Month: August 2018

Super Bowl XLVIII Interview with Obama – Will O’Reilly find the Character or paint a Caricature

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Obama says Fox makes a -caricature’ of him – is there no truth in parody?

In the late eighties I had the good fortune of having for my friend, a Bavarian born caricature artist who was formerly the head of the art department for a major U.S. newspaper in Texas. He was going through a Bohemian lifestyle period in his life and could be found daily in the French Quarter of New Orleans setting up to do caricatures of visitors and natives alike.

Black and white pictures were the cheapest, but people were more apt to ask for the full color renderings which amplified their particular features and qualities. My friend was a master of color and shade and the pictures almost had a portrait effect laid hard into the caricature that people seemed to love.

I will not forget the answer he gave me, when one day, I asked him how he decided what features he would accent about a person to produce the uniqueness of each drawing.

He said there were two ways to decide what features to amplify. The first was, to decide for himself based on what he saw and what he heard as he engaged his subjects in conversations about where they were from, their jobs and careers, and other personal information. Very few people trusted him to decide what features he would choose to clinch the drawing. He said that deciding for them, was only used as a last resort, but why?

More often than not when he decided, they were not pleased with the final result. In fact, in some cases they would be offended. Although he was brutally honest in his artistic product, it wasn’t always exactly how his customers perceived themselves. If they were snobbish he caught it, if they were sloppy he caught that, but they wouldn’t accept that kind of honesty about themselves.

He solved the problem of the dissatisfied customer by asking them what they wanted to see exaggerated and blown out of proportion. The result was almost comical and at times – totally embarrassing.

Men with slight builds were depicted with barreling chests and powerful muscles. Women who were not so good looking were cast as luscious beauties. That is the point.

If we look at Mr. Obama through his own eyes to decide how well he is doing or what image he thinks he is impressing upon us, he will doubtless look just fine to most and great to some.

Is that what news organizations and agencies are supposed to do. Should they resort to a party line, a controlled access report or a pile of pre-pandered propaganda to inform us of what is going on with the President? If that is what we want; there are plenty of networks offering just that and little else.

Fox news has some loud mouths self-absorbed commentators and a few outright cornballs in their roster, but as far as the slogan -fair and balanced,’ can meet with any reasonable expectation, they are the only kid on the block and by no means the new kid on the block.

They can motivate without trying to mesmerize, they can expostulate without expletives and extraneous hyperbole. We are not stupid. We know O’Reilly is a hot headed Irishmen who sometimes ought to tone it down, but we are sure he is showing us his real character and not his feigned caricature.

We can disagree with him and others at Fox, but we know that they are trying to offer us an un-impeded view of events as they come down in real time. They don’t always get it, but they never ask those who they are reporting on – how they want to be depicted.

This is what makes our president insecure with Fox. What we must all remember is that, this is the president’s problem, not Fox’s problem, and by no means, is it our problem.

In the first Super Bowl interview O’Reilly kept pounding the president with the now classic, -Why do so many Americans hate you.- Mr. Obama squirmed away from directly answering that question and re-directed O’Reilly’s questioning with labored if not nervous subtlety.

With five years of his administration behind him, that question has already been answered. Now, we can only hope that Bill might ask for an explanation about why it has gone sour and what the president intends to do about it.

If the top dog at Fox doesn’t get all mushy in the presence of the Chief, perhaps this time he will paint the caricature based on what he actually sees and not what Mr. Obama wants him to see.

-And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.- (John 8: 32)

American Prophet.org has since 2005 featured the articles and reports of journalist Rev Michael Bresciani along with news and reviews that have earned this site the title of The Website for Insight. Millions have read his timely reports and articles in online journals and print publications across the nation and the globe. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook

The Increasing Unending Choices Of Sports Shoes

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A majority of people on the Earth wear some type of footwear every day. There is a tremendous of variety to choose from. The history of footwear has seen a great many changes in styles and types that are worn. Change has particularly been the case for sports shoes. There are so many that they can be find is stores that only sell them.

For most of human history the footwear for athletic endeavors was not much different than that for everyday use. Footwear was often specialized for different work situations and climates. Firefighters would need different footwear than the local businessman. There was not as much focus on athletics and certainly not making footwear to enhance performance. Needs for workers fueled the making of shoes at this point as an opposed to athletic endeavors. This has drastically changed over that past decades.

The increase in leisure time in the early twentieth century coincided with manufacturing processes that would allow for an increasing variety of footwear. The following decades led to an increase in the quality of and specialization of the shoe for sporting endeavors. A person of a hundred years ago would probably be overwhelmed by what is available today in the marketplace.

The traditional sneaker was once used for a variety of sports. This rubber soled shoe was adequate. It might be worn by both tennis players and basketball players. Today those participating in these sports would wear a different type of shoe. The simple sneaker no longer is expected to cover many sports.

The demand for a shoe of different types coincided with the advancing technology and understanding of body mechanics. Different sports have different needs for their footwear. A shoe made for tennis today are now far different than those made for basketball players. There is differing needs for dealing with impact and physical stresses.

Footwear is offered in a tremendous variety. Some of these sports are football, wrestling, and a plethora of track events. It is expected that these athletes use specialized shoes. It would be unusual to see someone wearing an inappropriate shoe type when participating.

The footwear is intended to increase performance when worn in either daily practice or competition. They are also developed to help the prevent potential injury of the participant. Within a type of sport there are shoes offered for different levels of competition and body types. The increase in the number of female athletes in the past decades has prompted companies to research and offer shoes for their particular needs.

Potential buyers of these products are offered numerous choices. Many make promises that they will offer certain benefits. These are often promoted by well known athletes. It is important for a consumer to research and make their own decision on these claims before buying. There are more products available which means their are more questionable ones as well as better ones.

Sports shoes can be found for just about any athletic activity. They can even be specialized for used with water like water aerobics and sail boarding. The growth of manufacturing these athletic footwear expanded greatly over the past century. This was fueled by demand and increased technology.