Is 'Get Motivated' real or bunkum?

Some 15,000 people hit the Honda Center this week and found motivation, or at least that's what the "Get Motivated" seminar folks would like you to think.

And judging by the audience members who jumped around on a fern and flower encircled stage as "Surfin' USA" blared, some became believers.

But was the jubilation more like the euphoria you feel after some beers, only to wake up the next day and wonder where all the excitement went?

Or was the elixir served up through a blend of blasting music, pyrotechnics and a series of oddly matched speakers – Michael Phelps and Rudy Giuliani on the same stage – the real deal?

Searching for clues, I walked the aisles, climbed stairs and accosted people in hallways at the Honda Center.

After having attended a similar Tony Roberts seminar at the same venue several years ago, I was especially interested in discovering if there were any new miracles to motivate us during these tough economic times. To be honest, I hoped the answer was something exactly like the show at the Honda Center on Wednesday.

If the key to motivation resembled anything like "Get Motivated," we all could just start taking ourselves, our children and our colleagues to more rock concerts. And I like rock concerts.

Everyone I spoke to agreed that the speakers were good to great, Colin Powell getting the strongest reviews and my man, Michael Phelps, getting the weakest. (Sorry, Michael, but at least the haters said it was the interview format. Go it alone next time.)

But after that, the reviews were mixed. Some of those looking for motivation didn't find it. Some waited anxiously wondering when their favorite star would show while the promoters cleverly declined to post an itinerary. Others happily gravitated toward the second theme of the day: easy, fast money.

While the blue light special was clearly the $5 ticket that let you see and hear megawatt speakers, the real secrets to making a quick buck cost extra. Breaks between speakers, became marketing moments, as solicitors armed with pens and sign-up sheets roamed the aisles for people willing to sign up for workshops that promised paths to untold riches. Just step right out and step right up.

Audience members signed up in droves for the Financial Success workshops. It would be unfair not to mention we were offered an incredible deal because we were already inside the big tent – only $49 plus guest. We even were granted a "100% satisfaction guarantee

Sorry if you weren't there. You will miss out on learning "How to Get Out of Debt... Fast," "How to Slash Your Taxes by Up to 50%," "How to Buy Property Using Little to None of Your Own Money" and more.

Some in the audience learned the art of the deal faster than others.

"I'll give you my number," one thirtysomething said when I asked to call him the next day, "if you tell me who's on next."

I did. But he didn't pay up. A motivational speaker in the making?

Still, at the end of the day, most people in the audience just looked tired, though not as tired as the Will Call workers who told me they put in a 13-hour day to help pull off the spectacular event.

One audience member, Ryan Griffin, 34, from Placentia, woke up a day after the event and put it this way:

"I would say it's not easy to get motivated at one of those large events. In the moment, that day, it sounds great. But it's not like you can flip a switch and stay motivated forever."

Griffin allowed that the main speakers were worth the time and the price of admission, which was practically free. But the district sales manager for John Deere explained he finds motivation elsewhere – within himself and at work. And, rather than easy money or famous speakers, he talked of emotional connections to what he does and to other people.

Like many, Griffin faced major change last year. With degrees in irrigation and landscape architecture, he left a job in implementation for a career in sales. Yet he managed to stay within a field he is passionate about, saving precious water resources and similar environmentally friendly efforts.

"I'm doing something I love. I'm in it for the whole team, the planet if you will."

The other topic Griffin spoke about was similar to what Rick Belluzzo, former Microsoft president and CEO mentioned at the Honda Center: Keeping it fresh.

"He said to reinvent yourself," Griffin said. "He hit it right on the head. I'm not doing the same old thing every day."

He elaborated that he particularly enjoys helping others solve problems.

The magic of Griffin's approach to motivation is that it transfers to different jobs, different challenges. Yet it also fits what he is doing right now.

"If you're not passionate, the customer sees right through you," Griffin cautioned.

Passion. Love. Helping others.

You might not find them at a "Get Motivated" arena-style seminar – or you might.

But you certainly will find motivation following your heart, as Griffin did.

And, hopefully, down the line he'll end up taking his sons, now ages 3 and 5, to a rock concert anyway.

In the meantime, he can read my motivational columns. Only 75 cents.


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Jonny Flynn says talk of a 'down year' has motivated No. 5 Syracuse

Former Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn likes what he sees from this year's version of the Orange.

Flynn, who helped lead Syracuse to the Sweet 16 last season before losing to Oklahoma, says this year's team is using talk of a rebuilding year as motivation for their 24-2 start.

"I think just losing three guys and having everybody; the media and every top analyst, saying this is going to be a down year for them, I think they took that and over the summer used that as a huge chunk of motivation,'' Flynn told The (Syracuse, N.Y.) Post-Standard. "You've seen Scoop Jardine work hard. Wes Johnson is living up to all the expectations. You're seeing the emergence of Kris Joseph as the second-leading scorer off the bench. Teams like that, when you have people doubting you, you're always going to use that. I think they really did that."

To read more about the Orange, get out our team page.

But the question we would have asked Flynn: How do you feel about expanding the NCAA tournament? (Think he agrees with Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim?)


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Staying Motivated

Richmond - Snow has cancelled the last two YMCA training days for the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k.

Can you imagine what goes through the minds of the people who've never run or walked a race like this being told their training is cancelled? People who depend on their trainers to make them ready to take on 6.2 miles?

That happened to Helena Marchi, a nurse at Henrico Doctor's Hospital Forest Campus. She finally got the courage to try something like the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10k. And then the snow came.

"Well, I knew I had been way out of shape for too long", says Helena. She didn't really think much about running in the 10k until she heard about the YMCA training program. It's a 10-week program for walkers, beginners, intermediate runners and experts. They meet as a group at their "home" YMCA every Saturday morning leading up to the race on March 27th.

"I went to the orientation meeting and everybody is so friendly and supportive", says Helena. Her training was going great until the snow cancelled Saturday morning group-training for two weeks in a row.

Richmond YMCA Head Training Coach Laura Turner Reid says she sympathizes with Helena and other beginners. "They came out for two weeks, had a couple good training runs, then they completely lost their momentum. And so one of the things we're trying to do is keep them positive, keep them motivated."

The trainers are using the snow as a metaphor. In life you're going to run into delays wether it be work or family. The bottom line, they say, is stay motivated and keep moving.

"One of the goals of the program is just overall fitness", says Laura. "We encourage cross training and strength training for participants. What we're really trying to do is introduce overall fitness. A lot of people are really changing their lives."

The trainers are staying in touch with their trainees through emails and phone calls. They also meet some of them during the week at their home YMCA. That's why the snow isn't slowing Helena down. She says she's keeping in touch with the trainers and others in her group. She stays in shape by using workout videos, borrowing a friend's treadmill, and doing just about anything else to keep moving and elevate her heart rate, including shoveling the snow that's kept her from training on Saturdays.

Laura loves to see the effort Helena and others in her group are giving so that they'll be ready for the race. "I get to see people like Helena come back to me next year signed up for intermediates and telling me, 'This program has changed my life, I have all these new goals, I have this new self esteem.'"

"Of course, everybody wants to lose weight", says Helena, "but my goal is not to just stop after this one 10k and say 'Okay, I did that'. So I'm gonna keep going. That's my goal, to not stop."

If you've been waiting to sign up for the 10k there are only 6,000 spots left. The race is limited to 35,000 participants.


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Director Motivated by Brother's Struggle

Patrick Dion is the Ontario director with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, which aims to improve the health and social outcomes of people living with mental illness. (You can learn more about it by clicking here.)

I spoke to Dion about the prejudice and stigma facing individuals with mental illness. And he explained why he became such a passionate advocate for such individuals.

It turns out that Dion's awareness of mental illness turned personal while he was studying electrical engineering at UWO between 1985 and 1989.

"My brother, who was a student at UWO a few years behind me, suffered his first psychotic episode while at Western," said Dion, adding his brother has now dealt with bipolar disorder for 20 years.

"His journey . . . is the explanation for how I know that the suffering in silence has to end," he said.

Dion said his his family was largely unprepared for his brother's illness.

"Denial is a big part of it," he said. "My mother, who is a health-care professional, was unwilling or unable to acknowledge that her son was beginning to show signs of mental illness. Our family was like many families across this country (who think) this can't be affecting me.

"People ask, well, who are those who are living with mental illness?" said Dion. "Well, they are you and me, our mothers, our fathers, our sisters, our brothers - all of us."


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Mick Foley Still Motivated in Next Life With TNA Wrestling

Mick Foley has done just about everything in wrestling. He's worked in the small, dirty buildings in front of tens of people and has headlined WrestleMania in front of thousands.

Some people refer to him as 'The Hardcore Legend', a nickname he has earned for his bloody wars in the squared circle over his nearly 24-year career. But many people also know him as the lovable Mick Foley with his knack for getting a cheap pop out of the crowd and his sock puppet Mr. Socko. There's even another side to him as he is a multiple New York Times best-selling author and has kept active with various charity work.

Most of his wrestling career has been spent with the WWE where he was a three-time world champion. In 2000, Foley retired, something that doesn't typically stick in wrestling, with him returning to the squared circle four years later. At one point, he even tried his hand as the color commentator for WWE Smackdown but he grew tired of Vince McMahon barking in the headset and decided that job wasn't for him. In fact, he decided to leave the WWE altogether.

But Foley wasn't done with wrestling. Instead, he decided to start a new chapter in his career and in September 2008 he jumped to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Once there, Foley got the itch to get back in the ring -- which he still does, but on a much more limited basis.

While he moves a bit slower and has a little gray in his shaggy beard, Foley is once again having fun with what he calls his first true love -- wrestling. This Sunday, Feb. 14, Foley will be a part of the TNA "Against All Odds" pay-per-view. (You can find out more information about TNA Wrestling at their Web site).

Recently, FanHouse caught up with Foley to talk with him about still wrestling at the age of 44, the recent changes in the company with Hulk Hogan, (former President of World Championship Wrestling) Eric Bischoff and Ric Flair joining the promotion and much more. Here is part one of that conversation.

First of all, at this stage in your career from moving to WWE to TNA, are you surprised you're still an active wrestler?
(laughs) Well, I was surprised that I wrestled as actively as I did last year. I knew going in that I'd do a few matches a year. I think last year was something like 16 or 17. Granted, some of the television matches weren't that lengthy. But I'm hoping to get back to a lesser wrestling schedule this year. There were some unique circumstances that kind of put me in the ring more often than I had planned on being there.

Did you like being in the ring that much?
You know, I stopped being comfortable in the ring a long time ago. And as odd as it sounds, it was actually wrestling with Kurt Angle three times over a four day period that kind of restored my confidence. So now when I go out there, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to stink up the building.

I know at the time you were really concerned about the match with Kurt last year on pay-per-view. You were really worried about making sure that it was up to a certain standard. Do you feel like you met that standard and everything went fine?
You know, I really liked the match. I know it's probably not going to make a best of Kurt Angle DVD unless it's a really comprehensive one. But I think it did things and accomplished goals that other matches, that other supposedly better matches, haven't. Does that make sense?

I think so.
I think some fans have certain things they want to see in a match in order to declare it a good one and for those fans it will not ... my match with Kurt was not going to live up to that standard. But I think it was different. I tried things I hadn't done in 15 years or so and I think given that Kurt was injured and I have a litany of limitations, we did a pretty good job.

Considering what you call a litany of limitations, is your standard for what in your mind is a good match -- is that different from what it used to be?
Yeah, it's a lot different. And a lot of that had to do with a really bad back injury I suffered two years ago and I had to accept that I can't live up to my old expectations. It's unrealistic and ultimately really unhealthy. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to be every bit as good as used to be and I have come to understand that's not physically possible any more.

So what was your initial thought when you heard that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were coming to TNA?
You know, I was actually pretty excited about it. It's funny, I wrote this story on my TNA web blog (The Foley Files) that I had dropped off a book for Hulk Hogan to sign for a friend and had just picked up the book -- it was at a local bookstore -- I just picked up the book and had been in my house for no more then ten seconds when I received a call from Dixie Carter telling me that Hulk Hogan had just signed. So I don't know if that's fate or just a large coincidence but I certainly saw the upside of a guy of Hogan's magnitude coming in and a guy with Bischoff's background. I honestly didn't know what it held in store for me personally but I did think that overall it would be, it was a good move for the company.

I know that a lot of people talked about initially what their role was going to be with the company. Were you surprised when you heard that Hulk Hogan was not only coming in, but he was going to be a guy that was going to be a figurehead as part of the show and be behind the scenes helping run the show and be active creatively in a role which is something he hasn't really done before?
Yeah and I think it's probably something he wished he had done. I think it's difficult to fully capitalize on all of the tools available to someone if they are a current wrestler. It's just human nature that person is going to think of themselves usually to the detriment of other wrestlers in the company. So I think it's great that Hulk's on the sidelines looking in. I'd always heard he had a great mind for the business and I have been very impressed in the little bit of time I've known him.

What was the bigger surprise for you -- Hulk Hogan in TNA or Ric Flair?
(laughs) I had actually talked with Ric a little bit about coming in and there's so many guys that have such a deep respect for Vince McMahon and feel in a way they're being disloyal by coming to TNA. My message is to always reassure them that Vince is going to be just fine. I always throw a baseball metaphor in. If someone is sitting on the Yankees bench getting two or three at bats a month and the Minnesota Twins are willing to start that guy in center field, it's really not being disloyal to the Yankees to go elsewhere.

Years ago, you had done a retirement in WWE and it wasn't too long after that you decided to come back and a lot of people gave you grief about that. Now, there are a lot of people doing the same thing when it comes to Ric after he got the big retirement ceremony and left. He hasn't wrestled in TNA but people think he will. He's already returned to the ring with the Hulkamania group in Australia. From your standpoint, which I think is a lot different from others being an active wrestler, do you think it in any way hurts a legacy for Ric to come back in the ring considering the sendoff he got?
"I think anyone who wants to criticize Ric Flair should probably be required to walk around in his shoes for a while." Well, first let me say that when I came back after six weeks, that really wasn't my decision and after that it was another four years which is officially a lifetime in pro wrestling. Even with that being said, I thought it hurt my legacy but ten years later I think the truth is I'd be very much irrelevant to today's wrestling fans including portions of society that I'm trying to reach out and help. And the truth is life sometimes gets in the way of our great ambitions. I think anyone who wants to criticize Ric Flair should probably be required to walk around in his shoes for a while.

What has this transition period been like for yourself and for TNA coming from the old guard to Hogan and Bischoff coming in there?
Well, the major transition was a year and a half ago for me -- well, a year and four months -- changing companies, working for someone who is just about (laughing) Vince's polar opposite in every way and getting used to a different schedule and a different atmosphere at the television tapings. I haven't sensed the transition that much. I've seen some of the things are a little better organized. I believe there's going to be less emphasis on talking and a little more emphasis on wrestling which is what I think our fans like. I think with that being done the talking that does go on will be more important.

So are you saying (TNA President) Dixie Carter doesn't yell at people?
(laughs) You know, I've seen Dixie put a couple of people in their places and I'm talking about pretty intimidating people. Dixie is not afraid to asset herself but I have not heard her raise her voice to what I would call a yell. I heard she's terrible on those announcers on the headsets though!

Probably not as terrible as someone else you've worked with. It wasn't too long ago -- Monday, January 4 -- when TNA decided to go head-to-head with WWE Raw. You had the three hour edition of Impact which did the best numbers that TNA has ever done for the show. What were your thoughts on that show and how everything went?
I thought it was risky going in so I was relieved to see we had put up good numbers. Clearly it meant that we attracted new fans who may not have seen the product any more. And I've always felt that if you have a product that you're proud of, that you think people will like, that you would want to lead them there to sample it with the hope that they choose to stay a while. So it was an exciting night. My only real regret is there were so many things going on that I'm not sure that our fans could fully digest and appreciate them all.

That's been one the criticisms that TNA has faced -- not just now but for a while -- that sometimes the show can be a bit too confusing and there's too much going on.
And I agree. That's the product of working too hard sometimes. Apollo Creed may have been on the verge of overtraining for that big rematch with Rocky and it may have (laughs), it may have hurt him. I think you'd rather have the work ethic and do too much than believe you can go into coast mode and give the fans too little. I've always maintained that the success of the show is finding the right balance. Some weeks we do a better job than others but I think overall we're doing a lot better than we were a few years ago and I believe that formula is going to be tweaked and hopefully improved and perfected.

Vince Russo (the creative director in TNA Wrestling) obviously has his share of critics that are out there. When a situation like this happens or anything when it comes to creative decisions. Do you ever talk to him and say maybe it would be better to do it a different way, or we need to slow something down with you explaining why, or is that something you try not to get too involved in?
No, I think Vince Russo is always open to suggestions and I can say this because I didn't criticize him in my book after he was gone. So I'm not being hypocritical when I say I always thought he was a great idea man. I think for a few years he probably missed the restraint that Vince -- the other Vince -- put on him. I think even Vince Russo would probably agree that him being world champion was possibly not the best idea in the world. But he's a very creative guy. He loves to write. He loves to make characters and I think people who, you know the people who chant "fire Russo" really have no idea how large of a contribution he made to the wrestling product that they sometimes seem to like. I'm talking about the wrestling product overall as in this generation of wrestling. I think he was one of the key guys right up there with the top on-air talents.

Do you think Vince can continue to co-exist with Hulk and Eric considering their past?
Yeah I do think they can co-exist because I think there have been worse relationships (laughs) that have healed. I'm thinking of a couple of them off the top of my head. Sometimes as people interact backstage and I'm like wasn't that guy suing someone you know. Weren't they involved in a lawsuit? Wasn't there some type of a fist fight a few years ago? It's a volatile business and there's a lot of egos involved. Everybody has to believe in their own vision or they would have never gotten this far. But it seems like it's going pretty well and I think Vince Russo will actually benefit from having that one extra filter.

Part two of my conversation with Mick Foley will be posted Friday here on FanHouse.


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Karachi killings politically motivated, says Mirza

KARACHI: Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Mirza on Tuesday described the targeted killings as politically motivated and said he had been bringing that fact to the knowledge of the president and the governor and the chief minister of Sindh.

In a policy statement on the obtaining law and order situation and the current spate of targeted killings, he said he had told the relevant quarters, whose responsibility was to defend the borders, that killings were taking place in Karachi and the army should take over the control.

He asked the “people of Karachi” to stop bloodshed of poor and helpless people.

He wondered why he was not made a target and why no MNA and MPA had been killed in Karachi and why only poor people were being killed.

“We have to go before Allah, and if we have faith in the Day of Judgment, I plead with you to stop killings for the sake of Allah.

“If we are powerful today, someone else may be more powerful than us tomorrow. And one should have fear of that day when some danda-bearer may come and sit on our heads,” he said.

The minister said that everyone should thank Allah for his blessings and bounties. “Whatever respect, repute and power we enjoy is all given by the poor of Sindh, who are today being killed and their blood being shed,” Mr Mirza said.

He requested Deputy Speaker Shehla Raza, who was chairing the session, to place a copy of the Quran in the house and let everyone take an oath on it that he or she would not be involved in crime. And if even then anyone is killed, he would get himself hanged. He said the only problem was that sincerity was lacking.

The minister said that if ever the PPP felt that “I have become a liability”, he would not stay in office even for a moment.

He said it was because of the sacrifices of Benazir Bhutto that they all were sitting in the assembly.

“It is a last chance and it should not be squandered. This chance is to be utilised for the betterment of the country and nation,” he said.

The minister said that at present only political point-scoring was being done, which was harmful to the country and nation and it was high time that they all got along together.

‘Badmaash elements’

Sindh Home Minister Zulfikar Ali Mirza admitted in the Sindh assembly on Tuesday that the law and order situation was bad in the province and that he took its responsibility.

In a statement on law and order, which was earlier criticised by PML-Q MPA Shaharyar Maher, he said if there had not been the policy of reconciliation, he would have hanged each and every “badmaash” at roundabouts and the ongoing targeted killings would not have occurred.

He started speaking on law and order in Shikarpur district and challenged Shaharyar Maher to meet him and discuss that issue with him. He said he would tell the MPA how many trailers had been hijacked on the highway and from where those were recovered.

He said when those trailers were recovered from a mill, the persons concerned told him that they had leased out the mill and they were not concerned with the recovery of the trailers from the mill’s premises.

The home minister asked them that if they had leased out their mill, why they had given it to criminals.

Mr Mirza said every child of Shikarpur could tell which elements of a tribe were involved in the deteriorating law and order situation and were taking refuge under the policy of reconciliation.

He said about 200 people had been killed in that district in the fire of feudal strife and he could give a list of the people killed. He said a poor man was killed when he resisted an attempt to lift his buffalo.

He declared that he would present every detail in the house as to who supported the criminals.

“I declare that from today no leniency would be shown to ‘badmaash elements’”, the home minister said at the top of his voice.


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Museum director Steven Nash motivated by art

Steven Nash still loves the smell of oil-based paints and turpentine, but he realized early on in life that he had no talent as an artist.

“Where I do have a good eye for art, I do not have a good hand at making it,” said the executive director of the Palm Springs Art Museum.

Nash arrived at the museum nearly three years ago, passionate about bringing in big-name exhibits and increasing the donations received.

On a routine walk through the museum, he admires pieces of art that he's seen a hundred times before. Nash is active in acquisitions for the museum and still pens pieces about art.

But Nash also is running a business. In an economy that's unforgiving to most businesses — not to mention the arts — he talked about his vision for the future of the Palm Springs Art Museum.

Question: How have your membership and admissions revenue been the past couple of years? Are they growing?

Answer: They have been. That's one good sign that even in the last year, membership and admission income have all grown. Not tremendously, but we've been growing at a 10 to 15 percent pace per year. For us, with the community size we have, that's a pretty strong rate.

That surprises me. It seems like public entities — the arts, theaters, museums — in other parts of the country are struggling.

It's not that we don't have our concerns. Balancing any museum budget — unless you're The Getty, and even The Getty's having problems — is a challenge.

But I think there's a real story here that is slowly infiltrating the region that there is something important happening, that there are exciting things going on.

We've been pretty aggressive in our programming with taking in these traveling shows and a steady stream of exhibitions, programming lots of events around those.

We've done something which is particularly important I would say on the education side by continuing our free Thursday nights. It's a traditional, popular event.

But thanks to funding from the Berger Foundation, we've added a free second Sunday. The main demographic we're aiming at is family visitors. A Sunday afternoon at the museum with a lot of special activities has proved to be very popular. We get over 1,000 people a day, which is a lot for us.

When you got here in 2007, you expressed a desire to bring large national and international exhibits here, Picasso and Matisse, for example. Do you have plans for those still?

We will continue along that track. We've been really experimenting to some degree to find the right level, the right exhibition that will play well with our audiences.

We know, for instance, outstanding art glass exhibitions have a very, very big draw here. We are working long-term. It's not easy to nail down some of these exhibitions which have those kind of international, stellar names to them.

No. 1, there's a lot of competition to do those shows. No. 2, they're amazingly expensive. We're talking still about shows of that variety.

We have a 75th anniversary coming up in a couple years, so the programming for that will be quite stellar. I don't want to mention any of the possibilities at this point and jinx myself, but there will be a couple of exhibitions any museum in the country would be proud to have.

What's your strategy in approaching people for bequests and gifts to the museum's collection?

People are interested in giving works of art to places that are worthy of receiving them and have the right environment to fully take care of, exhibit and publish them.

The groundwork had to start with renovating the institution physically so that we had better exhibition spaces, more handsome galleries for display of works of art, working on a program in (growth areas).

Photography is a real growth area for us. If there is staff expertise, someone on staff who knows what this material is and has scholarly background in it, the proof of program that is dedicated to honoring photography, then you have a chance for photography gifts.

So we started fairly early on knowing that photography could be a real growth field for us. We hired a curator with strong credentials in photography; we booked a couple of photography shows; announced our intentions; started a photography collection council at the museum — and this has really caught on in a very big way.

It's one segment where people are now paying attention to us. We've been given hundreds of photographs in the last couple of years.

Nothing succeeds like success. It's an old proverb I love because the more energy you show, the more important the place becomes as a museum.

And the more likely people are to take you very seriously, to become excited themselves and find you to be a worthy home for things that they love.

You mentioned the museum's upcoming 75th anniversary. What would you hope the museum to look like by its centennial?

It's going to be a much bigger place.

It's certainly going to grow physically, one way or another. There are various scenarios we're thinking of now that could be quite long-term.

I think this museum should always be the home base, in Palm Springs. We have a great building here, and it would be the home of the collection.

But I would really like to see it grow to some degree as — for lack of a better phrase — a franchise museum with satellite locations in other parts of the valley.

It's hard for schools in Indio to get to us, for instance. It is possible for us to have a satellite location farther down valley, in the east valley.

Especially for education purposes, it would give us a platform in those communities where we can much more easily get to the schools and get the schools to us.

There is no question that education is increasingly a dominant factor in our mission. Twenty-five years from now, it's going to be even bigger.

What is your motivation?

It's a three-letter word.

Art.

I started out in college as an economics major, and I had a little bit of business school. I have a business perspective. I'm not a great business technician. But I do have a mind that looks at charities and nonprofits as a business operation.

But I never for one minute forget what the place is about, and that is art.

The joy of creation, the absolute brilliance and overwhelming awesomeness of great art — once you get that bug, why, it never goes away.


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Media Matters: The politically motivated selective-victimhood of Sarah Palin

You've got to hand it to Fox News contributor Sarah Palin. After all, there aren't many people who can make news with a single Facebook post. Her status updates are like catnip for journalists and media types.

In a story detailing purported liberal criticism of White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel,The Wall Street Journal reported this week that, in a private meeting, Emanuel called plans by liberal groups to run ads targeting conservative Democrats "F-ing retarded."

Following news of the hurtful comment, Palin, the mother of a child with Down syndrome, took to Facebook to demand Emanuel's firing in a post she titled, "Are You Capable of Decency, Rahm Emanuel?"

The deservedly stern comments of an offended mother or the hypocritical nonsense of a political opportunist?

First, it's worth noting that Emanuel has apologized for the comment at least twice now. It's also worth noting that just a few short weeks ago, Palin fretted that we were becoming a nation where we -- I'm guessing all the Joe the Plumbers out there -- couldn't use words that were "politically incorrect."

Far from consistent, Palin has exposed herself as someone who deploys selective-victimhood as a politically motivated weapon.

How else can one explain her harsh rebuke of Emanuel and near silence when it comes to eerily similar language used by conservative radio talker Rush Limbaugh and her Fox News colleague Glenn Beck?

Last January, during an interview with Mary Lynn Rajskub, a star of Fox Broadcasting Co.'24, Beck laughed at the idea of artwork produced by children with Down syndrome, asking, "What do the paintings of the retarded children go for?" Then there was the time right after the 2008 election when he went after Newsweek over a story on Palin that he found objectionable. Purporting to offer the magazine's view of the former governor, he played the role of an unnamed Newsweek staffer saying, "When it's really, truly about Sarah Palin and how stupid, she's practically retarded. Yes. I think that's appropriate word to use for Sarah Palin, retarded. I think that's an... if you would like a retarded person running the State of Alaska, just higgeldy-piggeldy."

So what did Palin, then the newly minted Fox News contributor, have to say about these comments during her first hour-long sit-down interview with Beck?

Nothing. Nada. Crickets.

Responding to the controversy surrounding Palin and Emanuel, Limbaugh said liberals who complained about health care reform "are retards." Sure, El Rushbo went on to say that he was just using the term in "quoting Emanuel," but it wasn't the first time the language had appeared on his radio program. Almost a year ago, long before the Emanuel gaffe, while discussing the flu, Limbaugh appeared to mock those concerned with the use of such language, saying, "[a]nything you can do to stop it or to arrest it or to retard -- sorry -- to 'Special Olympic' its duration, then it -- you should do it."

On Thursday, Limbaugh addressed his controversial comments and suggested that Palin wouldn't "denounce" him because she "knows I do this kind of" thing. Just four hours later, responding to a request for comment on Limbaugh's comments by Greg Sargent of Washington Post Co.'s The Plum Line blog, Palin's spokesperson provided a broad statement saying in part that use of the word constitutes "crude and demeaning name calling."

How long would Palin stand up to radio's reigning king of radical right-wing vitriol? Not long at all.

The following day on his radio program, Limbaugh told listeners that a Palin representative had called him in a "panic" to explain her criticism. Heaven forbid she should offend Boss Limbaugh.

During the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, Palin offered then-Senator Hillary Clinton advice on dealing with the pervasive sexism Clinton faced in the media, saying essentially that she should stop whining.

If Palin can't be consistent in her criticism, perhaps she should take her own advice.
Other Major Stories

What's in a name? For Glenn Beck, the answer, it appears, is everything

On Thursday, Beck was revisiting one of his favorite subjects: the hidden history of Barack Obama. Reflecting on how Obama had, as a young man, gone from calling himself Barry to using his given name of Barack, Beck said this:

He chose to use his name Barack for a reason -- to identify, not with America -- you don't take the name Barack to identify with America. You take the name Barack to identify with what? Your heritage? The heritage, maybe, of your father in Kenya, who is a radical?

Beck's history regarding discussions of race speaks for itself. He has said Obama possesses "a deep-seated hatred for white people." Soon after, he defended those remarks, stating once again that, "I think the president is a racist." He has suggested that Obama is seeking to become a "slavemaster." He has pushed the idea that Mexican immigrants want to "reclaim" California and Texas. He called Justice Sonia Sotomayor a "racist" on at least three separate occasions. Beck has portrayed the Democratic health care reform effort as "the beginning of reparations," a theme he has repeated on both his Fox News and radio shows, saying that Obama plans to "settle old racial scores through new social justice." During a discussion of former White House green jobs official Van Jones' past, he baselessly juxtaposed Jones' picture with footage from a riot. He hasclaimed that India lacked "flush toilets" and said that the Ganges sounded like "a disease."

All of these examples are from the last year. The deeper you dig, the worse it gets.

And yet, when Media Matters accused Beck of racial insensitivity, he responded indignantly that "nothing could be further from the truth."

"If you don't see why some people would get upset that you accused the president of adopting his African name in order to repudiate his American identity and connect with his father's radical Kenyan heritage," wrote Media Matters' Simon Maloy yesterday, "then I'm afraid you might be a lost cause."

Indeed, he is -- and he's not interested in being saved. Though he portrays himself as an average Joe just trying to make sense of the world, Beck is actually a wildly successful broadcaster with decades of experience. Everything he does and says is deliberate, and by now, it should be overwhelmingly obvious that he routinely crafts his rhetoric to appeal to the worst impulses in his audience. He insults minorities, and uses racially provocative language and imagery, because he wants to stir resentments among viewers and listeners. There is simply no other way to explain the racially charged content he has made a staple of his work.

Is it any wonder why at least 80 advertisers have fled his Fox News program and civil rights groups have condemned him over his latest comments?

This week's media columns

This week's media columns from the Media Matters senior fellows: Eric Boehlert asks what Bill Buckley would say about today's "conservative journalism"; and Jamison Foser looks at Andew Breitbart and the Vince Foster conspiracists.

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Spartans' Tom Izzo still motivated by struggles against Michigan early in career

Tom Izzo hasn’t forgotten.

It wasn’t always the case that Michigan State dominated the Michigan basketball series. Many of today’s Spartans certainly can’t remember it.

Draymond Green said he never even paid attention to Wolverines basketball as he grew up in Saginaw. And Kalin Lucas said he was unaware that Izzo’s first five games against Michigan resulted in five double-digit losses.

“But coach, if he did lose those five straight -- I know coach, and he was most likely pissed off,” Lucas said.

In some ways, he still is.

The games weren’t close. The margins were 22, 29, 13, 20 and 10 points. They brought some snarky comments, including one from a certain Grand Rapids columnist who called Izzo Michigan’s “lapdog.”

The three seasons involved included a pair of NIT berths, after five of Jud Heathcote’s last six teams qualified for the NCAA tournament, and there was open question whether Heathcote’s former assistant was the right guy for the job.

About the same time, over at the rival university, football fans wondered the same thing about one Lloyd Carr.

Both would win national championships.

Both would enjoy extended periods of dominance against their in-state rival.

And both fueled themselves, for years thereafter, with those early memories.

“I’m motivated by the 12 years before those five games,” Izzo said Monday, leading into tonight’s showdown at Crisler Arena here. “I’m motivated by the fact that every alum in this country is motivated by it. I’m motivated because it stands in the way of us, hopefully, getting to our goals at the beginning of the year.

“But your rival is your rival. And I’ve said a million times, people try to make it out ‘Is he as passionate about it? Does he hate them as much?’ And the answer is yes to all those things. OK? It’s yes to all those things.”

He has respect for Michigan, he said, heightened during the Tommy Amaker era, when the Wolverines reached the cusp of the NCAA tournament but never quite made it, with a resultant coaching change.

That grew with the John Beilein hiring -- and now, the Michigan coach, after losses each of the past two years, when the rivalry was played only once each season, is the one burdened with proving he can win the Great Lakes State showdown.

“I have respect for coaches. I have respect for programs,” Izzo said. “But it is what it is. And I’m sure the feeling is mutual down there.”

Izzo said he thinks he became obsessed with Michigan in his early years as head coach, and with how fans and alumni emphasized that wanting to win wasn’t enough, that hatred also is requisite.

He didn’t really need that lesson, though. He already could draw upon the memory of some good U-M teams in the 1980s, one of them a 1989 national championship team, followed in short order by the Fab Five. Including his years as an assistant under Heathcote, Izzo lost 19 of his first 29 games against the Wolverines.

That has changed, of course. The Spartans have won 16 of 19 in the series, over a 12-season span.

Defeat honed the senses. The “passion to win, the sleepless nights, the excitement” remain the same, whether trying to preserve a winning streak or break a losing skid.

Motivation gets stirred by talking to ex-players about their Michigan reminiscences, or by hearing from alumni about the water-cooler expectations they have the next morning.

It’s 2010, a different era in the relationship between Michigan and Michigan State basketball.
But in the buildup, the preparation, the anticipation, for one man, it is always 1995.

“I think back to those beatings,” he said. “I think back to things that happened back then.”

Then he sets his jaw, grits his teeth, and plots retribution.


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