This graphic is going around that I believe is going to frame the narrative that will be pushed forward against President Barack Obama over the course of the 2012 presidential race.

I hope they know that “boy” is a racist sign of insult and disrespect that has been used to belittle African American men since slavery.

So, essentially, in addition to being a narrative of patriotic hawks versus peacenik doves, it is also racially charged, relying on gross racial stereotypes pitting the serious Air Force pilot against the young Barack Obama, casual in an open-collared shirt, a tropical hat, and a smoke.

Firstly, who is PVC?  Secondly, I don’t believe that Rick Perry or his people are responsible for this viral asset.

Personally, I think that the 22-year-old Barack Hussein Obama II looks very cool and the photos reminds me of why the world was so exciting to see such a cool cat, such an intellectual, such a scholar, such an epitome of not only multiculturalism and tolerance, both racial and religious, but also a passionate love and acceptance of Barry, a man who is the product of a global confluence of genes, experiences, education, and influences.

Let’s assume that the signifiers of the term “boy” and the contrast between the serious and earnest Perry and the chillaxed Obama are not racist and this is only about love of country and seriousness of character for a second.

If this is a hawk vs. dove campaign, I hope it backfires because, in 2011, when we’re involved in overt military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya and covert ops in who knows where else, who needs someone even more willing to take up the gauntlet of imperialism than the very hawkish and ambitious president himself — don’t we have a debt to pay down, expenses to reduce, and a domestic responsibility we need to focus on right now?

Can we afford a president who is even more willing to rattle the nation’s sabre? To stoke the fire of fear and xenophobia? I, personally, believe the answer is no. It is essential for everyone to really dig into the heart of Governor Perry, to learn more about what he truly believes, who he truly loves and respects, and, more importantly, who and what he hates.

It will be really interesting to see how all of this shakes out by Tuesday, November 6, 2012.

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• Brief Biography of Barack Obama (socyberty.com)
• The Persistence of the Color Line: Racial Politics and the Obama Presidency (csmonitor.com)
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• The timidity of Ben Bernanke, explained – Federal Reserve – Salon.com (mbcalyn.wordpress.com)
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• Gaddafi’s defeat will not save Obama’s presidency (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
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• Mainstream Media Views Ron Paul a Secondary Character in 2012 Election Narrative: Study (blogs.abcnews.com)
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With regards to tightening our US financial belts, what about the wars and budget-busting NHS money-pit when 60% of Americans read at a 6th grade or below level?

It is  the Art of War by Sun Tsu, from the 6th century BC, that warns us that wars always deplete not only our treasure but also all our global strength, prestige, and leverage.

When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, the men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardour will be damped.  If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardour damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare . . . In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

Sound familiar? A rich country is always better off than a militarily-strong country.

On waging war from Sun Tsu’s The Art of War

Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand li, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armour, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, the men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardour will be damped.

If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardour damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.

The skilful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-waggons loaded more than twice.

Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.

Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.

On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people’s substance to be drained away.

When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions.

With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their incomes will be dissipated; while Government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantlets, draught-oxen and heavy waggons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue.

Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy’s provisions is equivalent to twenty of one’s own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one’s own store.

Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.

Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first.

Our own flags should he substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one’s own strength.

In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.

So many people ask me how I can spend so much time being so out there as a blogger on social media.  Here’s my secret.

My new friend Yoon J Lee told me she might like to start blogging but that she’s too awkward and a little unsure — though an excellent writer.

She perceives my posts as being very much me, in my voice — the person she met in Aspen last week.

Authentic Chris.

While that is indeed true,  Yoon also met world-class-international-conference-of-the-world’s-best-and-brightest-attending Chris Abraham.  Completely me but also the best of me.  When you blog, be 100% yourself but be your best self.

Here’s an analogy I always use:

Blog like you’re at dinner with your parents, your significant other’s parents, with your boss and his wife, with your holy man of choice (priest, vicar, guru, etc), and with someone you’d like to have dinner with, living or dead (for example, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, Jesus, Gandhi, Pope John Paul II, or Winston Churchill — not so much your rock stars — and I am on the fence as to whether one should include Oscar Wilde).

You really don’t lose yourself or your voice. You may indeed share a lot of funny stories and be really funny and sometimes also be provocative — if you’re confident and courageous — but it is important to be always aware that you’re on stage in earshot — and in full attention — of people you respect and who’s opinion you value highly.

Here’s a caveat, however: when you blog and you’re thinking of the table of people you’re blogging for, make sure you choose people you respect and want a continued relationship with — don’t choose people you want to impress!  Why?  Well, everyone hates an over-the-top kiss-up.

People detest networkers, people detest kiss-ups, people detest salespeople, and people abhor folks who are doing a complete song-and-dance snow-job.  Don’t be that guy.

Even if you’re innately profane and despicable, I am sure you don’t act that way when you’re meeting if your boss, greeting your pastor, or breaking bread with your family during the holidays –

Be that guy!

Needed to squeeze a quick walk in on this cool day before I headed over to Miriam’s Kitchen to act as Sous-Chef. What a perfect day for walking and I read some great articles in New York Magazine. Via the Jockular Athletic Blog.

This is an old photo from Ellis Island my mom just handed me.

The file catalogs are old and have country names hand written on them and one is blank, which my mom sees as opportunity and the future — the future unknown. She saw the photo right before I was born and asked the photographer if he might give her a print to share with me.

And today I am seeing it. And inspired.

Ellis Island is where my great grandparent came through to come to the US from Ireland and Hungary and Czechoslovakia and so the freedom of people to come and go based on their hearts, their values, and their families is all so important to me.

Fear of China and Russia? Fear of foreigners and the Islamic world?  Fear of commies and socialists who want to eat our American way of life the same way they’ll rape our women and eat out babies? Jesus!  Listen to yourselves!

With regards China, I guess I might be the only American who isn’t a China-worrier as I grew up in Hawaii, a place where Chinese culture is pretty well woven deeply into the fabric as much more more than US culture. Red gift envelopes and noodle bowls were more normal than anything else.

With regards Russia, I was scared shitless of the Soviet Union during the 80s; however, when I explored Russia a little bit, and the former Soviet Union, in terms of Russia, Estonia, Slovakia, etc, — and even deep into the heart of Russia as a flew to Nepal in 1990, including landing to refuel on a military airfield, I know that I was afraid of a paper tiger.  Yes, there were Nukes but there were no marauding hordes of blood-thirsty killers with The Communist Manifesto in one hand and a Death Wish For Liberty in the other.

To be honest, Russia has never been a prosperous nation and it only collapsed under the unsustainable weight of building, growing, and maintaining a strong and power defense and offense all at the cost of everything else. When I got there, Russia looked a lot like the front yard of that house that has 5 cars in the yard but only one ran, the rest were for parts.  With cracked sidewalks and a mottled burnt lawn — the country was largely not very Tony aside from a couple-few neighborhoods?

Beware the country that cannot feed and care for her own people and consider them to be parasitic entitled blood-suckers and I will show you a country that is sure to implode under its own vacuum.

Call me naive but none of what anyone has said with regards to our loss of liberty, our freedom, our American way of life, our our privacy has been ever forcibly taken from us by external forces — they have only been either willing relinquished by us in service of security and safety or they have been eroded by our own Federal and State governments, especially from January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009.

So, before we start getting all McCarthy all over the place, we need to follow the money and see that the majority of the dangers and threats we experience and fear are not coming from a red menace or fr0m Islam, they’re coming from the debilitating fear, paranoia, and infighting that we’re having within our own borders.

It is seriously easier and simpler to blame others — Islam, illegal immigrants, Russia, China, European Socialism, or terrorism than it is to get our own house in order.  If we don’t get our house in order soon, we’re more likely to have a domestic United States civil war than we are going to have a foreign invasion of our sovereign shores.

I would say we’ll have some sort of civil unrest by nationwide members of the tea party before we as a nation ever become an Islamic Theocratic Socialist state.  If I were a betting man, I would say in 2012-2015 to start.

My friend Richard Laermer believes that President Obama’s lack of physical and visible anger is the direct result of being from Hawaii.

I am from Hawaii. Richard sees lots of similarity between the behavior of people he knows from Hawaii and the president — including me!

Maybe, however I also think it has a little to do with avoiding the “angry black man” label as well… sort of a hybrid.  The question is, why would growing up in Hawaii result in such behavior?

Well, I tried, below, to brainstorm some reasons, though it’s rough.  The long-story-short is that Hawaii is more influenced by the Asian social and cultural mores that state that one must do anything to save face and prevent shaming your opponent, allowing them an “out”  — and your foe must, as well, work hard to protect you from shame as well.

It is not that Hawaii locals, natives, and kama’ainas (localized haoles) don’t get angry, fight, and so forth — but the issue here is about shame.

It is about saving face and allowing your foe an opportunity to save face, too.

We (generally) don’t like to corner anyone — the mentality states that we allow other people to escape from a terrible situation with their pride intact and also demand that we’re allowed to do the same.

It is a little like this in the South as well, I have discovered.

And really WASPY people sort of play by some of these rules.

It is an Asian interpretation of “what goes around comes around” — by never cornering your enemy, you offer the best of both worlds while doing your best to prevent BBS (burnt bridge syndrome).

However, Asians; Hawaii locals, natives, kama’ainas; and the rest are not suckers or fools — this “lack of anger” is only temporary.

If the face-saver realizes that his foe has no desire to be helped and, worse, has not an open hand but a fist, this could get very messy.

So, we’ll see what President Barack Obama does at the end of the day — and what sort of “behind the back” plan he has…

Because, when the whole saving face thing doesn’t work out, the extension of this strategy is to stab your foe in the back.

And so ends my deep peering into my crystal coconut.

One of the things I had to get used to when living in Berlin was that everyone assumed that every meal was a Dutch treat.

That every meal — even proper dates — were split.  I wondered where “Dutch treat” and “going Dutch” came from and here’s what Wikipedia suggests:

The phrase “going Dutch” probably originates from Dutch etiquette. In the Netherlands, it is not unusual to pay separately when going out as a group.

However, in modern Berlin, Wikipedia again gets it perfectly:

In most of northern and central Europe the practice of splitting the bill is common …  Some women object to this or even find it offensive so it is a judgment call. Younger urban women especially tend not to accept men paying for them; or will in turn insist to pay for the next dinner or drink.

I wasn’t aware of this at first. There were objections when I offered to pay and sometimes insisted — until I learned a very essential phrase:

Ich möchte dich einladen

This means, literally, “I would like to invite you.”  You use this phrase well in advance of actually grabbing the meal, drinks, snacks, or anything together; though it can also be just before.  This is not just a formality or magic words, it is important to get the answer as well.

But please do not wait until just before the check.  This is something you need to do in advance so that the person you’re to dine out can consider the invitation and decide whether you’re being a sexist pig, controlling, manipulative, or honestly generous.

If your friend, your paramour, your sweetie, or even your work friends accept, then you’re to pay the entire ticket quietly and without boasting about it.

By the way, “ich möchte dich einladen” is not a romantic phrase, it can — and often is — said between business associates and friends — though I guess you could play is romantically with a wink if you intend the get together to include steamy adoring looks across the red-checkered tablecloth.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful.

PS: In Germany, the tip is negotiated with the waiter or waitress (der Kellner, die Kellnerin) at point of sale, not left on the table after.  So, let’s say the bill is 27 Euros and you liked the service — you would tell the waiter to keep 30 Euros out of your 50 Euro note, or just ask for 20 Euros back — there is no sneaking away with a low tip in German, you need to look the waiter in her or his eyes.

PPS: In Germany, 10% is the customary maximum tip, with much less being commonplace. German wait staff are paid professionals in Germany and the tip you leave is actually a gratuity and not the mandatory US 20%

PPPS: Also, when you are a waiter in the US and you complain about how cheap German are when they eat at your restaurant — please consider the fact that Germans don’t assume that you’re actually on spec at the restaurant and that all your profit comes from undeclared and un-taxed cash tips and that they only tap a maximum of 10% to their wait staff, and generally closer to 5% or so.

Ellie Brown wrote a short blog post over at Marketing Conversation in support of the good work by our client, Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial Foundation.

Currently, they’re raise money to make sure that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the civil rights movement, makes it onto the National Mall in Washington, DC:

At a time when kids consider gun-toting athletes and cracked-out celebrities heroes and role models, it’s refreshing to hear that a true hero, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is finally getting the official memorial he deserves.  Abraham Harrison’s client, the Washington D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial Foundation, is pushing for the last few million dollars needed to finish the project.

Over $106 million of the $120 million has been raised through corporate support as well as private donations from us ordinary folk.  The Foundation has devised some creative and easy ways to add your contribution including an MLK Toolbar that donates $.05 for every search you perform using the toolbar.

To find out more about the history of the Memorial, its on-going construction and ways to donate here: http://mlkmemorialnews.org/

“Abraham & Harrison’s unique approach to PR is refreshing. It was exactly what we needed to take our market exposure to the next level. Working within a prescribed budget, they were able to deliver results that both exceeded our expectations and inspired new opportunities for PR. I have no doubt that we will come to Abraham & Harrison again for our PR needs” — Josh Grotstein, CEO, Motionbox, Inc.

Additional testimonials via Abraham Harrison and Marketing Conversation