2014 Hot Summer Trends Here to Stay Past 2015

Google Glass, Samsung, and ’80s rockers are the hot trends for 2014.  Each summer we welcome new trends in fashion and technology. This year we have two products undergoing technological and style redesigns. We also welcome back the rockers from the ’80s which has been a hot trend the last few summers.

 

We are surrounded by trends. We have trends in the stock market, we have fashion trends and we have trends for each season. Some trends last longer than others but they are all trends cause one thing that has been proven everything has a shelf life and an expiration date. Will narrow or wide lapel suits be trending? Will Capri’s make a comeback? Will Spandex find a new fan base? Most trends are greeted with a look of disdain and most trends like plaid pants and polka dot shirts need to remain in our collective pasts. But some trends, I look forward to and they have nothing to do with clothing. They are accessories. Things that go with outfits and in some cases accessories in life like what choice of music goes with what type of party. Whether we realize it or not, music is an accessory of life.

2014 Summer Trends

The Google Glass New Frames

No one knows what they will look like and they are answer to Google’s problem that most wearers of the Glass hate the way they look and don’t offer any personal choices in style. So, Google answered that problem by hiring, Ivy Ross. Ivy is a top name in the design meets marketing world having done time at Mattel, Coach, Swatch, Bausch and Lomb and the gap as reported by Motley Fool in the article, “Will World-Class Designer Ivy Ross Save Google Glass?”. Google is reportedly going to try and make a fashion change to their notorious $1500 pair of “smart glasses” by the end of summer. This trend to keep up-to-date on style by Google will be a constant evolution so look for that to continue every year as style comes in and style goes out. Soon I imagine we will see inter-changeable frames to color coordinate the outfit or car you drive. One pair of Google Glass in Mauve, please.

Samsung’s new smart wristwatch phone

Samsung will be rolling out their 5^th generation of smart wristwatch phone this July 2014. This one is going to really technological cause finally it won’t need a cell phone to function. It will be able to do everything on it’s own. Now that to me makes this wristwatch that may be worth investing in. Not to worry about misplacing my phone will be a huge burden. Not walking out of the house will save me countless trips back to retrieve my phone. According to Venturebeat article, “No phone required: Samsung’s next smartwatch may make & take calls on it own,” the new phone will have GPS, Bluetooth, heart monitor, and be able to make you a ham and cheese sandwich. Okay I lied, it can’t make that sandwich, but give it time(no pun intended). Just checking to make sure you are paying attention.

The Rockers of the ’80s

Something that is becoming a phenomena is the trending of ’80s bands lately and the popularity that amazes me. People are reliving their younger years in their 50s. We have a great many trending rockers to choose from this summer of 2014. Some on the summer list of tickets still available at smaller venues and more affordable pricing including many double feature acts. Some are:

• Rick Springfield and Pat Benatar
• Pat Benatar and Cher
• The Go-Gos and Patty Smyth
• The Romantics
• Rick Springfield, Loverboy & Eddie Money
• Huey Lewis and The News
• Styx & Foreigner
• Journey & Cheap Trick
• Journey & Steve Miller Band

These are amazing shows and these rockers still have it. Tickets can go as cheap as $18.00 a seat to floor seats for a reasonable $75.00 a ticket. Artists like Rick Springfield offer VIP tickets where you can meet him and watch the band do a soundcheck and he will spend some time with each person, take a photo and sign memorabilia. This is like a mini personal concert and packages for VIP events are $300 to $525 a person, includes everything I mentioned and a special Rick Springfield logo guitar that he will personally autograph at the soundcheck event. This is a once in a lifetime experience and affords the die hard fan a way to meet their idol. You can get information on the VIP packages here.

Trends come and go

the trends I wrote about are seasonal trends but they have a shelf life. Both smart glasses and smart watches are in their infancy or development and the ’80s rockers are like a fine wine that has aged well. Both will trend every summer so jot it down on your calendar and no what was hot last summer will be repackaged and advancements made to again top the list of trendy items for the summer of 2015.

Donald Sterling and the Impact on the Constitution

How We Can Effect Change to the U.S. Constitution Because of the Donald Sterling Controversy

 

The Donald Sterling mess..did America get its justice or did Americans lose another tiny slice of their civil rights? It’s ok to reach for a Utopian society where the scales of equality balance at a zero differential. It is better than ok that we all want a kinder,less polarized, more tolerant world for our children to grow up in. It’s ok that we want to put the dark days of racism in the trash, compact it, put it on a shelf, and demonize anyone that embodies those racist thoughts. BUT, the question is at what cost?

 

One Step forward, two steps back

It seems that we take a step forward and then two steps backwards, like a country dance. We attempt to right a wrong even though the process to collect the evidence was a criminal act. We ignore the process because the moral outrage is worse than the crime. Rarely in life does a private legal transgression of the social contract trump a misdemeanor. Seldom is the court of public opinion dominant to penal law. Illegal wiretap vs. the sanctity of a private conversation and the crime wins.

 

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree

In courts throughout the land, judges rule daily on evidence admissibility. Little tolerance is afforded prosecutors and law enforcement if a piece of evidence is tainted in the slightest, collected without proper search warrant or without probable cause. An illegal collection process or a flawed evidence custody chain is basis for disallowing the evidence as it is now “fruit of the poisonous tree.” Should we allow this type of personal intrusion to effect social change and what is the price? And in this case, why did “the world” wait to hang Donald Sterling after his comments when his actions for decades needed addressing many times before regarding his discrimination practices concerning housing and employment.

 

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Abdul-Jabbar, former Hall of Fame NBA superstar and past employee of Donald Sterling, wrote anop-ed for Time magazine where he expressed outrage at Sterling’s remarks, agreed that he has no place in the NBA as an owner but then started the conversation on the issue of the way the evidence was collected and “leaked.” Kareem drew a parallel to what Sterling’s ex-girlfriend did to the actions of the NSA and their eavesdropping policy exposed by Snowden. Abdul-Jabbar wrote, “Shouldn’t we be equally angered by the fact that his private, intimate conversation was taped and then leaked to the media? Didn’t we just call to task the NSA for intruding into American citizen’s privacy in such an un-American way?” . I agree with Kareem and America that Sterling is a vile creature and has no place in any business that affords him a position to wield his prejudice, but there is another issue being conveniently ignored. The rights of Americans to have a private conversation regardless of the topic or personal opinion. It’s rare that we see inside the mind of a racist at his own expense and by his own utterances but we must factor in that he thought it was a private conversation, not one that would be taped illegally and leaked to TMZ Sports.

 

Two wrongs don’t make a right

Donald Sterling is a jealous, easily manipulated man, that in his heart of hearts is a racist. He is banned for life, the NBA commissioner fined him and team ownership will transfer. Now, we have to inspect and interpret the dynamics of the case and look past the outrage and the action of the haters. We have to realize that this scandal has a bigger context in life than an old man’s racist conduct and thoughts. Serious violations of rights is what is at stake here for us all.

 

Constitutional “gray” areas

• The NSA wiretaps.
• The “Stop and Frisk” police policies.
• The proliferation of video cameras
• The Google Glass.
• Law enforcement and government procurement of emails and texts.
• The searching of smart phones without a warrant,
• Facial recognition software.

This is just a small amount of issues that technology has bred. The forefathers could not have envisioned these advances and could not have addressed them in the Bill of Rights. We need to create a long term standing policy on what citizen’s rights are as far as collection and warehousing of personal data and the means of collection. It’s time for a definitive understanding of the impact of these technologies on the rights of the citizens. No longer is an “interpretative” line item policy enough. We don’t have and cannot afford the time it takes for the Supreme court to weigh each and every argument. Technology is just moving too fast for that time luxury. We need to revise the constitution like a building, total renovated from the ground floor up.

 

Time for Major Revision to the U.S. Constitution

Isn’t it time that the collective; our President, our representatives in Congress, the Supreme Court of the United States, and its’ citizens, address these issues in the Amendments of the U.S. Constitution? Isn’t it time to bring this great document into the modern age? Time to stop trying to interpret what our founding fathers would do and start agreeing on what we want America to be. Our forefathers couldn’t possibly have imagined the technology available now and what the future holds as well as the ramifications to people’s basic rights. Technology offers many advantages but also presents many challenges to our basic ideas of freedom and protection from government and media intrusion. We have to revise the U.S. Constitution to make a relevant document to our lives now in the present and for our future.

 

U.S. Constitution…Holy Document?

Our forefathers would have encouraged us to see the Constitution as a guide but not the “end all be all” document it has evolved into. It’s not a Holy document, it was written by brilliant men in a different time with different challenges, but no divine inspiration. To try and take their world and blend it with ours the way we do is fundamentally flawed. Rather than having lawyers present case after case to the Supreme Court arguing about how a particular word in one context changes the entire meaning, let’s empower our leaders to take affirmative action enacting concrete change.

 

Empowered Action

Using the Constitution as a guide, let’s do a major re-write. We have a ton of smart citizens in this country in academia and other professions. Let’s get their insight and wisdom and trailblaze the future now. Let’s be the generation of Americans that re-purpose the Constitution. Let’s rewrite our collective futures letting our forefathers guide us and model their basic principles with more detail and focus upon OUR immediate and future challenges. Let’s stop the interpretation.

 

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

Do we follow Dale Carnegie’s advice and one day find the upside in this Donald Sterling mess if it effects positive change for society. or will we remember this sad event as another tragic day in many, where we lost another slice of our rights and our privacy. History will not be kind to Donald Sterling, that is a guarantee, his legacy is now of a racist. History will also judge us on how we handle this controversy and if we made lemonade from our lemons.

 

Silver lining

Ben Franklin once said many years prior to the Constitution in a reply to the Pennsylvania Governor in 1755, ” They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Relevant liberties such as open communication, the unabridged freedom of speech and the freedom from search all will be challenges of the Orwellian future and Donald Sterling can be thanked that maybe this will be the scandal that starts that conversation and this dark cloud may have a silver lining.