The month of August has a bad reputation, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. People talk about the “dog days of August” because of its painfully hot and humid days that seem to stifle activity. This is especially true in the Washington Metropolitan area where temps often reach the 90Fs and 100Fs and humidity is almost unbearable, making people flee the area in search of cooler spots.
Nothing important ever happens in August. Everyone is away and for those left behind (yes, that’s what it feels like) the only redeeming feature is that roads and places are less crowded in August. August is so boring, it seems to exist to make us miss July and long for September.
August 2011, however, has been anything but uneventful. The US economy continued to tank and early in the month, for the first time ever, Standard & Poor’s downgraded its U.S. long-term debt assessment from AAA to AA+. The markets plunged after S&P’s announcement and continued to do so in the following weeks. Unemployment continued high and Obama’s popularity continued to sink. The GOP presidential hopefuls had a debate in Iowa, where creepy Michele Bachmann won the 48-person straw poll.
More recently, a 5.9 earthquake centered in Virginia shook the earth and the nerves of people in Washington and New York City, and was felt as far away as Cleveland, Toronto, Chicago and South Carolina. Colorado also had an earthquake. And just a few days after the Virginia quake, hurricane Irene hammered the US Northeast with deadly winds and strong rains, killing 25 people and causing significant damage.
Outside the U.S., August saw several days of riots in London, escalating conflicts in Syria and Lybia, and the death of 30 American troops as a transport helicopter was destroyed in the worst single incident suffered by foreign forces in 10 years of war in Afghanistan.
For these and other reasons, August 2011 has been more unbearable than others.
I won’t go as far David Plotz in his 2001 article “August: Let’s Get Rid of It”, where he literally suggests ceding the first 10 days of August back to July and the last 10 days to September, leaving August with just 10 days. “That is just enough: Every summer we’ll be able to toot happily, Gosh, August went by so quickly this year,” he says.
Me, all I want is for August 2011 to end and to go away quietly so we can be happy and carefree again when September arrives. And here’s to September!
Washington D.C. has a beautiful new memorial in honor of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This is a long-overdue tribute to a great leader, whose work and words continue to inspire millions of people not just in the US but all over the world.
The monument features a 30-foot figure of Martin Luther King, hewn from granite, looking forward, apparently to symbolize that his work is not done. It also features a 450-foot-long granite wall inscribed with 14 famous King quotes.
The memorial will be dedicated on August 28, the 48th anniversary of King’s “I have a Dream” speech. This should be a very beautiful and emotional event, with President Obama delivering a speech and some 200,000 people expected to be in attendance.
I would have liked to be there but will be in Brazil at that time. So I’d like to pay my humble tribute to the man who once said “A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.” May he, who died for his cause, live forever in the hearts and minds of people around the world; and may this monument be a constant reminder that much more needs to be done to make his dream come true.
Google+ is all the rage these days. According to enthusiasts, Google+ is clean and smart, great for sharing pictures, it has “circles” to put people in so you’ll never mix family, business and social acquaintances, and it’s better than Facebook and Twitter, so we should all leave the other networks and join Google+. And there is no point in fighting it.
Well, I’m not so sure about that.
One problem with Google+ is that in spite of all the hype it’s still a beta site, not available to everyone. As Google is still tweaking the product, it started out by granting access to a limited number of people, by invitation only. How cool is that? Someone said “this is like being the coolest kid in High School and getting the first invitation to the big dance!” And these cool users are allowed to invite their friends, who are thrilled to be part of the “in crowd.” It’s a party; a very exclusive party.
But Google+ has been disappointing some of these lucky invitees. That was the case of Blake Ross, co-founder of Firefox and Facebook director of product, whose Google+ account was suspended because of his name. “After reviewing your profile, we determined that the name you provided violates our Community Standards,” said Google. Ross tweeted about it. His profile was eventually turned back on. Other invitees are being rejected at the door with the message: “Thanks for stopping by. We’re still ironing out a few kinks in Google+, so it’s not quite ready for everyone to climb aboard. But, if you want, we’ll let you know the minute the doors are open for real. Cool? Cool.”
Hmm… Is that really cool?
Don’t take me wrong. I love Google, use it exhaustively and could not survive without it. I’ve never even thought about using Bing, even though it came out claiming to be infinitely better than Google. So, I’m loyal to the Google brand and its many great products but I just don’t need Google+.
Why?
For starters, it’s not a new idea. I would have loved to see Google invest its resources into something nobody else was offering. I’ve been a Facebook user for some three years and I’m quite happy with it, in spite of its problems and quirkiness. I can manage my friends just fine without “circles” –grant it, I don’t have thousands of them– and I don’t have the time or desire to start over somewhere else, unless of course I have no choice.
And I am not alone. Along with those who claim Google+ is the greatest thing since sliced bread and that it will destroy Facebook, Twitter and everything else in social media, there are also quite a few critics. Some have gone as far as eulogizing it. Others are reluctantly positive but on waiting mode. And, needless to say, the web is full of videos making fun of the new network. I actually enjoy some of the Google+ parodies.
The question is, will Google+ survive or slowly disappear? As with many new products, there was an initial rush to Google+ and the hype built up as people had to fight for invites. But this seems to be winding down. According to Experian Hitwise, by late July total Google+ visits fell about 3 per cent to 1.79 million in the US in the week ending July 23 from the prior seven days. The average time on the site also declined 10 per cent to 5 minutes and 15 seconds. This is probably a reflection of people’s frustration with a network so exclusive that most of their friends can’t join or choose not to.
Google’s decision to have a beta launch may come back to haunt it. This very public trial period is giving millions of people –who would’ve joined immediately if allowed– time to hear feedback about Google+ before making the transition. Since not all feedback is positive, Google+ may end up failing before it finally opens its doors to all. Or maybe not. Only time will tell.
In the meantime, here’s another “Google -” parody, just for the fun of it…
I read an article the other day about the creation of the iconic Nike “swoosh”, which turned 40 this past July. A young design student, Carolyn Davidson, presented a half a dozen options, none of which captivated anyone “so it came down to which was the least awful.” And just like that, an icon was born.
This story reminded of other great brand logos whose beauty lies in their simplicity. Take for example BMW’s circular blue and white logo, a symbol for “sheer driving pleasure.” Or Apple’s iconic logo with its simple, cool –and delicious– look which says: I’m fun and innovative and you are special,’ wink, wink. And of course there’s that young brand, too young to have much of a history, whose logo is fast becoming one of the most recognized and iconic in the world.
Looking at the evolution of the logos of 25 brands, it’s interesting to see that most of them are simple and while some started out a little more embellished, over the years they’ve cleaned up substantially. In fact, it seems that as brands become stronger, their logos become simpler.
But great brands are more than just pretty logos. Stanley Hainsworth, Tether CCO and former creative director at Nike, Lego, and Starbucks, believes that great brands must have a story. “Companies without a story are companies without a soul,” he says. In an interview (below), he mentions Microsoft as a company without a story and without a soul. Indeed, the Microsoft brand does not seem to connect to people on a personal level as most of their products are often imposed by large organizations on their employees, who have no choice but to use them. When choosing for themselves, many prefer Apple.
Through their iconic logos, great quality brands capture the imagination of millions of loyal consumers who love and want their products no matter what. Apple’s loyal customers will stand in line for the latest iPad or iPhone regardless of price, negative reviews, or whether they need them or not. They love all things Apple. They believe the company cares about them as much as it cares about profits. They are soul mates. They “get” each other…
Now that Tea-party Republicans and Standard & Poor’s have tanked the US economy, everyone is telling President Obama what he should and shouldn’t have done and what a huge disappointment he is. Politicians on both sides of the aisle, scholars, pundits, talk-show hosts, even comedians, seem to know exactly what the President should have done to win the debt-ceiling war and are shaming him publicly for what they see as lack of leadership.
In a New York Times Op-Ed on Sunday, psychology professor Drew Western goes back to the day of Obama’s inauguration to point out how disappointing his lackluster speech was. He even offers a sample passage of what would have been a great inaugural speech. I remember being a bit disappointed with the lack of fervor in Obama’s speech but I didn’t see that as an early sign of weakness.
He goes on to say: “the president is fond of referring to ‘the arc of history,’ paraphrasing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous statement that ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.’ But with his deep-seated aversion to conflict and his profound failure to understand bully dynamics — in which conciliation is always the wrong course of action, because bullies perceive it as weakness and just punch harder the next time —he has broken that arc and has likely bent it backward for at least a generation.”
Well, Professor Western may know a lot about the psychology of bullying, but he obviously never had to negotiate with crazy bullies with the national and global economies at stake. He also forgets that Barak Obama is the first African-American President of the United States, which makes a lot of people very mad. Had he acted in a non-conciliatory and authoritarian fashion, he would have been execrated. Tea-partiers would have quickly depicted him as an undemocratic, angry black man.
Western must be a happy man today. His op-ed gave him enough notoriety to put him on CNN where he enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame. He is probably eyeing a position as campaign adviser to the Democrats, as he did in 2007. Well, thank you, professor, you may go home now and ponder about what, if any, contribution your op-ed and TV appearances have made to solve the country’s problems.
To be sure, Obama has made his share of mistakes and he is not the passionate liberal some people hoped he would be. He is a centrist, which is both a virtue and a curse: a virtue because it allows him to see where the other side is coming from and to compromise, and a curse because it makes him look weak and ineffective to some.
I hate to keep raising the race card but this is a president whose American citizenship was shamelessly questioned for months on end just because he is the son of an African man. What other president in the history of any country has had to deal with something like this? And he knows that everything he says or does can be twisted and misconstrued by those who can’t accept a black man in the White House and want him to fail at any cost.
And what other president in history has had a top opposition leader tell members of his party that their single most important achievement should be to make him a one-term president, and later depended on that same person to reach crucial agreements on critical issues for the country and his administration?
Americans who are disappointed in Obama’s handling of the debt-ceiling debacle are forgetting that Presidents are not Kings. They cannot make whatever decisions they want without the approval of congress and they need the support of strong political leaders in order to succeed. President Obama doesn’t seem to be getting that. And his liberal friends don’t seem reluctant to throw him under the bus.
Watching them go on TV to criticize the President’s actions, or lack thereof, I can’t help but wonder what motivates them to throw more wood on the fire. And as I hear their negative statements I can envision every single one of those lethal sound bites being used on Republican ads during the presidential campaign.
Perhaps they’d like somebody in the Democratic Party –say, Hillary Clinton–to challenge Obama in 2012. This would be a fatal mistake and Hillary is too smart to go for it, but surely some of her old supporters will try to push the idea forward.
As Winston Churchill said, “a fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” That perfectly describes the tea-party fanatics and their tactics. But it also applies to liberals who insist on discussing the flaws and failures of the President when they should be changing the subject and putting out a positive and constructive message to the American people who are hurting and need a message of hope.
Chapeau to those who are putting out a positive word and shame on those who continue to criticize and complain from the comfort of their irrelevant platforms.
I am very worried about the state of the United States of America. And I’ve never felt this way in all my years living in this country. Sure there have been some nasty times in the past when the country witnessed internal extremist behavior, as in the Clinton impeachment. And 9/11 showed us how much harm external extremism can do to America. Still, nothing compares with what is happening these days.
The country is in deep economic trouble. Whether the US economy is technically in a recession, or headed for a double-dip recession, is a matter for economists to discuss. What matters to the rest of us is that millions of people are losing their jobs and can’t find new ones, consumer confidence is low (try selling a house in this market!) and businesses are suffering. The dollar is the weakest it’s ever been, the markets are nervous and people are losing money. And it doesn’t help it that Europe is also in a bind.
On Thursday, according to the Washington Post, “the Dow Jones industrial average closed down for its ninth session out of 10, finishing the day down more than 500 points, or 4.3 percent in the red; the Standard & Poor’s 500 fell 4.8 percent; and the Nasdaq tumbled 5.1 percent. All three indexes experienced their biggest weekly drops since May 2010.” And on Friday, Standard & Poors downgraded the US credit rating for the first time ever from AAA to AA+. This is bad news on top of bad news.
In difficult times, it’s expected that the leadership of a country will rise to the occasion putting opposing interests aside and pulling together to find the best possible solution, all for the good of the country. Instead, we have a dysfunctional Congress, where a radical and irresponsible minority dictates actions and hinders processes because they don’t give a damn if the US and global economies tank, as long as they get what they want.
Bickering and waiting until the 11th hour to make crucial decisions that affect an entire nation is not what the leadership of a great nation should do. And with such fractioned and dysfunctional parties, it’s hard to imagine things getting any better as we enter an election year.
From a communications perspective, these two parties had better get their act together as both look pretty pathetic to the electorate. Disgruntled Democrats must be very careful as they express their dissatisfaction with the debt deal. This is not the time to be badmouthing the President –their candidate– unless they don’t mind having another Republican in the White House for the next eight years.
Republicans are much savvier in that respect. Once they choose their candidate they will rally around him/her, stay on message, and viciously attack Obama and the Democrats. Democrats have a difficult time doing the same because they want to please everyone and in the months ahead there will be plenty of disagreement between various factions within the party. This needs to change if they want to stay in power beyond 2012.
I’ve just read in the LA Times that Tony Bennet is 85 years old today. It must be just wonderful to be alive, in good health, and still rocking at this age.
I love Tony Bennet not just because he is one of the greatest crooners of all time, but also because of his personality, so charming, so unassuming. I was introduced to his music as a little girl as my father, a music lover, always started the day on Saturdays and Sundays listening to music. He loved American music and Tony Bennet was often one of the great crooners he listened to. Rarely a weekend came by that my sweet slumber wasn’t interrupted by music, many times good old Tony Bennet in the company of other greats such as Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and Sammy Davis Jr. to name a few.
Thanks Dad, for the early introduction to fabulous music. Happy 85th Birthday, Tony Bennet, and many more!
The LA Times has a very nice slideshow of Tony Bennet pictures through the past six decades.