If you’re not in first place, then you’re in last. ~ Ricky Bobby, 2006

There are two ways of spreading light — to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. ~ Edith Wharton

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

Edith Wharton

60 Minutes had a heartbreaking story Prosopagnosia or Face Blindness, the inability for a person to recognize faces, and the people that suffer from it. Some don’t even recognize themselves in a mirror.

Part I:

Part II:

Inspired by a tweet and a lil curiosity, I wanted to see if Apple could hold the office of President of the United States of America.

Tomorrow morning Apple will announce its candidacy for President of the United States.$AAPL

— Daniel Miller (@WallStreetBean) March 18, 2012

Let’s see.

Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets the principal qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of president. A president must be:

Born in the United States: Check, Apple Inc. was incorporated in Cupertino, California, U.S.

At least 35 years old: Check, incorporated January 3, 1977, originally as Apple Computer, Inc.

Have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least the last 14 years: Check, Apple has been headquartered at Apple Campus, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, U.S. since 1992, and has has been located in Cupertino since it’s founding in 1976. (Some may dispute this given that the majority of their products are manufactured in China, but those are subcontractors not their actual employees or offices.)

Additionally…

A person who meets the above qualifications is still disqualified from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions:

No person can be elected president more than twice: Check, never been President before.

Upon conviction in impeachment cases, the Senate has the option of disqualifying convicted individuals from holding other federal offices, including the presidency: Check, never been impeached.

No person who swore an oath to support the Constitution, and later rebelled against the United States, can become president: Check, no rebellion that I’ve ever heard of.

Given that corporations are people now, I can’t think of any reason why Apple Inc. couldn’t run for President. I guess the only questions is, what party?

~

You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.

Maya Angelou

“This is going green 1949-style, bitch. Believe that.“

I am not Hollywood . I am not South Beach. I am Causeway Street… I am a Celtic.

Mike Tyson impersonates Herman Cain. Do I really need to say anything else?

It’s going to be ugly, and will surely take longer than I’d like, but it has to be done.

Soon after I launched the current version of the site I was ready to redo it again. But that obviously hasn’t happened. In those nearly three years a lot has changed, and some goals that I’d set out to achieve in the next iteration have become exponentially easier to accomplish.

1. Content silos
   I tried and failed in the previous version to break up the content into the types I intended to post (Entries, Links, Books, Quotes, Shirts) but never got it just right. Later I concluded that Tumblr’s execution of Entries, Quotes, Images, Links, etc. was ideal. And with the addition of Custom Posts to WordPress it’s become exponentially easier to mimic that organization.
2. Adaptive design 
   Not having a site that was optimized for mobile always seemed like a failure, but an easily repairable one. As browsers have improved it’s become even easier still. No more excuses.
3. Design
   I hated the old one. It shouldn’t be too hard to come up with something I can at least bare to look at.

And with that, I set off on an unknown journey for an unspecified amount of time with an unnamed destination. My plan is to first strip the site to it’s bones. Work out the WordPress templates first. Then I’ll build from the mobile up. All this to say that this site could get pretty weird for a while. But hopefully doing this publicly will be enough to shame me into giving it the time necessary to complete the project sooner rather than later.

I hope this doesn’t suck, but I know it will. Let’s go!

In a comment thread from an article on backlash against The Muppets movie, Cookie Monster took the opportunity to explain what the Occupy Wall/Sesame Street is all about, as only Cookie Monster can (emphasis mine):

Yes, there always going to be rich and poor. But we used to live in country where rich owned factory and make 30 times what factory worker make. Now we live in country where rich make money by lying about value of derivative bonds and make 3000 times what factory worker would make if factories hadn’t all moved to China.

Capitalism great system. We won Cold War because people behind Iron Curtain look over wall, and see how much more plentiful and delicious cookies are in West, and how we have choice of different bakeries, not just state-owned one. It great system. It got us out of Depression, won WWII, built middle class, built country’s infrastructure from highways to Hoover Dam to Oreo factory to electrifying rural South. It system that reward hard work and fair play, and everyone do fair share and everyone benefit. Rich get richer, poor get richer, everyone happy. It great system.

Then after Reagan, Republicans decide to make number one priority destroying that system. Now we have system where richest Americans ones who find ways to game system — your friends on Wall Street — and poorest Americans ones who thought working hard would get them American dream, when in fact it get them pink slip when job outsourced to 10-year-old in Mumbai slum. And corporations have more influence over government than people (or monsters).

It not about rich people having more money. It about how they got money. It about how they take opportunity away from rest of us, for sake of having more money. It how they willing to take risks that destroy economy — knowing full well that what could and would happen — putting millions out of work, while creating nothing of value, and all the while crowing that they John Galt, creating wealth for everyone.

That what the soul-searching about. When Liberals run country for 30 years following New Deal, American economy double in size, and wages double along with it. That fair. When Conservatives run country for 30 years following Reagan, American economy double again, and wages stay flat. What happen to our share of money? All of it go to richest 1%. That not “there always going to be rich people”. That unfair system. That why we upset. That what Occupy Sesame Street about.

He/it goes on…

Oil companies get share of our money. It called subsidy. Bankers get share of our money. It called bailout. Defense contrators get share of our money. It called no-bid contract.

If you got rich legitimately – not by gaming stock market or taking advantage of loophole, but by selling product people want to buy – you got rich because of government. Government paved roads you ship products on. Government give your warehouse police and fire protection. Government educate every single person who work for you. Government keep air and water clean and products safe so customers not die before time. Government make sure everyone have comfortable retirement, so they have money to spend on product and not just cat food.

And when me say “government”, me mean “everyone in America”. Because that what government is – it everyone in America pooling resources to provide for greater good. Without that sharing of resources, we not have army, we not have highways, we not put man on moon.

In theory, this country a democracy, where everyone who share resources also have say in how resources used. In practice, ordinary monster have very little say, and super-rich basically do whatever they want and make government do whatever they want. In theory, we have system where everyone pool resources and everyone benefit. In reality, we have system where everyone pool resources, and richest 1% benefit far out of proportion to rest of us.

As me already say, no one using “other people have more money than me” as rallying cry. No one. Me suppose me have to repeat that several times, but as me learn on Sesame Street, repetition is only way to get preschooler to learn, or someone with preschool level of understanding.

[via SF Weekly]