to the point, many community colleges are structured to mirror larger universities. In spite of their different missions and audiences, community colleges perceive their primary output in society to center on higher education. A closer look at the two can easily present variances in output products. Universities produce three primary products (degrees) geared toward employment. Community colleges have many more products, with some geared toward employment, and others designed to retain employment. Additionally, community colleges have products that integrate with the university product structure. The final product can either be purchased (admitted) by another manufacturer (university) for further development on a more complex product (bachelors degree) to gain a higher price (wage) in the marketplace. The final product can also be sold (hired) direct in the workforce. Or, the final product can be retooled (workforce training, continuing education, etc.) to function better at an organization. In any case, community college products are more complex, due to the many variables. However, these lean organizations often operate by lumping the product development function in one vertical unit, and creating other similar units based on certain functions. Yet, only one division creates any relevant output to support the needs of the entire organization: academics. Not to mention, the ability to make sudden product/service changes can be very difficult, based on the writings of Walker and Lorsch.

I recommend a product focus for community colleges that captures the essence of their final outputs. The diagram below follows more of a matrix structure, which is mentioned in the work of Walker and Lorsch. The solution, in my opinion, establishes efficiencies for many of the support functions, while giving attention to the full development of certain outputs. Most community colleges create products (A.A., certificates, etc.) based on limitations or compliance issues. If the organization was divided by product type, the approach to certain opportunities would (1) develop a more strategic purpose, (2) be more responsive to the emerging need, and (3) quickly educate the support areas necessary for successful outcomes.

I believe this is an excellent opportunity for certain organizations to realize substantial efficiencies to redeploy resources in areas in most need. Please give me your thoughts on this approach. If you know of a higher education example that is based on a product-focused design, please send me the information to insert in future discussions.

Don’t Look at Actions, Look at Vision

2011-01-12T17:45:00.000-08:00

I’ve come to understand how the problem with organizations doesn’t come from a collection of actions, but a collection of misguided perspectives. Similar to the concept of neo-institutionalism, bad organizational performance cannot be understood through aggregating individual actions. However, an organization’s performance can be understood through collective visions. How does an average employee view the organization’s mission? How do they view performance, position, demand, quality, or success?

If you can change their vision, you have a chance to change their actions. The greats like Tiger Woods or Peyton Manning often make bad choices and even major mistakes. The difference between them and the rest of the pack centers on their perspective on the entire matter. One can’t make a major comeback if one doesn’t believe they are losing.

When Planning and Policies Will Not Do

2011-01-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

I will give you a quick secret about me. I am in love with strategy and planning. Sure, I like the execution that leads to success, but the thought of success and the plans to get there are fascinating to me. Of late, I have tried to approach leadership from a hands-off perspective - trying to find the right words and policies to influence a winning attitude. I want the expectations around me to reach a new height, which in turn will help me to improve on my own shortcomings. But sometimes planning and policies will not do. Sometimes, you have to get the herd running and conditioned to run before you can establish the rules and standards necessary to sustain a successful attitude. It's very similar to the Karate Kid's "Wax On Wax Off" exercise.

For 2011, planning and polices will not work. It's time to condition your team to function within success. No, this is not a call for boss-style management, where you tell them to "do it or else". This is a call for small base hits - doing things outside of everyone's comfort zone. Call meetings early in the morning - important meetings that no one can afford to miss out on. Embrace suicide missions that have a high probability of failure - knowing it will ultimately fail, but not result in a costly endeavor. Initiate projects after hours with the few crazy people that will entertain your ideas at an inappropriate time. Get people comfortable with the value of failure, rewards of change, and the process of success.

The problem may not be in their expectations, but yours.

If you are interested in developing plans of action to transform your unit, please contact a KLCS representative for more details.

CNBC.com Article: Retailers Fall Short as Blizzard, Angst Freeze Spending

2011-01-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

So, what's the explanation for the high gas?

CNBC.com Article: Retailers Fall Short as Blizzard, Angst Freeze Spending

Despite reporting some of the strongest sales gains in four years, retailers largely fell short of Wall Street's estimates as a still-cautious consumer spent their money carefully, and a Northeast blizzard stole from post-Christmas sales.

Full Story:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/40894311

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett

770-601-7441

Sent from my iPhone

What You Won't Do

2011-01-04T17:42:00.000-08:00

I have said this in a previous post - your brand often depends on what you will not do, more so than what you will do. Product choice is a scary thing. You are tying up all your resources in inventory that may or may not turn into cash. But that doesn't mean that you should sell a little of everything.

Let's look at Ian's Shoelace web site. Ian, for whatever reason, has decided to sell shoe laces. Who buys shoe laces you say? People with feet, who so happen to wear shoes. Is this enough of a product mix to survive as a business? Only Ian knows this answer. In any case, I like Ian's approach. He is taking advantage of economies of scale and scope to deliver a simple, but varied, product to the world. Ian is at the top of the search engine, by the way.

If this focus is too narrow, maybe Professor Arun Kanda can help you understand it in a more complex way.

Thanks Professor Kanda, now you should be on your way. If you didn't like his methods, you may want to go with a real focus. Try it today, tell you customers what you will not do.

For advice and consultation on product development and product marketing strategies, please contact a KLCS representative for more details.

Success is in the Supply Chain

2011-01-02T19:59:00.000-08:00

If you begin to think about the companies that have been successful in the past few years, you will notice that they all have one common trait: a good supply/value-chain strategy. Think about it, the technology and innovations of today provide the means for a flexible organization to adapt to any situation or circumstance, assuming there are competent leaders to recognize the changes in the environment.

Branding and marketing experts claim to have the ability to capture an organization's brand essence. The reality of this farce is that your brand image/essence has already been captured; the logos and brand statements come secondary. For 2011, it is important to get back to the essence of your business, assuming you know what that is. Once you get to the essence of your business, then it's time to figure out the advantage - the differences in cost structures that give you the competitive edge. If you don't have it, you need to figure it out quickly. If you can't find one, you may be in trouble, or it may explain why you are having trouble.

Just to bring this home, let's think about the well-known drug cartels in history. Work with me here. If we remove the acts of violence (which could be translated to laws, policies, and wars on the legal side), we can see a common theme of an efficient supply/value-chain. Some gangster/criminal develops a systematic process to distributing their product at a level that moves product quickly. If you disagree, try selling a kilogram of cocaine today on your own and see if you can get the margins of the kingpins. That's right, how will you grow it, process it, get it here, distribute it, set a competitive price, and most important not get caught or killed.
The legitimate world is not different.

In a world of mass production and global enterprises, it's very difficult for small businesses to establish any form of competitive advantage. However, you can't always think of competitive advantage simply in the product cost itself. You need to think of the cost of ownership, the complexity of the purchase decision process, and the higher levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. People still want good local news that has an intellect appealing to the entire world. Customers are giving hints to their preferences in shopping through their search terms. What if a car dealership only sold black cars - different brands?

The problem with our economy is that we still want to build stuff, mainly because we are a materialistic society. We think building things creates value, because we value people by the things they have. The problem with our economy is not from the lack of building stuff, but from the lack of understanding value. Figure out that common value in your region, and develop an efficient system to supply this thing that your customers value.

If you are interested in learning more about our new system for developing business plans, please contact me for more details on our products and services.

A New Year, With New Rules

2010-12-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

I'll get straight to the point for this post. I have three new rules for myself, and everyone I deal with:

Give it the proper definition
Tell the truth
It's okay

I'm ready for a year of better revenue and profits. I'm ready for new clients and new ventures. It's time to get to business. I've wasted a considerable amount of time in the past few years on ventures and projects that have led to the land of no-where. It's time to be about the business of making money.

As for my new rules, it's a way to keep things on the up-and-up - to be honest with all parties involved. I've been fooled by people saying they are "business-savvy", "ready to make that money", and even "experts in their field". My new rules should take care of these expensive mistakes.

Please look forward to better posts from me, and information that will help you understand the world of business and supply-chain management, which all falls back on marketing and branding.

Peace

BBC E-mail: Energy firms get new incentives

2010-12-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

I saw this story on the BBC News iPad App and thought you should see it.

** Energy firms get new incentives **
The government is to try to persuade companies to invest more in low-carbon energy, but some fear it could mean higher bills.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12005593 >

** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/email >

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
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BBC E-mail: German business confidence rises

2010-12-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

I saw this story on the BBC News iPad App and thought you should see it.

** German business confidence rises **
German business confidence hits a fresh post-reunification high as strong exports continue to drive the country's recovery.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12016869 >

** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/email >

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
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BBC E-mail: Ghana due to pump its first oil

2010-12-17T19:48:00.000-08:00

I saw this story on the BBC News iPad App and thought you should see it.

** Ghana due to pump its first oil **
The West African nation of Ghana is due to pump its first oil, after the discovery of the offshore Jubilee Field three years ago.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11996983 >

** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/email >

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
Sent from my iPad

BBC E-mail: US economy 'not cutting jobless'

2010-12-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

I saw this story on the BBC News iPad App and thought you should see it.

** US economy 'not cutting jobless' **
The US economic recovery is still too slow to bring down the country's high level of unemployment, the Federal Reserve warns.
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11996435 >

** BBC Daily E-mail **
Choose the news and sport headlines you want - when you want them, all in one daily e-mail
< http://www.bbc.co.uk/email >

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
Sent from my iPad

Fwd: [KLCS] Fwd: A link from CharlieRose.com

2010-12-07T19:20:00.001-08:00

A true tale on currency
All about gold with John Hathaway, Peter Munk, & James Grant

--
Posted By KLCS to KLCS at 12/07/2010 09:17:00 PM

In Booming India, All That Glitters Is Gold

2010-11-20T14:42:00.000-08:00

I found the following story on the NPR iPad App:
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/18/131427793/in-booming-india-all-that-glitters-is-gold?sc=ipad&f=1001

In Booming India, All That Glitters Is Gold
by Corey Flintoff

NPR - November 19, 2010

In much of the world, gold is regarded as an investment for times of great risk. In India, though, demand for the yellow metal remains strong through good times and bad.

That's because, in Indian culture, gold has a traditional worth that far outweighs its intrinsic value. As India's economy surges and more people share the wealth, the country's thirst for gold is rippling through the world market.

There's no better place to see what gold means to India than in the tony jewelry stores of New Delhi. At Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri Delhi, P.N. Sharma shows visitors through three floors of opulence that make "Breakfast at Tiffany's" look like a snack.

"Exclusive necklaces are over there, and bangles," Sharma says, waving past displays that would stagger the imagination of a maharaja. Salesladies in gold saris extend velvet trays with gem-encrusted gold necklaces as families cluster around the counters.

Almost all of this gold is designed to be given at weddings. That's because gifts of gold are presented to the bride throughout the process, from the time she becomes engaged to her wedding night.

It's an age-old way of conferring protection on the marriage and on the family that will result.

Nandkishore Zaveri, a director in the company, says wedding gold is a kind of insurance policy, "given to the daughter at the time of marriage, so that in the case of any difficulty in the family after the marriage, this can be encashed and the problem can be solved.

"That's what gold is all about in India."

Both the bride's and the groom's families give gold to the bride, so many parents begin buying jewelry, or at least saving for it, when their children are still quite young.

"I want to buy gold for my son's marriage," says Ashok Kumar Gulati, fastening a heavy gold chain around his wife's neck. The necklace that Mrs. Gulati is trying on will be a present for her daughter-in-law in the days that lead up to the ceremony.

The jewelry is priced by weight, according to the market price on any given day, and a necklace like the one she is trying on can run to thousands of dollars.

But Gulati says even at these high prices, he's not worried that the family will ever lose money on its gold purchases, especially when it's compared with any other investment.

"[Compared with] the appreciation of any other investment, gold will be matching up," he says. "So gold is never a loss."

That's why India is the world's largest consumer of gold, accounting for some 20 percent of the world's demand.

Surya Bhatia, an economist at the New Delhi-based investment firm Asset Managers, says demand will continue to grow because India's economic boom is bringing more people into the middle class, and families are increasing their purchasing power.

"From a single-income family to a double-income family, the levels of income have gone up," he says. "The education has also led to this boom of the incomes."

Bhatia says many Indians are starting to look at investments in gold in a new way. Instead of holding it as gold jewelry, they are buying exchange-traded funds, which are investments in gold that can be traded like stocks.

But there are many reasons why Indian families aren't likely to give up their gold jewelry. The Hindi word for wedding jewelry is "stridhan," which means "women's wealth."

"It is considered as an asset for a woman, which is her property [and] will remain with her throughout her life," says Pavi Gupta, who visited the store with her fiance, Manpreet Singh Duggal, to look over some gold pieces that their families may buy.

She says gold is a form of empowerment for a woman because it gives her the means to save her family if the need arises.

To learn more about the NPR iPad app, go to http://ipad.npr.org/recommendnprforipad

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett

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Black Farmers, Indians Closer To U.S. Settlement

2010-11-20T14:40:00.000-08:00

I found the following story on the NPR iPad App:
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/20/131467093/black-farmers-indians-closer-to-u-s-settlement?sc=ipad&f=1001

Black Farmers, Indians Closer To U.S. Settlement
by The Associated Press

AP - November 20, 2010

Black farmers and American Indians who say the United States discriminated against them and took their money for decades are a step closer to winning long-awaited government settlements.

Under legislation passed by the Senate on Friday, black farmers who claim discrimination at the hands of the Agriculture Department would receive almost $1.2 billion. American Indians who say they were swindled out of royalties by the Interior Department would split $3.4 billion. Both cases have languished for more than a decade, and plaintiffs say beneficiaries are dying off.

"The Senate finally did the right thing," said John Boyd, head of the National Black Farmers Association. "They stepped up and told the world civil rights still matter in America."

The legislation was approved in the Senate by voice vote Friday and sent to the House. The money had been held up for months in the chamber as Democrats and Republicans squabbled over how to pay for it.

President Barack Obama praised the Senate for finally passing the bill and urged the House to move forward on it. He said his administration is also working to resolve separate lawsuits filed against the department by Hispanic and female farmers.

"While these legislative achievements reflect important progress, they also serve to remind us that much work remains to be done," he said.

Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Tribe from Browning, Mont. and the lead plaintiff in the Indian case, said two people who would have been beneficiaries had died on her reservation this week. "It's 17 below and the Blackfeet nation is feeling warm," she said. "I don't know if people understand or believe the agony you go through when one of the beneficiaries passes away without justice."

Lawmakers from both parties have said they support resolving the claims of discrimination and mistreatment by federal agencies. But the money has been caught up in a fight over spending and deficits. Republicans repeatedly objected to the settlements when they were added on to larger pieces of legislation. But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., satisfied conservative complaints by finding spending offsets to cover the cost.

The legislation also includes a one-year extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which gives grants to states to provide cash and other assistance to the poor, and several American Indian water rights settlements in Arizona, Montana and New Mexico sought by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.

In the Indian case, which has been in the courts for almost 15 years, at least 300,000 Native Americans claim they were swindled out of royalties overseen by the Interior Department since 1887 for things like oil, gas, grazing and timber. The plaintiffs would share the settlement.

Cobell was confident about passage in the House, where the two settlements already have passed twice as part of larger pieces of legislation.

For the black farmers, it is the second round of funding from a class-action lawsuit originally settled in 1999 over allegations of widespread discrimination by local Agriculture Department offices in awarding loans and other aid. It is known as the Pigford case, named after Timothy Pigford, a black farmer from North Carolina who was an original plaintiff.

The government already has paid out more than $1 billion to about 16,000 black farmers, with most getting about $50,000. The new money is intended for people -- some estimates say 70,000 or 80,000 -- who were denied earlier payments because they missed deadlines for filing. The individual amounts depend on how many claims are successfully filed.

The bill passed Friday would be partially paid for by diverting dollars from a surplus in nutrition programs for women and children and by extending customs user fees.

The Obama administration has moved aggressively to resolve the discrimination cases after most of them spent a decade or longer in the courts. Last month, the Agriculture Department offered American Indian farmers who say they were denied farm loans a $680 million settlement.

------

Online:

National Black Farmers Association: http://www.blackfarmers.org/

To learn more about the NPR iPad app, go to http://ipad.npr.org/recommendnprforipad

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett

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Former Sen. Braun Enters Race For Chicago Mayor

2010-11-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

I found the following story on the NPR iPad App:
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/20/131471926/former-sen-braun-enters-race-for-chicago-mayor?sc=ipad&f=1001

Former Sen. Braun Enters Race For Chicago Mayor
by The Associated Press

AP - November 20, 2010

Former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun kicked off her campaign Saturday for Chicago mayor, joining a crowded field that already includes former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Braun, who runs an organic food company, formally declared her bid to replace retiring Mayor Richard Daley at an event at a lakefront airport Daley shut down to turn in to a nature preserve. Daley surprised the political establishment by announcing in September that he wouldn't seek a seventh term.

The 63-year-old Braun made history when she was elected in 1992 as the first black woman in the U.S. Senate. She lost her re-election bid in 1998 and was later named ambassador to New Zealand. Braun ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004.

The mayor's race already includes five other declared major candidates: Emanuel, City Clerk Miguel del Valle, former Chicago school board president Gery Chico, state Sen. James Meeks and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis.

Braun is counting on her wide breadth of government experience to resonate with voters, but some of them weren't even born when she won her last election in 1992 for the U.S. Senate. Before that, she served as an Illinois state lawmaker and Cook County government official.

She will likely have to address some past miscues that raised questions about her judgment, including a highly criticized visit with a brutal Nigerian dictator when she was a senator and never-proven accusations about misused campaign money.

Absent from the political scene for six years and having previously referred to herself as a "recovering politician,'' Braun has to reintroduce herself to voters in the mayor's race.

"My job is talking about and describing a vision for the future. A vision of what we're going to do now. Like I said, Chicagoans are very practical people. They're a lot more interested in what is going to happen than what happened last week,'' she said during an Associated Press interview earlier this week.

Braun said her business experience running a small company that specializes in coffee, tea and spices should be a plus with voters because she has had to work hard to weather the recession that has battered businesses, both big and small. [Copyright 2010 The Associated Press]

To learn more about the NPR iPad app, go to http://ipad.npr.org/recommendnprforipad

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett

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A Mother's Desperate Act: 'Margaret Garner'

2010-11-20T14:36:00.000-08:00

I found the following story on the NPR iPad App:
http://www.npr.org/2010/11/17/131395936/a-mother-s-desperate-act-margaret-garner?sc=ipad&f=124289519

A Mother's Desperate Act: 'Margaret Garner'
by Bruce Scott

NPR - November 19, 2010

In pre-Civil War America, few slave stories were more compelling than Margaret Garner's. She and her family were owned by a Kentucky plantation farmer, but one night they escaped to Ohio with another group of slaves.

Their hiding place was discovered, and Margaret's family was surrounded. She swore she would kill her children and herself rather than return to slavery. As her husband was dragged off, Margaret plunged a knife into her daughter. She was preparing to kill her other daughter and herself when she was seized and jailed.

Margaret was put on trial. Abolitionists wanted her tried for murder, which would have set a number of precedents, including establishing an enslaved person's rights and responsibility regarding her own children. Instead, Margaret Garner was accused of destruction of property, and sent back into slavery, along with her husband.

Her story advanced the rift between the abolitionists and the defenders of slavery, a rift that would soon help lead to the Civil War.

Grammy Award-winning composer Richard Danielpour and Nobel Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison collaborated to bring this true life story to the operatic stage. Margaret Garner was co-commissioned by opera companies in Detroit, Cincinnati and Philadelphia and made its debut in May 2005 at Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit.

Toni Morrison had already told a version of Margaret Garner's story in her best-selling novel Beloved, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. She says it's not a story about race. It's more about the internal struggles that result from the institution of slavery.

"The interest is not the fact of slavery, but of what happens internally, emotionally, psychologically, when you are in fact enslaved and what you do you do to try to transcend that circumstance. And that really is what Margaret Garner reveals," Morrison says.

Margaret Garner is Richard Danielpour's first opera. The story, he says, is one that both touches him personally and resonates from the past into the present.

More than anything else, Margaret Garner is an opera that reminds us that we all belong to the same human family, and it demonstrates what can happen when we forget this fundamental truth, says Danielpour. While slavery has been outlawed in the United States since 1865, its lingering effects have proven that issues concerning race, class, and the true meaning of freedom are in no way resolved in our country.

On World of Opera, host Lisa Simeone brings us a production from Opera Carolina, based in Charlotte, N.C., starring American mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves in the title role.

See the previous edition of World of Opera or the full archive.

Read Toni Morrison's libretto to 'Margaret Garner.'

To learn more about the NPR iPad app, go to http://ipad.npr.org/recommendnprforipad

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett

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NYTimes: Apple Invites Developers to Submit Mac Apps

2010-11-05T06:25:00.001-07:00

From The New York Times:

BITS: Apple Invites Developers to Submit Mac Apps

Apple is inviting developers to submit ideas for the new Mac App Store.

http://nyti.ms/aQswdN

Get The New York Times on your iPhone for free by visiting http://itunes.com/apps/nytimes

Thank You,

Kenyatta Lovett
770-601-7441

Sent from my iPhone

NYTimes: Is Your Marketing Campaign Risky Enough?

2010-11-02T06:03:00.000-07:00

From The New York Times:

YOU'RE THE BOSS: Is Your Marketing Campaign Risky Enough?

Is being outrageous a good thing? Will it sell products?

http://nyti.ms/9BHWOT

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
Sent from my iPad

@MarketingUK, 11/2/10 5:44 AM

2010-11-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

Marketing Magazine (@MarketingUK)
11/2/10 5:44 AM
Coke puts UK ads on ice: http://bit.ly/9YFZAa

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett

Sent from my iPad

Free Biology Textbook: How Open Should We Be?

2010-11-01T06:21:00.000-07:00

As we begin to venture into open source products, what are we doing to valuations?

Xenyatta

2010-10-31T17:32:00.001-07:00

What Each Day Brings

2010-10-30T12:25:00.001-07:00

Lately, I've given in to the moment - taking what it gives me and giving whatever I have. At a time when I need a new goal, new focus, my life has been filled with "stop and smell the roses" moments. Just when I think my personal resources have been exhausted, I find little blessings in knowing I have a great deal to contribute to the needs of others and this world. And ironically, I, for a brief moment, feel satisfied.

This has nothing to do with business or branding, and everything to do with leadership - listening, understanding, and the capacity to serve and grow. Trust me, it's right in front of you. Seize it!

The Technology Access Center is an organization that is making a difference in the Nashville area. I am grateful to be a part of the team and family. I encourage everyone to consider supporting those who support and need you in ways not easily understood.

NYTimes: App Makers Take Interest in Android

2010-10-24T20:51:00.000-07:00

Making Moves

From The New York Times:

App Makers Take Interest in Android

As Android phones gain market share, many app makers are rethinking their exclusive focus on iPhones.

http://nyti.ms/asd8gF

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
Sent from my iPad

You Are Correct Seth - Efficiency is Free

2010-10-23T18:38:00.000-07:00

However, it would cost quite a bit to know what to do with the extra money, so it may come out to be a wash. Sorry, having a sarcastic day today. See article

NYTimes: Once Dynamic, Decline Leaves Japan Disheartened

2010-10-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

I don't think we are totally in the clear. What does this say about the Free-Market/Capitalist concept? Should money be borrowed against borrowed money? If Johnny owes me money, can I realize even more money from Johnny's debt? If so, is it a good idea?

From The New York Times:

Once Dynamic, Decline Leaves Japan Disheartened

For a generation, Japan has been trapped in low growth and deflation, shriveling from a giant to an afterthought in the global economy.

http://nyti.ms/a4qLPY

Thank you,

Kenyatta Lovett
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Georgia Anne Muldrow - Roses - LIVE at Agape

2010-10-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

Android Droid is a Robot That Runs Android OS | Wired.com

2010-10-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share this article from Wired.com with you:

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/android-robot-2/

Android Droid is a Robot That Runs Android OS
The green Android mascot is now a walking robot and one that runs on Android operating system. Two Japanese companies, RT Corporation and Brilliant Service, created a humanoid robot called "RIC" to show Android is not just for smartphones and tablet computers. The robot, which took about 60 days to build, is about 4 -feet tall.

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