I haven't posted anything new on here in a few days, so here goes.

Just some quick thoughts on things that have been on my mind lately. These are my own thoughts and are not necessarily fact-checked and/or otherwise vetted:

1. Why is President Obama proposing a REDUCTION in the corporate tax rate? if anything the top corporate tax rate needs to be increased. Companies are sitting on trillions of dollars and hiring has not increased by any huge measure since the recession was declared over - in fact, companies such as Proctor and Gamble are still announcing layoffs.

An increase in the corporate tax rate, say to something like 50 percent, would raise millions upon millions to bolster needed services in this economy, such as:
- healthcare
- job creation initiatives
- relief for homeowners struggling to pay mortgages
- food stamps
- college tuition


Other ways to increase revenue:
- Close loopholes
- Make US companies pay taxes on revenue from international operations
- Implement a financial transaction tax

Be reminded that the Scandinavian countries have taxation at about half their GDP and no one really complains about the high taxes - because they get so much more for the taxes they pay in.

2. The Supreme Court may rule on affirmative action programs at colleges and universities later this year. My opinion on affirmative action (and yes, I did benefit from such programs at the collegiate level) is that there was a clear and unmistakable historical need in the past for these programs to exist - a need which, contrary to what many people think, has NOT gone away entirely. People of color are still woefully underrepresented in our nation's higher educational system. People of color are still the majority of people living in poverty, and people of color are still a large part of the prison population.

I don't know about you, but I feel that something is terribly wrong when more Black men are in prison than are enrolled in our nation's top colleges and universities. If the reverse were true, think of the impact that would have on society as a whole.

My question to opponents of affirmative action, the one who always ask "Why should my generation have to suffer because of the mistakes of previous generations?" is:

1. What is the current state of access to higher education TODAY among minorities and low-income people? Can such groups easily gain access to a university if they are academically qualified to be admitted?

2. Are all students able to take advantage of the community college system to help them prepare to transfer to a four-year university once they get their associate's degree?

3. What kind of job are our public high schools doing to prepare kids for college, or for a vocational career in the skilled trades (because competent people are also needed in the trades)?

If the answer to these questions, after serious fact-finding and analysis, cannot be a 100% yes, then affirmative action programs must be retained, and I would argue, expanded. Let ethnicity and race be one of several factors (including location, school district, income level of the family, GPA, test scores) evaluated in the case of each student.

"But there are not enough spaces in the best universities for all students who wish to get in", you may say. My answer: why isn't the higher educational system expanding to meet the demand? In the state of Texas, there are only a handful of "Tier One" research universities, the ones students want to attend the most.

1. Build and open at least one new "Tier One" research school every 15 to 20 years.

2. Expand programs such as distance and online learning, through the traditional schools as well as programs such as Western Governors University. Let this happen nationwide. A student in California or Nevada or Arizona should be able to live in California or Nevada or Arizona and attend and receive a degree from a school such as Texas or Michigan or Notre Dame ONLINE, as an out-of-state student, without having to set foot in Austin or Ann Arbor or South Bend.

A princess skips town

Pop and R&B diva Whitney Houston has died. Another talent has left us way too soon.

Read the coverage from TMZ. They're ahead of most major news outlets as usual.

Whitney Houston's singing of the national anthem in Super Bowl XXV so many years ago now, set the standard.

It's very sad when fame and the pressures that come with it seem to overcome those who bring the most joy and happiness to the public.

Thank you, Whitney for blessing us with your talent. You will always be loved and remembered.

And as I always say, it's never goodbye, but see ya later.

Quick thoughts and opinion

ADVISORY: These are very quick thoughts based on what I have read and heard in the news the last few days. They are not meant as factual reporting, but as my semi-instant opinion, and my recollection on what I have heard is not exact. I have not taken the time to research or fact-check these statements, so some details may be incorrect.


These statements are subject to further editing, clarification and/or revision at my discretion.

The religious right is putting a full court press on the president, and it will backfire.

1. The backlash surrounding the Susan G. Komen decision to stop funding to Planned Parenthood - and subsequent reversal and resignation of top person, shows that there is overwhelming mainstream support for Planned Parenthood, and its overall mission for low-cost healthcare. Donations to PP exponentially increased in the wake of the decision, and many longtime Komen supporters, angered by the decision, vowed never to wear another pink ribbon. Some local Komen chapters distanced themselves from the national decision, with some local chapter presidents even resigning in protest.

It was revealed that the decision, which at first was spun to seem neutral, was deliberately designed to single out Planned Parenthood.

2. The furor regarding the mandate in Obamacare for hospitals owned by faith-based organizations to provide contraception will prove to backfire, as, by some accounts, over 80% of Catholic women support contraception. My feeling is this: if churches, like the Catholic church, want to be in the business of running hospitals and providing healthcare coverage to the public, including patients and employees, and they choose not to limit their services to members of the faith, then they must be held accountable to secular law, and not pick and choose which parts of secular law they must or will follow. Rick Santorum is trying to capitalize on this, and his wins in the three midwestern primary states this week seem to indicate that there are a lot of right-wing evangelicals who neither like Romney or Newt. Bottom line: Santorum is unelectable because he is a hard-line Catholic fundamentalist and very few sane and sensible people on a national basis will vote for him.

America is a secular nation, and any attempts at evangelicals or Catholics at creating a "Taliban for Jesus" will be fought vigorously against.

Call for interested people to connect with me

Here are some very fast thoughts. My apologies for the loose, haphazard structure, but I need to get this out fast this morning.

I am taking steps to jumpstart my graphic design career this year, and I want to again tap into the power of the Internet, social media and the "crowdsourcing" paradigm to do so. The economy is showing clear signs of some sort of improvement and I'm thinking now is the time to resume my thoughts, and resume my planning, on how to become a successful design entrepreneur.

----

I am interested in having a branding and graphic design practice of some kind. I cannot help getting the model of a design studio, with a full staff of people, out of my head, and I think that something like that can be done somehow on a virtual basis.

I tried starting this a couple of years back but the flight just could not get off the ground.

I recently established a new website,

www.msreeddesign.com

and have partnered with a new business development/virtual assistant via Freelancer.com (I'll keep you posted on how that goes - might get a few interesting assignments out of this).

---

Here's part of what I'm needing:

A running conversation and/or comments of the "pick your brain" variety with some seasoned design professionals.

****Looking for folks/alumni associated with the top NYC/SF/Chicago/Los Angeles/London, etc., branding firms like Landor, Lippincott, SiegelGale and the like.

What I want to know:

- What makes a successful branding firm truly successful?

- How good does a sales/new business person need to be? How do you effectively get GOOD clients (the ones who buy into YOUR vision and therefore make it easy for you to buy into theirs)?

- Do I really need a whole lot of startup cash?

As I communicate with the design community, and have a back and forth conversation with you, my plans will develop, change, clarify and crystallize.

PLEASE NOTE: Any and all feedback will be looked at and considered! Even if you tell me "you're nuts!"

***Also, I need to hear from any and all people who might be remotely interested in the possibility of joining me in such a venture - or know of folks you can recommend. Creative people, ***sales people***, office management people - I need to assemble a team.

***Do send resumes and links to portfolios.*** *** Respond to this blog post. I am also on Facebook (under Michael Reed) and twitter under micmac99.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

And now a word from our sponsor. Me.

Hello. Thanks for taking a look at this blog.

You've seen some of my personal and political views. You've experienced some of my trials and tribulations.

Now I'm going to put in a plug for what I do professionally.

www.msreeddesign.com

I'm a graphic designer, based currently in Houston, with over 15 years of experience in graphic design and production. I have the basic skills and basic know-how to create a basic, decent, good-looking logo that will address your basic needs.

But you deserve more than just a basic logo.

A logo is only part of your overall brand. A logo is NOT the brand itself. That's what most people don't understand.

A brand is a promise. A promise to your customers. And a promise to yourself as an organization. Your brand is who you are and what you stand for. Your brand sets the tone and sets expectations. Your brand helps your customers know right away why your customers should know or even care about you.

Your brand idea establishes 1) who your customers even are, 2) who your competition is, and 3) based on that, your basic strategy for success in the marketplace.

If you don't know your brand, you cannot have a good logo, no matter how talented a designer you get to create it.

Creating this brand, and the logo that's a part of it, takes time. This is NOT, I repeat, NOT something that can be done in a matter of hours. Nor should it. The success of your business is way too important to skimp on the time it takes to craft your brand message and logo.

Creating this brand also takes resources, and it takes an investment. With us, you're getting experience and knowledge at or pretty darn near the same level as the big national/global advertising and design agencies - for a fraction of the cost. And while that may seem expensive to you compared to a lot of other guys who can do it "faster" and/or "cheaper", it's both a relative bargain and an investment in building something that will last, and something that will return huge dividends down the road.

That something is your brand.

Don't skimp on your business. Don't skimp on your success. Don't skimp on your brand.

Chew on that as you consider my blog posts.

Thanks as always for your time.

www.msreeddesign.com

Some ideas on how to fix downtown Houston

In response to an article in the Chronicle this morning, I decided to comment on how downtown needs to be improved.

I have only been in Houston about two years, but have lived in other cities around the country where downtown areas were in varied states. Houston needs to seriously learn what other cities are doing.

1. More apartment buildings like Houston House. High-rises with at or below market rate rent.

2. Semi-upscale residence hotels, as you see in New York and San Francisco.

2a. Why did you people tear down the YMCA with its weekly residence apartments???????? Stupid move.

3. Put a Target store, a flagship store like in downtown Minneapolis (that has a pharmacy and sells groceries) at the corner of Main and Polk and connect it to the tunnel. "But people can go to the Heights," you might say. I thought the point was convenience, so people can WALK to shopping destinations from their apartment. I thought the point was FOOT TRAFFIC to support all the retail people want to see.

4. Build a homeless services campus some distance away from downtown, but close enough to take the bus to needed services. Look up what they did in Phoenix. Look up what they did in Austin. National models.

4a. Attitudes about the homeless are way too hostile and negative in Houston, more so than in some other cities, and contribute greatly to the problem. Grow a pair and get some compassion. Many of you are one or two paychecks away from being on the street yourself.

5. METRO needs to operate the daytime park-and-ride buses during the midday and evening hours, not just rush hour (and especially for events at GRB and the Astros). Maybe someone wants to just quickly ride the bus to Macys and back but can't.

If you're just going to rely on people driving in from Katy or Cypress or Sugar Land to shop for some souvenirs, eat a slice of pizza, and get back on the freeway when they're done, you are asking to fight a losing battle.

How Swedes and Norwegians Broke the Power of the ‘1 Percent’ | Common Dreams

This is a must read, and makes me think there is truly hope for America.