Unlike previous posts, this one will invoke personal privilege to set the record straight regarding a recent political pursuit of mine. This past week I had planned to file for the Little Rock Board of Directors-Ward 3, a position I formerly held from January 1, 1999, through December 31, 2002. The decision to do so was based on my belief that the current incumbent was not going to run again. Accordingly, I obtained the necessary papers at City Hall on Tuesday, which was immediately picked up by the press, and began seeking the necessary signatures of friends and neighbors on the required petitions to file with the City Clerk.
However, the situation took a significant turn two days later when I learned that she was, in fact, running for re-election, a fact that I then personally confirmed with her. Obviously, had I made that call in the very beginning, an oversight for which I apologized directly, none of this would have happened. Subsequent conversations with my wife and others whose judgment I value and trust prompted me to then reconsider my decision to seek this office. In addition to all of the known challenges of running against an incumbent, there was the added risk that such a campaign might create an awkward dilemma for many of our mutual friends who live in the same neighborhood. Those situations benefit no one.
Therefore, I am today formally announcing my personal version of "static kill" (which we all know is the method used to finally seal the blown-out oil well in the gulf) to plug my effort to run for the City Board, and thereby stem the flow of any rumor, speculation and misinformation regarding my intentions. In so doing I want to sincerely thank my friends and neighbors who signed those petitions and offered words of encouragement for this brief adventure, but now is definitely not the time. No doubt there will be many other opportunities in the future for me to engage in my passion for public service.
In the meantime I've got this blog to keep me busy.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Made in America
Thirty years ago owners and managers of domestic corporations used to pride themselves on selling products "Made in America" by displaying American flags and donning baseball caps with USA emblazoned on the front. As the world's premier manufacturer we were not bashful in boasting about our status. A few may still hold on to that tradition, but recent news articles in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette seem to suggest a reversal in storyline.
As an example, we learned this past week that the catfish industry which was born in the south with the mass production of a fish indigenous to this part of the country was downsizing due to increasing competition from foreign sources. No longer are catfish farmers able to make a living raising and selling that beloved product that we here in Arkansas have always recognized as being a culinary delight. When discovered by the rest of humanity, domestically raised catfish was elevated from the conventional battered and fried form we all grew up loving to all sorts of fancy dishes served in restaurants around the world, including ceviche, a raw delicacy ordinarily reserved to being concocted with just the finest and most expensive specie of aquatic life. It even spawned its own national organization known as the Catfish Farmers of America. But no more, thanks to China and Vietnam.
Then, we read that one of China's manufacturing companies has just constructed the largest solar-panel installation at a U.S. college at Rutgers University in New Jersey. This is just the latest example of how China is taking the lead in developing green energy to not only address their domestic need for more energy, but to also export their large scale solar-panel manufacturing expertise worldwide, aided handsomely by significant government subsidies. And this specialized construction does not even consider the multitude of consumer products which we import not only from China but from all over the world. For example, just look at the labels on your clothing as I did recently and see if your experience compares with mine: socks from El Salvador; underwear from Cambodia, China and India; T-shirts from Bangladesh; shorts from Thailand, Bangladesh and Dominican Republic; baseball cap from Sri Lanka; running shoes from China; golf shirts from Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand; dress shirts from the Philippines, Turkey and Hong Kong; swimsuits from Cambodia; khakis from India; windbreaker from Ukraine; suits from Mexico, Portugal and Chile; raincoat from Indonesia; ties from USA; bathrobe from Turkey; sweaters from Singapore and Hong Kong; outdoor wear from Bangladesh; tennis shorts from Thailand and the USA; and luggage with "American" in the name from China. And this list doesn't even touch on consumer and electronic items, and we all know where they come from.
But then an odd thing has happened in China's pursuit of world-wide manufacturing dominance. In a culture where gift giving is deemed very important, Chinese returning from America are now finding it increasingly difficult to buy goods here to take back to friends and relatives that do not have "Made in China" labels on them, an identification which can be insulting to the recipient. In fact it has become such a problem for the Chinese that one person has even set up a website at ChineseInLA.com to help visiting Chinese choose from a dwindling list of American made products. So, this got me thinking about how we might reverse our ever decreasing manufacturing base to not only help our own domestic job situation, but also solve this uniquely Chinese problem.
Recent ads for Chrysler's new Jeep Grand Cherokee, which is billed as being "Imagined, drawn, carved, stamped, hewn and forged here in America" which "was once a country where people made things", may just hold the key for recapturing our former prominence. Forgetting about the politics of the situation and the anger it has created in the minds of some, the multi-billion dollar government bailout of the automotive industry appears to be paying real dividends for not only Chrysler but General Motors as well. Not only did those funds create jobs, they re-energized the notion that we really can still make things in America. To quote a tag line from that same Jeep ad, "THE THINGS WE MAKE, MAKE US. Going forward what needs to happen in my view is for corporate America to let loose of some of those two trillion dollars it has accumulated over the past two years as a direct result of additional taxpayer generosity, and re-kindle that same "Made in America" pride and spirit of three decades ago by funding new start-up companies itself, rather than waiting on the government to do it. Alan Greenspan and Mayor Michael Bloomberg seem to agree.
As an example, we learned this past week that the catfish industry which was born in the south with the mass production of a fish indigenous to this part of the country was downsizing due to increasing competition from foreign sources. No longer are catfish farmers able to make a living raising and selling that beloved product that we here in Arkansas have always recognized as being a culinary delight. When discovered by the rest of humanity, domestically raised catfish was elevated from the conventional battered and fried form we all grew up loving to all sorts of fancy dishes served in restaurants around the world, including ceviche, a raw delicacy ordinarily reserved to being concocted with just the finest and most expensive specie of aquatic life. It even spawned its own national organization known as the Catfish Farmers of America. But no more, thanks to China and Vietnam.
Then, we read that one of China's manufacturing companies has just constructed the largest solar-panel installation at a U.S. college at Rutgers University in New Jersey. This is just the latest example of how China is taking the lead in developing green energy to not only address their domestic need for more energy, but to also export their large scale solar-panel manufacturing expertise worldwide, aided handsomely by significant government subsidies. And this specialized construction does not even consider the multitude of consumer products which we import not only from China but from all over the world. For example, just look at the labels on your clothing as I did recently and see if your experience compares with mine: socks from El Salvador; underwear from Cambodia, China and India; T-shirts from Bangladesh; shorts from Thailand, Bangladesh and Dominican Republic; baseball cap from Sri Lanka; running shoes from China; golf shirts from Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand; dress shirts from the Philippines, Turkey and Hong Kong; swimsuits from Cambodia; khakis from India; windbreaker from Ukraine; suits from Mexico, Portugal and Chile; raincoat from Indonesia; ties from USA; bathrobe from Turkey; sweaters from Singapore and Hong Kong; outdoor wear from Bangladesh; tennis shorts from Thailand and the USA; and luggage with "American" in the name from China. And this list doesn't even touch on consumer and electronic items, and we all know where they come from.
But then an odd thing has happened in China's pursuit of world-wide manufacturing dominance. In a culture where gift giving is deemed very important, Chinese returning from America are now finding it increasingly difficult to buy goods here to take back to friends and relatives that do not have "Made in China" labels on them, an identification which can be insulting to the recipient. In fact it has become such a problem for the Chinese that one person has even set up a website at ChineseInLA.com to help visiting Chinese choose from a dwindling list of American made products. So, this got me thinking about how we might reverse our ever decreasing manufacturing base to not only help our own domestic job situation, but also solve this uniquely Chinese problem.
Recent ads for Chrysler's new Jeep Grand Cherokee, which is billed as being "Imagined, drawn, carved, stamped, hewn and forged here in America" which "was once a country where people made things", may just hold the key for recapturing our former prominence. Forgetting about the politics of the situation and the anger it has created in the minds of some, the multi-billion dollar government bailout of the automotive industry appears to be paying real dividends for not only Chrysler but General Motors as well. Not only did those funds create jobs, they re-energized the notion that we really can still make things in America. To quote a tag line from that same Jeep ad, "THE THINGS WE MAKE, MAKE US. Going forward what needs to happen in my view is for corporate America to let loose of some of those two trillion dollars it has accumulated over the past two years as a direct result of additional taxpayer generosity, and re-kindle that same "Made in America" pride and spirit of three decades ago by funding new start-up companies itself, rather than waiting on the government to do it. Alan Greenspan and Mayor Michael Bloomberg seem to agree.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
"INCEPTION" - A deception instead?
Let's try something new this week, the guilty pleasure of being a movie critic. As an act of full disclosure, other than being an avid movie fan, I have absolutely no formal qualification for critiquing movies. However, I do know what I like and what I dislike in movies and movie venues, so here goes.
First, a little history. One of my family's businesses was owning a movie theater, so I had unlimited access to movies growing up watching almost every Saturday's matinee which more times than not consisted of Johnny Mack Brown, Hopalong Cassidy, Tom Mix, Gene Autry or Roy Rogers westerns, with a Zorro (the original) or Lash LaRue serial thrown in for good measure. Add to that a mid-week feature show or two of whatever was popular at the time along with the ever present Movietone Newsreel of that week's headline stories, and you can see that movies became an important part of my entertainment, not to mention shaping my early view of the world. One amenity that the old Rex Theater had which I have never seen since was a crying room. It was a separate glass-encased, totally sound proof room in the balcony where mothers could take their babies whenever they became upset or their children when they misbehaved, and still watch the movie while not disturbing the other patrons. A modern day use for such a room might be for cell phone users who, despite all of the notices and requests to the contrary, still insist on viewing their e-mails, twits, tweets or whatever throughout a movie. Nothing can be more distracting in a darkened theater, unless it is a crying baby or a couple who chatters endlessly throughout a movie, but I digress.
For my inaugural review I have chosen the movie INCEPTION, which at least one reviewer has already labeled "the best of 2010 so far". I knew going in that it was a complicated story mixing dreams with reality, so I purposely waited for my wife to return from an out of town trip to go with me thinking that two minds would be better than one in keeping track of the plot. Unfortunately, that idea was quickly challenged at a venue where the production volume was the worst of both worlds in that it was so faint one could not hear the dialog (definitely not a good idea in a movie like this) but, strangely, was deafening whenever the background music came on. Appeals to the theater staff by not only us but another couple went unheeded and they finally left in frustration. Add to this distraction the intermittent rattle of an air conditioning fan and an inside temperature that approximated a meat locker, and you can appreciate the obstacles to concentration we were up against. But we persevered.
The basic premise, as I understand it, was that dreams which can become reality seldom have a beginning, so what if a person could design one (hence the definition of its title), control the thoughts and actions of others in that dream and thus alter an outcome in life? Add to that the concept of a dream within a dream carried to the next level of a dream within a dream within a dream involving six people simultaneously and you've got yourself a real doozy of a plot. However, it all began to fall apart for me about half way through the movie when all of the participants' dreams began to collide into each other much like cars in the proforma car crashes; multiple shootings with splattered blood made their repeated and gratuitous appearance; people started floating in mid air; and buildings started exploding. Just to make sure we got it, these sequences were then repeated over and over and over and over. Add to that a ski scene that seemed like it came straight out of the 1969 James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and it became full of what I call filler which created a real disjointed mixed up mess of a movie that went on way too long. Sometimes being quiet and reflective are much more effective in getting points across in movies, which begs the question of why did those involved with the production of INCEPTION feel the need to default to old worn out gimmicks which for me distracted from the otherwise thought-provoking theme of this one? MOMENTO it isn't in my view, so go see CYRUS instead.
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Barry Thomas exclusively at Ellen Golden French Antiques in the Heights
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
First, a little history. One of my family's businesses was owning a movie theater, so I had unlimited access to movies growing up watching almost every Saturday's matinee which more times than not consisted of Johnny Mack Brown, Hopalong Cassidy, Tom Mix, Gene Autry or Roy Rogers westerns, with a Zorro (the original) or Lash LaRue serial thrown in for good measure. Add to that a mid-week feature show or two of whatever was popular at the time along with the ever present Movietone Newsreel of that week's headline stories, and you can see that movies became an important part of my entertainment, not to mention shaping my early view of the world. One amenity that the old Rex Theater had which I have never seen since was a crying room. It was a separate glass-encased, totally sound proof room in the balcony where mothers could take their babies whenever they became upset or their children when they misbehaved, and still watch the movie while not disturbing the other patrons. A modern day use for such a room might be for cell phone users who, despite all of the notices and requests to the contrary, still insist on viewing their e-mails, twits, tweets or whatever throughout a movie. Nothing can be more distracting in a darkened theater, unless it is a crying baby or a couple who chatters endlessly throughout a movie, but I digress.
For my inaugural review I have chosen the movie INCEPTION, which at least one reviewer has already labeled "the best of 2010 so far". I knew going in that it was a complicated story mixing dreams with reality, so I purposely waited for my wife to return from an out of town trip to go with me thinking that two minds would be better than one in keeping track of the plot. Unfortunately, that idea was quickly challenged at a venue where the production volume was the worst of both worlds in that it was so faint one could not hear the dialog (definitely not a good idea in a movie like this) but, strangely, was deafening whenever the background music came on. Appeals to the theater staff by not only us but another couple went unheeded and they finally left in frustration. Add to this distraction the intermittent rattle of an air conditioning fan and an inside temperature that approximated a meat locker, and you can appreciate the obstacles to concentration we were up against. But we persevered.
The basic premise, as I understand it, was that dreams which can become reality seldom have a beginning, so what if a person could design one (hence the definition of its title), control the thoughts and actions of others in that dream and thus alter an outcome in life? Add to that the concept of a dream within a dream carried to the next level of a dream within a dream within a dream involving six people simultaneously and you've got yourself a real doozy of a plot. However, it all began to fall apart for me about half way through the movie when all of the participants' dreams began to collide into each other much like cars in the proforma car crashes; multiple shootings with splattered blood made their repeated and gratuitous appearance; people started floating in mid air; and buildings started exploding. Just to make sure we got it, these sequences were then repeated over and over and over and over. Add to that a ski scene that seemed like it came straight out of the 1969 James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and it became full of what I call filler which created a real disjointed mixed up mess of a movie that went on way too long. Sometimes being quiet and reflective are much more effective in getting points across in movies, which begs the question of why did those involved with the production of INCEPTION feel the need to default to old worn out gimmicks which for me distracted from the otherwise thought-provoking theme of this one? MOMENTO it isn't in my view, so go see CYRUS instead.
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Barry Thomas exclusively at Ellen Golden French Antiques in the Heights
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Getting the Short End of the Stick, Again
Once again the homeless population of Little Rock ends up with the short end of the stick with this past week's announcement that the local chapter of the Interfaith Hospitality Network has run out of money, and will discontinue providing temporary housing for homeless families.
For those unfamiliar with this agency which is part of a national network, it is comprised of nineteen area churches which offer housing, meals and transportation to 14 people for one week on a rotational basis among these participating churches, and has been in operation for approximately five years. One church, First Presbyterian in downtown Little Rock, even offers access to laundry machines for washing clothes and computers to assist the homeless in finding job opportunities. While part of a national organization, they basically operate independently and are, therefore, responsible for securing their own financial support from local churches, corporations and individuals. Apparently, that effort has been negatively impacted by the down economy in recent months, as donations have fallen drastically.
All of that aside, this latest withdrawal of services for the homeless once again illustrates the need for the City of Little Rock to quit jawboning the issue of providing a shelter for the homeless and do something now. Yes, I know the City is in dire financial straits even having to defer once again the raises promised our union employees last year, plus shifting $1.3 million in funds from the street reserve fund to help make up the latest $2 million shortfall. But that does not excuse the inertia that has existed relative to building a homeless resource center for almost a decade when the City hosted with great fanfare a visit by HUD's homeless point man from Washington DC that generated great enthusiasm for doing something meaningful here. That enthusiasm then went flat for lack of active follow-up, save the formation of a homeless committee which drafted a 10 year plan to fight "chronic homelessness" which had its own unique definition. That committee then morphed into the Mayor's Commission on Homelessness which has basically just talked about the problem ever since.
While lack of money always seems to be the reason for inaction, it never seems to stop other initiatives like entertainment arenas, baseball parks, football stadiums, libraries, trolleys, pedestrian bridges, railway bridge renovations, downtown riverfront improvements, etc., all of which were deemed to be important economic drivers for the city. One common element in all of those efforts was strong leadership by local influential businessmen who joined together with our politicians to find the necessary resources to ensure success. Sadly, those same businessmen appear to be AWOL from the homeless issue which not only speaks to the soul of a community, but can affect things they do understand like image and tourism if not solved. So, my challenge to that power structure is to step forward and make this happen even if it requires supporting a new sales tax to provide the funds to not only build and operate the homeless shelter but to also give Little Rock the sorely needed capital to address our many other needs. Let's not let the homeless get short-changed again, as we're better than that in my view.
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Barry Thomas exclusively at Ellen Golden French Antiques in the Heights
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
For those unfamiliar with this agency which is part of a national network, it is comprised of nineteen area churches which offer housing, meals and transportation to 14 people for one week on a rotational basis among these participating churches, and has been in operation for approximately five years. One church, First Presbyterian in downtown Little Rock, even offers access to laundry machines for washing clothes and computers to assist the homeless in finding job opportunities. While part of a national organization, they basically operate independently and are, therefore, responsible for securing their own financial support from local churches, corporations and individuals. Apparently, that effort has been negatively impacted by the down economy in recent months, as donations have fallen drastically.
All of that aside, this latest withdrawal of services for the homeless once again illustrates the need for the City of Little Rock to quit jawboning the issue of providing a shelter for the homeless and do something now. Yes, I know the City is in dire financial straits even having to defer once again the raises promised our union employees last year, plus shifting $1.3 million in funds from the street reserve fund to help make up the latest $2 million shortfall. But that does not excuse the inertia that has existed relative to building a homeless resource center for almost a decade when the City hosted with great fanfare a visit by HUD's homeless point man from Washington DC that generated great enthusiasm for doing something meaningful here. That enthusiasm then went flat for lack of active follow-up, save the formation of a homeless committee which drafted a 10 year plan to fight "chronic homelessness" which had its own unique definition. That committee then morphed into the Mayor's Commission on Homelessness which has basically just talked about the problem ever since.
While lack of money always seems to be the reason for inaction, it never seems to stop other initiatives like entertainment arenas, baseball parks, football stadiums, libraries, trolleys, pedestrian bridges, railway bridge renovations, downtown riverfront improvements, etc., all of which were deemed to be important economic drivers for the city. One common element in all of those efforts was strong leadership by local influential businessmen who joined together with our politicians to find the necessary resources to ensure success. Sadly, those same businessmen appear to be AWOL from the homeless issue which not only speaks to the soul of a community, but can affect things they do understand like image and tourism if not solved. So, my challenge to that power structure is to step forward and make this happen even if it requires supporting a new sales tax to provide the funds to not only build and operate the homeless shelter but to also give Little Rock the sorely needed capital to address our many other needs. Let's not let the homeless get short-changed again, as we're better than that in my view.
ARTISTS
Laura Raborn at http://paintingsofhome.com and http://claygifts.com
Jim Johnson at http://yessy.com/jimjohnson/gallery.html
Russ Powell at http://powellphotos.com
Linda Flake at http://lindaflake.com
Tom Herrin at http://tommysart.blogspot.com
Matt McLeod at http://matt@mattmcleod.com
Artists Registry at http://www.arkansasarts.org/programs/registry/default.aspx
Barry Thomas exclusively at Ellen Golden French Antiques in the Heights
GALLERIES
Local Colour Gallery at http://localcolourgallery.com
Chroma Gallery at http://chromagallery.com
Cantrell Gallery at http://cantrellgallery.com
Greg Thompson Fine Art at http://gregthompsonfineart.com
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