There is little doubt that the contestants in most beauty pageants are stunning. They present themselves as people with diverse interests, they predictably they say all the right things, love children and koala bears. They’re almost always tall and slim, with long hair, and high cheek bones. They are young.

It doesn’t take very long to observe that Miss Universe is a clone. The shame is that there is almost never a dark skinned representative from countries when there is a light skinned alternative. It’s cool that they represent their countries, but a shame that they don’t..

Miss Universe is not about universal representation at all, it’s about aggregating the Anglo Saxon definition of beauty extracted from all over the world, and then parading it as the overarching standard of beauty. They are slender, ivory, 120 pound cogs in a large and dark propaganda machine. A capitalist machine, sure, but on what is it fueled?

Beautiful they are. Stunning, in fact. But they are not universal. They are not representative – not of people – not of beauty.

As we speak (I write and you read – assuming some currency), Japan is likely gathering up a $200M ransom to pay ISIS in exchange for two of its citizens who have found their way to Syria. And by “found their way to Syria”, I largely mean, “went”. Still, this reminds me of scenarios that have played out publicly in recent times and that were also written about recently. Many governments, those in Europe and elsewhere, routinely pay for the release of their people to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Yet, others, like the United States hold fast to the tagline, “We don’t negotiate with terrorists.” This is on its face false (consider the economics and bartering around hostages swaps), and does not require much wordsmithing or redefinition; but in the specific instance of paying ransoms to ISIS to prevent beheadings, perhaps they have held true. But why?

As a parent, would you hold such a hardline? Afterall, paying a ransom for your child is likely to finance other crimes, possibly even compounded crimes like more kidnappings for more ransoms – if only the world could be lucky as to have such one hit wonders. So, unless that argument is false to you on the micro and individual level, and you would pay for your child, what is the difference on the macro and governmental level? Should governments not pay ransoms, and then stipulate that their citizens refrain from being the “storm chasers” of terrorism?

This appears to be even more a matter of ego than principle, because what sum is more important than preservation of innocent human life? Is it the sum of monies being requested? Is it plausible that United States, Israel, or German governments would refrain from paying a ransom of $1 per hostage to guarantee their freedoms? Is $1 too much to pay, or is life cheaper on balance? That seems unlikely to be the case. That is too ridiculous to be the case. Therefore, if you would pay $1 to have them come home, the argument stops being about values and starts being about value. Somewhere between $1 and $200M (or whatever the asking price) is the tipping point, because the governments would likely pay the $1 or $10 or even $1K for a release. Moreover, the life in question would almost certainly determine the extent of principled treatment and economic flexibility. Japan appears to be leaning towards the payment, as would a country like Switzerland which seems to pay tens of millions per annum to secure the release of its citizens.

What would you do?

Today’s Wall Street Journal contained an article with the same title as this post. In summary, how to project intelligence:

Behaviors people use to look intelligent:
1. Putting on a serious facial expression.
2. Holding hands and arms still.
3. Using big words and complex sentences.
4. Moving faster than others around them.

Behaviors others look for when judging who’s smart:
1. Having a self-confident expression
2. Being responsive in conversations, nodding and gesturing.
3. Speaking in a pleasant expressive voice.
4. Using clear language.

Behaviors people use that actually make them look smart:
1. Looking at others while speaking
2. Standing or sitting up straight
3. Using a middle initial.
4. Wearing glasses.

I think that these last two are pretty silly, but understandable to an extent.

One of the biggest aspects of self-confidence developed in my career and in life, is freely admitting when I don’t know something and asking questions intended to clarify and penetrate. The more I learn and come to know, the confident I am making those concessions and admissions; and clearly the more I come to know when people explain things. I enjoy the process, but as a part of it I also try to weed through the hollow sounds that some people make to get to the ways that they actually think. Words are simply a screen – they either shield emptiness or are an enticement and avenue to much more (even if things aren’t perfectly organized behind there). Those words could be standing between you and paradise, with a few penetrating questions serving as the key. That’s what “smart” looks like to me.

What are some of the smartest people you know like?

While people the world over are claiming to be “Charlie” via the en vogue “Je suis Charlie”, over 2,000 Africans died in terrorist attacks in Nigeria. This week. Over the same period that 17 people died in France – the ones you’ve been hearing all about. To suggest that the coverage is imbalanced, where it even exists for the Africans (a significant percentage of whom were women and children) would be an understatement.. You can decide on the reasons without any suggestions from me..

Have you ever watched someone provoke a dog? Was it one that was already agitated, or not? In the end, aren’t they always agitated? Scared or angry, a provoked animal responds predictably and dangerously. What about a person? Have you ever seen a person provoked, especially over time?

The reaction of the provoked is not always, or even usually, defensible because it often ratchets in excess of the insult to be even more egregious. Yet, it is often an avoidable consequence. There tend to be multiple bad actors in a bad situation from whom and from which we should learn. It is never inappropriate (or too early) to criticize the dead if such honesty could save more lives, and in the short term.

Today’s news about the murders in France has not yet fully developed, but should remind us that clearly certain behaviors can be provoked, and others mitigated. Why go into a bad area, late at night flashing money? Why talk crap to someone you know could beat you up or will at least try? Why keep doing something that your boss already told you a bunch of times not to do? Participative blame lies at the feet of the institution and those running it when they so plainly dared Pro-Islamist radicals to attack them in France. They have also been hypocritical and uneven in their ridicule.

If your office has already been shot at, firebombed, publicly threatened and you continue to thumb your nose at the threat even taunting those who threaten for not following through, what do you expect? Freedom is considerably more than doing and saying whatever we want. Death begets sympathy, but arrogance begets death. In stating back in 2012 that he would “prefer to die than be silenced” someone would have done the Charlie Hebdo Editor a favor in reminding him of the basic characteristics of death..

The most entertaining part of my morning thus far has been watching the family dog sleep and engage in whatever dream based activity that is causing her legs and ears to twitch. I hope that she is having fun running through fields of bacon, and not having the dog equivalent of a plane crash dream. Watching dogs stretch is also awesome.

Sometimes fun feels like work.. I think I’d better get up and get dressed. Happy 2015 to those of you already putting in work.. #nassaubahamas #2015

No vacation is worth it unless they tell you that the flight is oversold and you don’t have a seat, but then you get a seat (yay!) on an aisle (not yay!) behind a crying baby (definitely not yay!).

Maybe he/she is as hungry and sleepy as I am. I’m also next to a woman eating a delicious looking and smelling breakfast. “It’s delicious”, she confirmed. In other good news, I’m not wearing a wet diaper… Or a dry one. And I’m going to Nassau.
#yay #nassau

I had a few thoughts to share as a precursor to the video and I thought about sharing my take on the message – how it affected me today. I’ll pass on that. Art is best expressed by virtue of the personal meaning bestowed upon it, and the inculcation of it, according to who you are. Beyoncé took me to church today..

Be who you are..