Jeff Sherman from OnMilwaukee.com did an interview with yours truly around the time Brett Favre retired(?)  I remember... because I was still overcome with emotion.  Probably wasted emotion in light of Favre's recent ramblings... But I digress... The interviewer, Jeff, was trying to probe the mind of James T. Harris.

Scary, I know.

Anyway, you can catch the interview here. Thanks, Jeff!

Well, time to go cliff diving! See ya soon.

(Click to enlarge)

This spot served as my office space for the last week or so. Nice, huh?

So far, so GREAT...

Except for the five hour odyessy that involved me almost dying on the beach after eating an incredibly delicious seafood dish that was piled high with crab!  Folks, I thought I was a goner. It's hard to tell what was worse. The allergic reaction, the ride to the hospital, or the hospital itself!

Holy Third World, Batman!

The sights and sounds of suffering in that place were worse than what I was going through. After battling with a skeptical doctor who insisted that my spell was drug related, I did finally get an antihistamine shot in the ass.... I checked out shortly after checking in -- on my own power, with my wife and good friend by my side. No more shellfish for me.

'nuf said.

Platinum-selling R&B artist, Akon, is a world class fake. He built his reputation (street cred) on the time he spent in prison, yearning to be free, and for the various illicit activities that he was supposedly involved in.

He sold millions! It's the culture stupid!

Recently, I had a discussion with a caller on The National Conversation radio show about the rap culture. We were discussing Eminem and whether or not he should be invited to sing at Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration. I said no. The caller said that I was making a big deal out of nothing, that rap was just entertainment and that rappers didn’t believe in what they rapped about, that they were just entertainers.

That’s what came out of one side of his mouth.

With the other side, the caller freely called rap a movement, a lifestyle, and admitted that he had the phrase “Thug Life” (The Hate you Gave) tattooed on his arm. I’m confused. That’s entertainment?

Who is the “you?” I asked him this question thinking he would say "the Man" or “ol’ whitey” or something. I was wrong. The “you” was family, community, friends? Huh?

Holy culture of self-hate, Batman!

If perception is reality, then “the hate you gave” is the ultimate excuse for failure! Only in post modern America (still the richest country in the world) can a man believe in the philosophy of self-hate in which the more debased you are, the more you celebrate depravity, the more time you spend in jail, the more kids you sire but don't take care of.....

The more respected you are, the more music you sell, the more you lie about it, the bigger you become.

Thug Life. This gives a whole new spin to “We Shall Overcome.”

Sixty five bucks and change... That's how much it cost me to fill up my minivan, man! Sixty-five dollars!!! For the first time I am very conscious of the trips I take and the errands I run. Is this what it feels like to be European?

Yuck.

This is why the rest of the world drive small pieces of crap, and now they are pushing mini-matchbox eco-cars on us! Enviro-friendly Japanese hybrids are not the answer -- gas guzzling is in our DNA. Paying more than $2.49 a gallon is un-American. It is our patriotic duty to pay less than any other country (except Saudi Arabia) for oil. Every penny the cost of gas goes up, is a loss of American freedom.

(Hey Uncle Ed, is the high price of gas part of the "price of freedom" too?)

I believe Common Council president Willie Hines will sail smoothly to another term. The same, however, cannot be said of County Board chairman, Lee Holloway.

Why?

Both men are black, both are Democrat. However, one is a crony, a slumlord, ethically challenged and weak, while the other is moral, competent, good and has a vision for the city.

Yeah, I said it. Even if Hines is, on occasion, a little ideologically misguided. Still he is the kind of politician who will never bring shame and embarrassment on his office. So here’s the question: Which style of leadership reflects best on Milwaukee? Which style of government do we want over the next few years?

In good time, I believe Alderman Hines will be the mayor of Milwaukee (I just need a few more years to work on him). We may not agree on many things but there is one thing that I know for certain. Willie Hines is a man of integrity. He is measured,  meticulous and good. After decades of having to choose between “tree shaking” activism and corrupt thug cronyism, it’s time for something new... something different, something boring yet effective.

Willie Hines’ style is boring. Yeah, I said it, you will never hear Alderman Hines say something stupid like “Take yo ass to church!” (He actually chastised me for using ass and church in the same sentence. Oh well, I’m provocative... and stupid...he’s not.) But you will find him in church on Sunday and in the community the rest of the week. And if you visit “da hood,” you will also see the legacy of revitalization that is taking place in his district.

So, now that McGee is a memory and Holloway will soon be a castaway, maybe the city can embrace “change we can believe in” with Milwaukee’s own version of the Chocolate Jesus.

Wow. That was wrong. See what I mean? Alderman Hines doesn’t fit the mold of a charismatic, tree shaking, civil-self-righteous, self-aggrandizing, sleazy politician...

Good!

What would happen if John McCain, stumping in a small American town, said the following:

“You go into some of these inner cities like St. Louis and Indianapolis, and like a lot of big cities in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone for now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And it’s not surprising then they get angry, they cling to their semi-automatics and glocks or to black nationalism or hatred for white people who they think have oppressed them or buy into racist conspiracy theories as a way to explain their frustrations.”

Ah... How would McCain’s words be interpreted?

My father-in-law’s surgery was successful. He fell and broke his clavicle and hip bone a little over a week ago and has had to undergo two surgeries over the last week. Not an easy road for a man in his late 70’s but he’s fighting the good fight.

The same can not be said for the young man who lays dead in the room across the hall. He was the victim of a drive-by, he took a bullet to the head. You probably heard about it, maybe not.

My wife was there. In the hospital, right across the hall. She is still shook up. She didn’t know the young man, doesn’t know the family, but she feels so very, very bad.

In one room lays a man who lived a full life, took a spill but is surviving, hanging on, fighting to live. In the next room lies a young man less than one third the old man’s age, dead, murdered, senseless.

It’s the culture, stupid.

Time of death -- 10:18 p.m. My wife can’t let it go. She is analytical by nature. She has to piece it together, figure it out... process. Stuck in her head are the images. The sights and sounds of a culture that she does not know, cannot understand, cannot fathom. She sees the doctors, in action... then idle... always professional. She sees the relatives and friends... so many... so sad... in disarray. Later, she surfs the net... trying to find understanding, find knowledge, a reason...

There is nothing but senselessness,  it’s hopelessness.

It’s the culture...

David Zach is a great friend and he lives right here in little ol' Milwaukee. He is a futurist and an international speaker... I'm just a futurist and a national speaker... for now.

Anyway.

Check out the article on Zach in Fast Company and if you are ready to meet one of Milwaukee's most influential futurists, check out his blog.

If you ever get to meet him in person ask if you can see his condo (he's going to love me for that)... art deco, high tech, beautiful! He's designed the perfect blend of the past, the future and well, like now.

Fast Company... Dude!

Congratulations.

How long before this asinine idea makes its way to Milwaukee? When is the last time any of you rode a bus in Milwaukee County? Under any circumstances, would you pull out your lap top on a city bus!

No.

I pull "“my precious"” (Mac) out in airports is because airport terminals are the most secure places on the planet.

However...

A friend of mine (who choses to ride the city bus) told me I must be smoking dope. He says he uses his lap top, and has seen people using their laptops, on the bus all the time! He said that using a laptop on the bus is "completely and totally safe" and that "I am giving into stereotypes..."

I think he may be right. So what! Bad idea!

Look, don't pull your Mac out on a bus. (If you use a Dell, I guess it would be o.k. seeing no one would want to steal a Windows based computer anyway.) However, no tax payer funded WiFi. That's where I draw the line!

"You look in his room, he's got cable TV, DVR, DVD, PlayStation . . . everything." So why did the 16-year-old son of this hard-working inner city mother go around robbing Marquette students by gunpoint with his friends? Eugene Kane didn’t answer the question in his article today, so I will.

There are four reasons why the 16-year-old “with everything” turned into a thug: 1.) He didn’t work for his stuff, 2.) He has no respect for his mom, 3.) He doesn’t fear his dad and 4.) He doesn’t know or fear God.

"Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

Romans 1:28-32 (The Bible)

You can’t fear what you don’t know. Many people think fear is always a bad thing, but fear actually keeps us out of trouble. Fear can be equated to awe, reverence and respect. Because this young man did not fear God, he did not shun evil. (Job 1:8.) No more societal excuses, please. Once we were a people who knew Scripture and tried to live by it. Play Stations and DVD players is not the answer.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.