I'm not sure I even have to say anything on this one

Gives new meaning to getting a house "on time"

by Peter Murphy

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Poor punctuality is such a brake on Ivory Coast's economic development that the West African country has come up with a novel way to combat tardiness: win a house if you demonstrate you can turn up on time.

Backed by President Laurent Gbagbo and devised by a local public relations firm, "Punctuality Night" kicked off at eight o'clock sharp Saturday night, rewarding business people and civil servants for exceptional timekeeping.

Pitched with the slogan "'African time' is killing Africa, let's fight it," its organizers hope to heighten awareness of how missed appointments, meetings or even late buses cut productivity in a region where languid tardiness is the norm.

Legal adviser Narcisse Aka, winner of what the organizers hope will be an annual event, is so unusually good at being punctual that his colleagues call him "Mr White Man's Time."

"You have the impression of being an extra-terrestrial because you are with people who consider that being late is quite normal," said Aka, who clinched the top of the nine prizes awarded, a $60,000 villa.

Organizers made unannounced spot checks at the workplaces of 30 shortlisted nominees in the run-up to the event to check their punctuality credentials and will soon offer a Web page on which people can name and shame tardy public servants.

"Being on time here is rare. The problem is it's such a habit, we're used to it," said Abou Zounglas, waiting for customers at his roadside watch repair stall in Abidjan.

More than a decade after he left office, people still talk with awe of how former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara would make early morning checks in civil servants' offices to catch late comers, making him both friends and foes.

But if anyone truly is conscious of the idea that time is money, it is surely Abidjan's impatient, horn-honking taxi drivers trying to cram as many trips as possible into a shift.

"We're in a hurry to drop one customer off and pick up another to make money," said Adama Sangare at the wheel of one of the city's thousands of orange cabs, ushering his next customer to get in quickly.

hat tip to CYBT

Something smells....

...it's your Sox. Go Tribe.

Remembering

Moxie's Theme Song

For the plane, for the bus, for bedtime

Naked: Black Women Bare All about Their Skin, Hair, Hips, Lips, and Other Parts by Ayana Byrd

How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else by Michael Gates Gill

The Starter Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer

Feels like the crowd is sayin'....

Even Sinead O'Connor has Brit's back.

AND "Gimme More" is kicking ass on the Billboard charts.

"It's Britney, bitch" indeed.

Songs I'm ashamed of liking

Kanye's cocky and uses the word, "dyke" in his lyrics. But man...those beats. It's like the new "Eye of the Tiger" in the way it gets you pumped up. Plus, he samples Daft Punk and that gives him super mad crossover cred.

Here's the Daft Punk original song (not original video) for your listening enjoyment.


Then, that PCD of ambiguous ethnic origin, Nicole "how-do-you-spell-or-pronounce-her-last-name" Scherzinger has this hot solo single and the video is completely anti-fem. It starts with a stylized gang rape attempt for crying out loud. And T.I.'s lyrics....someone call Kim Gandy at NOW. *sigh* But the song is catchy! I'm sorry.

Um...ok.

Nike unveils special shoes for Native Americans. Apparently after years of research they have a shoe designed for the contours of the Native American foot.

Is Harvard a charity?

Most donations go to institutions that serve the rich; they shouldn't be fully tax-deductible.
By Robert B. Reich
October 1, 2007
LA Times

This year's charitable donations are expected to total more than $200 billion, a record. But a big portion of this impressive sum -- especially from the wealthy, who have the most to donate -- is going to culture palaces: to the operas, art museums, symphonies and theaters where the wealthy spend much of their leisure time. It's also being donated to the universities they attended and expect their children to attend, perhaps with the added inducement of knowing that these schools often practice a kind of affirmative action for "legacies."

I'm all in favor of supporting the arts and our universities, but let's face it: These aren't really charitable contributions. They're often investments in the lifestyles the wealthy already enjoy and want their children to have too. They're also investments in prestige -- especially if they result in the family name being engraved on the new wing of an art museum or symphony hall.

It's their business how they donate their money, of course. But not entirely. Charitable donations to just about any not-for-profit are deductible from income taxes. This year, for instance, the U.S. Treasury will be receiving about $40 billion less than it would if the tax code didn't allow for charitable deductions. (That's about the same amount the government now spends on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which is what remains of welfare.) Like all tax deductions, this gap has to be filled by other tax revenues or by spending cuts, or else it just adds to the deficit.

I see why a contribution to, say, the Salvation Army should be eligible for a charitable deduction. It helps the poor. But why, exactly, should a contribution to the already extraordinarily wealthy Guggenheim Museum or to Harvard University (which already has an endowment of more than $30 billion)?Awhile ago, New York's Lincoln Center had a gala supported by the charitable contributions of hedge-fund industry leaders, some of whom take home $1 billion a year. I may be missing something, but this doesn't strike me as charity. Poor New Yorkers rarely attend concerts at Lincoln Center.

It turns out that only an estimated 10% of all charitable deductions are directed at the poor. So here's a modest proposal. At a time when the number of needy continues to rise, when government doesn't have the money to do what's necessary for them and when America's very rich are richer than ever, we should revise the tax code: Focus the charitable deduction on real charities.

If the donation goes to an institution or agency set up to help the poor, the donor gets a full deduction. If the donation goes somewhere else -- to an art palace, a university, a symphony or any other nonprofit -- the donor gets to deduct only half of the contribution.

Robert B. Reich, author of "Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life," was secretary of Labor under President Clinton.

This won't last long

LeBron on SNL (gross) shines some light on Cleveland....

The Tribe clinches Central...

...and now RTA is one of the best transit systems in North America.

Schweet.