Today is St Joseph's day 3/19/15
Primarily celebrated in New Orleans, its a reminder of the cooperation between Native Americans and the slave and freedmen (before the natives were almost totally wiped out, of course).  Its not really important to much of anyone but myself--however, my grandmother was Cherokee and my granfather Choctaw, and I was born by the res in Red Oak Oklahoma.
So the holiday appeals to me for personal cultural reasons.  It also appeals to me because its a piece of LEGIT Mardi Gras culture that goes back to the pre "Girls Gone Wild" era.  So its a reminder that the French Quarter and all the bullshit frat/sorority/drunken douchebaggery is NOT the real thing.  
Like a lot of modern Americans so removed from their original roots or whose roots are so mixed as to be indistinguishable, thoughout my life I've acquired my own cultural ideals (including holidays and celebrations).  Although its enough for a separate blog (or book really), a lot of people do that, and also choose their own 'family' as they go along.  That's what someone is referring to when they say "you have two families-the one youre born with and the one you make".  Anyways, from a squat in a condemned building in New Orleans, I acquired this holiday and continue to keep it alive. I hope I am successful in passing it to my family as well.
So, put a feather in your hair to support the various chiefs of the 'tribes' (crews) in New Orleans or just take a second to google some history.  Either way, I hope you take a moment to celebrate a good, non-halmark holiday.

CORRUPTION + WEALTH = US CONGRESS
As far as wealth goes, it can also often be an indicator of corruption--or the extent/degree thereof.
In the entire US Congress -the House of Representatives and the Senate-the wealthiest members-Darrell Issa & Micheal McCaul are worth btw 250-300 million-and that's definately a good indicator of corruption.  For example, McCaul's so wealthy primarily because his wife inherited 99% of their money as a child of Clear Channel Communications' founder.  No real surprise he's consistently supported consolidation in the communications industry and using the FCC to basically protect and guarantee the profitability of the few major communications companies..but in the  National"People's" Congress of China-the members don't even pretend to be unconcerned and the combined wealth of Issa and McCaul BOTH wouldn't even count in the top 100 of wealthiest members. So that indicates that China's government in general is corrupt, not just one or two or even twenty-members of it. Again using McCaul as an example of corruption, granted he's a pretty clear and obvious one, in China he'd not just have a family that made him wealthy that was concentrated in a particular industry..he's simply own part of that industry. In fact, in places that corrupt-where persons speaking out on behalf of women's rights are jailed as recently as last month-the fear and control that a member of that corrupt regime exercises would allow them to simply walk into any company and just take whatever they want.

Today, the 12th of February 2015,
 is 25 -TWENTY FIVE -years since Nelson Mandela was released from prison in South Africa.  I remember vaguely the event, and the news coverage showed millions of exuberant people all over the world.  They seemed to be saying "If Mandela can be released in the last holdout of state-sanctioned racism (Apartheid), then everything can change!"
Of course, today one immediately asks "has everything changed?..or.has anything changed?".  The answer is both "absolutely" and "not really".  This is because racism isn't ONE problem.  It's a million, or more exactly, 12.7 billion problems.
So there's not ONE answer, and the question has to be asked again tomorrow.  What I mean is a person can choose to hire a black woman one day, and then tell his golf partner that 'they' shouldn't be allowed on the course the next.  The first decision doesn't give them a 'lifetime non-racist' stamp, and they are equally guilty regardless of their earlier actions in the latter instance.
The real attraction of racism (and sexism and many other 'isms') is the ease it provides any diliemma, problem, action, issue, or decision.  It's so much easier to say 'everyone who works at the McDonald's in our neighborhood is black even though no one in our neighborhood is black, because the black people belong there.'  As opposed to asking oneself:  'why are these people willing to travel so far for minimum wage?', and the hundred other questions that scenario raises.  Obviously, the hardest to ask is : "Why am I comfortable with this?" or "Why don't I ask if this IS questionable?". 
The most insidious route this easy answer takes is conceptual.  Its much, much easier to think that all of any group a person might identify as a group by such readily and easily apparent attributes as relative skin tone are legitimately conceptualized of as one unit.  If this is the way a person thinks, then they can avoid thousands of dilemmas, questions, issues, and having to change their own preconceptions.  A person employing this paradigm might think "Well, those employees are at McDonalds because they are less capable.  They are less capable because their skin tone is much darker than mine."  It's easier to address societal issues that a person faces on a daily basis by conceptualizing society as comprised of a few  units (White, Immigrant, Religious, etc) than understanding that a society such as this one is comprised of billions of complicated individuals which contravene group incorporation merely by exisiting in reality.  The latter understanding is more difficult.  It's that simple.
Perhaps I could compact all this ideation into a few phrases:
"Racism continues to exist because its a shortcut to thinking and people are too lazy to take the long way."
However, in the end, the ability of the same people of the world to address this problem in discussion amongst themselves exists in the form it does today because of the sacrifice of other people like Mandela...and every person who thinks of him today or thinks of what his struggle meant--is a success for that struggle he fought for so long.

No idea y got this n image search for "im hot sign" but its absurd and stupid..so similar in ideology if not semiology.  I mean, really? yea, youre a spoiled, incredibly overpaid..did I mention spoiled?..

There should be an acknowledged international sign language sign for "hot"..the spitting on finger then touching your ass thing for "im hot" doesnt work for men at all.  Unless they're REALLY effemminate.  And it doesn't really work for "you're hot" if you point at that girl then go through the motions.
She'll just think you're saying "Hey Girl, Im super-gay!"
Which, by the way, is COMPLETELY the opposite of what you'd have been trying to communicate.
I'm taking suggestions.  So far we have :
-sticking finger in mouth, then taking out, shaking, and bringing in front of eyes and making a 'surprised face' (thus acting out 'Its you giving me a fever' or 'yure hot like a fever')
-sticking out the foot, touching toe to ground, then acting as if toe has been burned  (thus saying 'Im walking on lava' or 'you're making me walk on lava'?  id walk on lava for you?..hard to see the thought behind that submission)
So, LOTS of help URGENTLY NEEDED!
ps-this is because there are a couple of really superhot girls I see when Im running every day and they are driving their cars wherever.