Silicon Valley has lost one of its princes today. Entrepreneur, visionary and innovator, Steve Jobs saw beyond today into tomorrow. His farsightedness has forever changed the world, and the world will be poorer for his silence. Below is a look at the pivotal years of many of his innovations, inventions that have helped bring the world from a divided mass to a true global village.
Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 10/05/2011 06:02:00 PMPermanent Link |
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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Charity Navigator
During this devastating time for the citizens of Haiti, many people want to donate money to help in the rescue and aid efforts. Unfortunately, there are always some who take advantage of the situation to scam money from the well-intended. Luckily, the Charity Navigator helps donors give intelligently. Below is a link to several organizations involved with helping the victims of Haiti's earthquake. No amount is too small, and every little bit adds up to much from many. Please take a moment to click the link and look over the list of fund-raising organizations.
Author Shiloh Walker is offering anyone who has donated at least $5 to any charitable organization an opportunity to be mentioned in one of her books. Find out the details of the contest at her Facebook page.
Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 1/13/2010 03:08:00 PMPermanent Link |
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Thursday, September 11, 2008
Where is the media's critical thinking?
Very good article about the lack of critical analysis by today's news pundits. Many of today's news heads almost seem deathly afraid of upsetting the GOP camp. (What, are somebody's children being held hostage to make sure they toe the GOP party's line?) I, for one, miss Tim Russert, who refused to be cowered and knew how to slash through the bull bandied his way.
Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 9/11/2008 01:06:00 PMPermanent Link |
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Thursday, September 27, 2007
Sad Update- Nailah Franklin
A body found today in a Calumet City, IL forest preserve has tentatively been identified by family members as that of 28-year-old Nailah Franklin, the young pharmaceutical rep missing since last week. Police have yet to confirm the identification. Right now investigators are questioning an ex-boyfriend who made several threatening phone calls to Nailah before her disappearance. More info about the latest update can be found at The True Crime Blog.
In this past week, it was heartening to see Nailah's story receive national attention and to know that she wouldn't become one of the nameless thousands who remain missing each year. Although the story ends tragically, it at least ends and she can be put to rest and her family can find some closure. But full closure will elude everyone until her killer(s) is brought to justice.
This story hits a little close not only because she was from Chicago, but because in Googling her name, I found an entertainment site for singer Chris Brown where Nailah had posted. In the comment, you see her sense of humor in her bantering:
Nailah Franklin says I cdan’t[sic] stand to see C.Brown and Ciara together because C.Brown is my man not Ciara’s So Ciara don’t think that just because u broke up wit Bow Wow don’t mean u gotta take other people’s man got .?good!!!!!!!!!!!!LoL!
This post was made in May, just over four months ago. Four months ago, Nailah was one of us surfing the net, joking, and very much alive. In other words, she could have been any one of us. Conversely, any one of us might have wound up in similar tragic circumstances. This is just a sobering reminder how tenuous life is, how in the beat of a heart, someone can be snatched away.
Ladies (and gentlemen), please be careful out there.
Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 9/27/2007 01:31:00 PMPermanent Link |
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Saturday, September 22, 2007
Missing - Nailah Franklin
CHICAGO - Police have stepped up their search for a missing pharmaceutical company sales representative after finding the 28-year-old woman's car near an abandoned building.
Nailah Franklin was last heard from Tuesday, when she sent an uncharacteristically vague text message to friends and family saying that she was having dinner and that she'd call later. She never did.
Franklin's sister, Lehia Franklin Acox, said the family is trying to stay positive as police search the 2005 Chevrolet Impala for clues that could shed light on her disappearance.
Being positive "is our only option," Acox said Saturday afternoon ahead of a prayer vigil that evening.
"We're all just trying to keep our spirits up, but it's a challenge," she said.
"This is really taking a toll on us, with every day that passes. We're not sleeping well, we're not eating well," she said.
When Franklin didn't turn up for an important meeting Wednesday morning with her boss at Eli Lilly and Co., where she's a pharmaceutical sales representative, co-workers called family, and family called police. Eli Lilly is based in Indianapolis. Franklin's sales territory covered Chicago's suburbs, her sister said.
Acox said it's unusual for Franklin not to contact her friends or family, leading them all to fear that she didn't leave willingly. Last week, Franklin filed a police report about threatening phone calls she'd received, but she declined to file an order of protection against the alleged offender, a man she'd once dated.
Franklin's car, along with some personal items, was found Friday night near an abandoned building in Hammond, Ind., said Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond. She said the car is being transported to Chicago for forensic and evidence processing.
Several jurisdictions, including Chicago, Hammond, Ind., and the Cook County Sheriff's department are searching for Franklin, Bond said. Divers have also been involved in the search.
Acox said the discovery of the car was heartening because it could yield some clue to Franklin's whereabouts, but "on the other hand, it's still maddening because we do not have (her) back with us."
Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 9/22/2007 06:19:00 PMPermanent Link |
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Saturday, July 07, 2007
Cult of Personality
One of my favorite songs is the late 80's classic Cult of Personality from the once defunct, now re-constituted group Living Colour. A funk-rock groove fronted by the amazing vocals of Corey Glover, the song was - and is - a protest anthem against the mindless glorification of celebrity. I was listening to the song the other day, pondering the lyrics, and couldn't help but think of Paris Hilton and her brood, all lost souls, all constant figures in the media. The newspapers and news shows thrust these overgrown bratlings upon us as lives worth noting, yet from the murmurings on the message boards, the streets, and in the offices, there's an obvious resentment from those of us who are supposed to be worshipping at their altars. Because basically, we're sick of them. At least I know I am. When breakdowns arise from excess instead of the day-to-day travails of striving and trying to earn a living for ourselves and our families, it is hard to garner sympathy for these young woman, Hilton, in particular. And it is equally a travesty that these lives have unrelentingly been pushed in our faces as newsworthy.
So it is a refreshing breath of sanity to learn that at least one news anchor has said enough to the idolatry. MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski said "no" not once, not twice, but three times when told to lead the news with the latest on Paris Hilton. She refused to push the Hilton story before important political news about Iraq (you know that little squirmish which has cost thousands of lives and billions of American dollars). The first time she refused to read the script, Ms. Brzezinski apologized to the viewing audience, noting that she had not chosen to lead with the Hilton story. Her disconcerted co-anchor tried to laugh off the refusal, but she repeated her boycott during the next time slots. The second time she saw that her news manager still had Hilton at the top of the news, Brzezinski asked for a lighter, which was promptly snatched away before she could set the script aflame. The third time, a frustrated Brzezinski simply shredded the script in a nearby paper shredder.
Thanks to YouTube, Ms Brzezinski has become a hero, not only in the States, but worldwide, for her refusal to perpetrate the ridiculous cult of personality that Paris Hilton has become. Noteworthy for nothing more than being born into a wealthy family, Ms. Hilton is a public relations creation that has run amok. She definitely does not deserve a slot above the lives being lost over in Iraq, or even for that matter, the economic news, the local crime news, the weather, the sports or the little anchor bantering in between. In other words, she deserves no news time whatsoever. Yes, she can fill the Hollywood gossip rags, for which she is fair fodder. But let's not attribute unwarranted importance on her antics.
So a hearty heads up to Mika Brzezinski, my hero of the moment.
Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 7/07/2007 04:42:00 PMPermanent Link |
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Saturday, June 16, 2007
So you can tahk de Englis as good as me...
Arnold's dipping his toes in the controversy pool again, but at least he admits as much. Speaking to an audience at the annual convention of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Governator Schwarzenegger volunteered the following advice when asked how to improve the academic performance of Hispanic students: "You've got to turn off the Spanish television set and stay away from Spanish-language television, books and newspapers. You're just forced to speak English, and that just makes you learn the language faster." He also added, "I know this sounds odd and this is the politically incorrect thing to say and I'm going to get myself in trouble. But I know that when I came to this country, I very rarely spoke German to anyone."
Of course, the Hispanic community is a little peezed that Arnold is basically saying to give up their cultural media sources. That would be the news that affects them particularly as well as their entertainment. Hmmm, I'm thinking a Constitutional advocate would have a problem with this. I know inherent in that parchment somewhere is the freedom to partake of your culture - just as long as that partaking doesn't abrogate someone else's freedom.
Yes, being bilingual is an asset - for all of us. And it behooves the English-only speaking population to learn another language because it is becoming obvious that in the next decades, English will not be the primary global language. In another few decades, the international business language could very well be Chinese, Mandarin...or Spanish, even.
So, instead of telling Hispanics to turn off Telenova, Arnold and the rest of us should be peeking in. I hear they have some pretty good shows. After all, Telenova gave us "Betty La Fea," better known to us English speakers as "Ugly Betty."
Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 6/16/2007 07:38:00 AMPermanent Link |
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Thursday, June 07, 2007
Good news for Julie Amero
I first posted about Norwich middle school teacher Julie Amero in February after she was convicted to forty years for supposedly exposing her seventh grade class to pornography. Although it was Amero's students who accessed a non-porn site on which a spyware virus began popping up nude pictures, Amero was prosecuted as though she had deliberately brought up the porn. The prosecutor, David Smith, put on an "expert" from the sheriff's office who testified that the exposure had to be deliberate.
Thankfully, computer experts from around the country rallied on behalf of Amero, and finally convinced a judge that spyware was the culprit, not Ms. Amero. The judge threw out the sentence and ordered a new trial after citing that the state's expert had provided erroneous information about the classroom computer. Smith, facing ridicule, now states that the state will take no position on Amero's new trial, making it likely that Amero will not have to go through a second trial. Hallelulah for common sense.
Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 6/07/2007 05:44:00 PMPermanent Link |
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Friday, June 01, 2007
Boobies in the newsies
We may have come a long way, baby, but hardly far enough, especially when ABC News figures that our figures - or specifically, breasts - are the most newsworthy items about women. As Miranda Spencer at WIMN's Voices points out, if the news has to focus on breasts, why not feature that "Scientists Have Found Four New Breast Cancer Genes" - you know, something that is actually newsworthy
Instead we get a farcical feature story quoting Elisabeth Squires, author of Boobs: A Guide to Your Girls, who offers "sage" advice like this: "We have to remember that while more women are showing more cleavage, you really have to use your breast power responsibly." This, followed by: "The appearance of breasts can help a woman in the workplace." And for the scientific validation: "A recent study showed men photos of women in a workplace with large breasts showing cleavage, medium breasts and small breasts. When asked about who looked most professional and personable, the men chose the women with medium-sized breasts." (Gee, and here I thought it was a woman's skills that actually got measured in the workplace. Hmm, live and learn. By the way, who funded this "study?")
More "newsworthy" advice from Ms. Squires:
"You don't have to be flat-chested to be taken seriously. You just have to be proportionate. For women who are small busted, that may mean a little padding. For well-endowed women, that may mean a minimizer."
And when going to a family function: "This is not the time to show off your girls. Your children should not have to compete with your cleavage for attention." ('Cause you don't want Cousin Joe ignoring little Billy because he's too busy saluting your girls.)
And since pregnancy is such a fun time: "During pregnancy you should celebrate your breasts. For some women, that's the only time they have cleavage. Obviously you don't want to go nuts. But cleavage on a pregnant woman is just different -- live it up a bit."
So you older women don't feel left out: "If a woman of a certain age squeezes her girls together, she'll get the wrinkled, crepelike look. That's not good. But if you're older and you wear a scoop neck and you have beautiful, what the French call decollete, that's great."
Just goes to show that "boobs" are not only "accessories" on a woman's chest; they're too often editorial managers in newsrooms, as well. Like the one who gave the greenlight to this story.
And for the record, the pic above is featured at ABC News - you know - your primary source of serious, up-to-the minute, ground-breaking (and non-sexist) journalism. [Note to self: enter "snark" here.]
Sharon Cullars Coffee Talk at 6/01/2007 11:56:00 PMPermanent Link |
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Tuesday, April 17, 2007
May they rest in peace
Ryan Clark of Martinez, GA
Below are just a few of the names of the victims killed during yesterday's massacre at Virginia Tech. These were people with bright futures ahead of them, or who were teaching the leaders of the future. They were from all walks of life from countries around the world. Some of them were heroes during their last minutes.
They didn't deserve to have their names in print this way. I grieve along with their families.
Ross Abdallah Alameddine, 20, of Saugus, Mass., according to his mother, Lynnette Alameddine.
Ryan Clark (pictured), 22, of Martinez, Ga., biology and English major, according to Columbia County Coroner Vernon Collins.
Daniel Perez Cueva, 21, a native of Peru studying international relations, according to his mother, Betty Cueva.
Kevin Granata, age unknown, engineering science and mechanics professor, according to Ishwar K. Puri, the head of the engineering science and mechanics department.
Caitlin Hammaren, 19, of Westtown, N.Y., a sophomore majoring in international studies and French, according to Minisink Valley, N.Y., school officials who spoke with her family.
Emily Jane Hilscher, a 19-year-old freshman from Woodville, according to Rappahannock County Administrator John W. McCarthy, a family friend.
Liviu Librescu, 76, engineering science and mathematics lecturer, according to Puri.
G.V. Loganathan, 51, civil and environmental engineering professor, according to his brother G.V. Palanivel.
Mary Karen Read, 19, of Annandale, Va. according to her aunt, Karen Kuppinger, of Rochester, N.Y.
