NPR, Snoop Dogg, & The Mob

A Common Thread

By Keith Rickles

13 April 2015

A disturbing trend

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of a common abuse

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cements unbiased reporting, entertainment, and organized crime

into a single corrupted group.

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5

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Unofficial Occurrences*

The unfortunate trend was first recorded in 1920.

* The US government does not track exact figures.6

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Unofficial Occurrences*

The unfortunate trend was first recorded in 1920.

Impact of the Great Depression

* The US government does not track exact figures.7

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Unofficial Occurrences*

The unfortunate trend was first recorded in 1920.

Impact of the Great Depression

2004: Snoop Dogg caused the resurgence evident in

the 2010 numbers.

* The US government does not track exact figures.8

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

Unofficial Occurrences*

The unfortunate trend was first recorded in 1920.

Impact of the Great Depression

2004: Snoop Dogg caused the resurgence evident in

the 2010 numbers.

2015: NPR and Marketplace make the taboo socially acceptable . Numbers are

forecasted to return to the highly frequent Great Depression levels.

* The US government does not track exact figures.9

Offending Party The Offense Source

The Mob Countless victims of “cement shoes”Every mob movie and even Bugs Bunny cartoons depicting organized crime

Snoop Doggft. Pharrell Williams

A lyric found about half way through the third refrain: “Cement shoes, now I’m on the move”

“Drop It Like It’s Hot”Released 2004, Geffen

Marketplace MorningReport on NPR

David Brancaccio, when discussing a large merger (Lafarge & Holcim),made a comparison to “watching cement dry”

http://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/marketplace-morning-report-friday-march-20-2015

Trend Setters

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Cement

• Cement shoes are not possible. Cement is a powder and has no structural integrity.

• Watching cement dry is also an impossibility as it is already a dry powder.

• Sidewalks are not made of cement. Neither is your driveway.

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An analogy:

Do you eat flour or do you eat bread?

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A Comparison for the Layperson

Flour + Water = Dough + Heat = Bread

Cement + Water= Ready

Mix+ Heat

= Concrete

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General Concepts

Cement + Water = Slurry

Cement + Water + Sand = Mortar

Cement + Water + Sand= Grout (uses more water than mortar mix)

Cement + Water + Sand + Rocks = Ready Mix Concrete

Cement + Sand = A mess

Cement + Rocks = Wasteful

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Name the Picture(Concrete, Cement, Ready Mix)

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Name the Picture(Concrete, Cement, Ready Mix)

Cement Ready Mix

Concrete

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Bonus Points

• The late rapper, Tupac Shukar (1971 – 1996), receives +10 points posthumously for his correct use of the term concrete in his book The Rose that Grew from Concrete, 1999 MTV Books

– Illustrates his intelligence

– Works well in his poetry because he properly uses concrete as a substance which represents an oppressive situation

– Using the term “cement” in place of the term “concrete” would have been a false analogy and distracted an informed reader from fully grasping the meaning of his poem

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+ 10

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Summary

• Cement is a raw material and key ingredient to make concrete. This is similar to flour being a raw material and key ingredient to make bread.

• You cannot make shoes from cement or watch cement dry. You can walk on cement, but it will cause issues. More on next slide.

• You can make shoes from ready mix concrete.

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WARNINGS

• Do not handle cement with your bare hands.– Your sweat will activate it– Your skin will develop a rash which will progress to a

burn

• Do not breathe cement dust.• Always use your Personal Protective Equipment

when working with cement or cement-based products.

• More info:– http://www.cement.org/cement-concrete-basics/working-with-

concrete/working-safely-with-concrete– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_protective_equipment

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Additional Resources (not listed directly on slides)

• Slide 5– Snoop Dogg photo:

http://images4.mtv.com/uri/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:691837?width=476&height=268&crop=true&quality=0.85

– NPR & Marketplace logos came from their respective websites

– MOB logo found here: http://forward-now.com/2013/04/30/walker-place-part-2/

• Slide 13– Making bread: http://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/bread5.htm

– Making cement: • Explained with words: http://www.cement.org/cement-concrete-basics/how-cement-is-made

• Explained with animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDckapx5hTM

• Slides 15 & 16 pictures– Cement: http://www.ccanz.org.nz/images/cmsimage/cements.bmp

– Ready Mix: http://www.goudacement.com/images/contractor-cement.jpg

– Concrete: http://janddconcretespecialist.com/wp-content/gallery/concrete-sidewalks/img_0150_0.jpg

• Slide 18– Written note card: http://images.rapgenius.com/67404bc864b5a46966a04499ee4c121a.505x292x1.jpg

– Book cover image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/61/Rosefromconcrete.jpg

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Thanks

I hope you enjoyed this tongue-in-cheek slide deck explaining the difference between cement and concrete. Please send me your feedback.

Mini bio: I have worked in the construction materials industry for almost 20-years, doing everything from dispatch to developing software.

My blog: www.keithrickles.com

Email: emailkeith at keithrickles dot com

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