tfdl

This will be our last entry for a few weeks. We will be working on the new blog from the Whitman Institute, ThinkForChange.org. This is a very exciting new wrinkle. The institute is a Bay Area foundation involved in several different, but connected, areas of interest. Whitman supports cutting edge organizations that deal with such issues as Dialogue, Civic Engagement, Philanthropy, the Interplay of Emotion and Reason, just to name a few.

This new blog will be a tool not only for connecting the various grantees to learn of each other’s work, but also to invite members of the wider community to join in on our on-going dialogues.

If any of you would like us to contact you to let you know when ThinkForChange is up and running, just send an e-mail to: edd@thewhitmaninstitute.org with “ThinkForChange” in the subject line and we will add you to that announcement list. Unless you request us to add you to our Whitman mailing list, this will be the only time we will contact you.

See you all in the blogosphere!

Posted by Edd at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It seems that one reliable way to tell Bush’s approval rating is to look at the price of gas at the pump. PROFESSOR POLLKATZ's Pool of Polls has a link to a graph showing how closely the two track together. Now, we all know that correlation is not causality, but it will be interesting to see what gas prices are like around Election Day, and then what happens afterwards.
Here is the graph.

Posted by Edd at 2:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ummmm... we're not sure what to make of this except to say that it seems like a good idea. Here's the headline in today's Philadelphia Inquirer:
Day-care sites required to be free of toxins
The rest of the story is here.

Posted by Edd at 1:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Safe Travels

Shifting to the fact-based community, security expert, Bruce Schneier, writes here why airline security is wasting money, and how we might better protect the traveling public. I know of no better to honor those who died on those flights than to develop an airline security system that actually works.

Posted by Edd at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lots of silicon will be etched today on the anniversary of 9-11, so no need for us to do that here. It may be a good thing to take a minute and reflect on the fact that there was not one tragedy involving three thousand individuals that day, but three thousand individual tragedies all happening simultaneously. And while we are doing that, it may not hurt to reflect for a moment more on the many thousands more individual tragedies that have occurred in response.

Posted by Edd at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just when you thought it was safe to fly again, here is a story about a “performance artists” who wanted to see if he could get through airport security with a vibrator down his trousers – a vibrating one. Like our Italian friends say, it is a good story even if it is true.
Check it out. Enjoy the weekend.

Posted by Edd at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The powers that be would have us all worrying about a terrorist plot to spread infectious diseases in major metropolitan areas. The terrorists don’t have to. We are pretty good at doing that all by ourselves. Not washing hands properly is a leading cause of the spread of infectious diseases. Soon that may all change.

Every once in a while a really great idea is morphed into a really great product. Squid Soap may be the most recent iteration of that process. When you press on the dispenser a blue mark remains on the hand. It takes about 15 – 20 seconds of washing to remove the mark. This is a great way to teach children how to wash properly, and to remind adults to take those extra 10 seconds.

Let’s not let the terrorists win. Let’s clean those hands! Squid Soap – a Nobel Prize nominee for hygiene.

Posted by Edd at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Swift-truthing ABC

Evidently, ABC-TV executives are beginning to feel the heat following their decision to air the deeply flawed “docudrama”, Path to 9-11, this Sunday and Monday on the fifth anniversary of the attacks. There have been some 40,000 e-mail messages sent to them in just the last two days. Here is a copy of our contribution; it is a letter to George Mitchell, the current Chairman of Disney, ABC’s parent company.

Dear Mr. Mitchell,

By now you are well aware that many Americans have serious concerns about how events related to the attacks on 9-11 will be portrayed on the ABC program “Path to 9-11” slated to air this Sunday and Monday evenings. That attack has been seared into the collective consciousness of all Americans, and so any depiction of events leading up to that fateful day is a delicate subject to say the least.

Apparently, your colleagues at ABC have chosen to fictionalize some of this “path” and fabricate key elements of the story line for either dramatic effect, or more nefarious purposes. In any event my concern is that, because of these fabrications, significant historical inaccuracies may be introduced into the national conversation – inaccuracies that may well lead to further polarization in an already polarized nation.

Mr. Mitchell, like all Americans I have a personal stake in making sure that this history is writ well and writ large. And as I have followed your career since you left the Senate, I am sure you have personal experience in mediating between parties who have vastly different views on their shared histories. We in America can ill afford to go down that path in these particularly troubling times.

I urge you to heed President Clinton’s request that you insist that the inaccuracies be corrected, or withdraw the film until it can be revised to portray an honest and unbiased narrative about a national tragedy.

If you feel compelled to add your comments (and we hope you do), here is the path to ThinkProgress.org with all the contact information you might need. Please remember, though, that Mr. Mitchell is usually on the side of the angels. Be nice, but be direct. This film must be re-edited, or pulled.

Posted by Edd at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The groundswell may well become an earthquake. The Disney produced 9-11 “docudrama” is scheduled to be aired on Sunday and Monday on ABC to mark the 5th anniversary of the attack on this country. Apparently, it is quite a doozy.
Apparently, it blames the Clinton administration for what happened that day. Apparently, they have made up “facts” and are presenting them as based on the 9-11 Commission Report. Right wing bloggers have been sent advanced copies. As had Rush. Clinton has not been so fortunate.
This is serious business. It deserves a letter or two to the execs at Mouseland and ABC.
Here is a site with all the bills of particular.

Posted by Edd at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flying While Jewish

A disturbing article in The Jerusalem Post tells of an Orthodox Jewish gentleman who was removed form an Air Canada plane prior to take-off because he was praying. It appears his davening made some of the passengers nervous. It is a good thing my mother no longer flies. No doubt her rosary beads would cause quite a calamity these days. Maybe it is time for everyone to chill a bit.

Posted by Edd at 2:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to an article by the Associated Press it is becoming common for colleges to evict students who have attempted suicide from their dorm rooms when they return to school.
So, let’s sort this out. It is important for suicidal youth to ask for help. Yet if they do ask for help, they will be evicted from their dorm. Like we said, go figure.
Here is the article.

Posted by Edd at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few intrepid souls in the Bay Area have begun hacking their Toyota Priuses. The result? 100 mpg vehicles. They do this by adding batteries. So why doesn’t Toyota just add more batteries? Apparently, "The only reason they don't want to plug in right now is that they don't know they can."
Check out these hackers at CalCars Initiative.

Posted by Edd at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A consortium of foundations have invested in a new initiative to provide grants for working artists that mirrors (in a vague way considering the amount of the awards) the MacAurthur Foundation’s “genius” awards.

Four foundations — Ford, Rockefeller, Prudential and the Alaska-based Rasmuson— have put up a total of $20 million to create the organization and seed its initial operations, but the goal is for it to become a conduit between artists and individual donors.

Here are the details in the Paper of Record.

Posted by Edd at 1:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Canaries and Mines...

Scientists from the British Antarctic Survey reported in a lecture entitled, The Antarctic Canary - the human impact on climate change that,

“Ice cores reveal the Earth's natural climate rhythm over the last 800,000 years. When carbon dioxide changed there was always an accompanying climate change. Over the last 200 years human activity has increased carbon dioxide to well outside the natural range and we have no analogue for what will happen next."

They urge the rapid development of new technologies to reduce the impact we humans are having on our climate. It cannot come too soon.

Posted by Edd at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” Sign in Albert Einstein’s office in Princeton

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. Einstein

What makes this interesting is a slightly different headline in the NYT: "Iraq Official Reports Capture of Top Insurgent Leader Linked to Shrine Bombing". In a more nuanced view of the situation an American official was unwilling to set a ranking. According to the article
.

.. [a] United States military official was more cautious in describing Mr. Saeedi’s place in the organization’s pecking order. While he was a “top-tier guy” who supervised those who carried out the Samarra bombing, “I’m not sure we are ready to put a number on him,” said the American official…”

And the metaphor is expanding. “WWIII” is beginning to enter into the national conversation. “Keeping it simple, stupid” sometimes leads to greater complexity and confusion. And more stupidity.

Posted by Edd at 4:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the few delights left for us moviegoers these days is to see the graphics (and hear that fabulous single note) that the geniuses at LucasFilm use to introduce their THX sound systems. Five of the eleven trailers – including one that we have not seen in theaters – are here on the THX website. The "Story of Deep Note" on the site is worth a quick read.

Posted by Edd at 7:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There was an episode on The West Wing that was entitled “The Friday Night Trash”, or something to that effect. The title referred to a practice in Washington, DC of releasing “bad news” at the end of the day on a given Friday. That way it is reported on Saturday when hardly anyone is paying attention, and by Monday whoever released the information can speak of it as old news…

This afternoon happens to be a Friday heading into the Labor Day weekend. Most of the movers and shakers in Washington, DC are either on the beach in nearby Delaware, or on Cape Cod, or perhaps in Maine. Of course there are a few who are on fact-finding missions in Italy, and Hawaii and so forth as well.

So, they will probably miss this report from the Pentagon about the deteriorating situation in Iraq entitled “Measuring the Security and Stability in Iraq”. Too bad. A good read. Lots of violence (attacks up 50%). Death squads and insurgents (“potent and viable”). Also, looks like Al Qaeda is still powerful in spite of the loss of its local boss.

Here is the report in the NYT with a link to the PDF of the report.

Update on Saturday's newspaper coverage:

Paper of Record: Front Page
Chicago Tribune: Nada, but they do have a headline about Tom Cruise’s apology to Brooks Shields
Philadelphia Inquirer: Front Page
Washington Post: Front Page
SF Chronicle: Nada, but “hairy and chubby gay men” seem to be hip… or is it hop?
LA Times: Nada, but there is an article about a local fundamentalist minister who want to convert “generations of the post-modern age”
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Nada, but we were saddened to learn that Jessica Simpson's voice is not 100% yet.

Posted by Edd at 3:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In this insightful paper, How To Scapegoat the Leader, based on a talk given by Thomas Michael. He introduces the work of Rene Girard, and his “mimetic [imitation – ed.] theory”.

In the course of time the cycle of chaotic violence, followed by the scapegoating of an individual or small group and the return to relative tranquility resulted in the establishment of the prohibitions, hierarchies, rituals and institutions that constitute what we call culture…

In violent times the violence becomes contagious, and eventually the community needs to restabilize again. And in extreme cases this may result in the scapegoating of the leader, rather than on a random figure.

The authority figure is a marginal insider who is always in danger of being scapegoated by the mob whenever there is unrest. Both the authority and subordinates are fearful of chaos, so everyone demands rules, procedures, hierarchies and prohibitions to maintain order. Any member of the group who becomes too much like the leader may be accused of causing trouble.

Here is the entire article.

Posted by Edd at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is an amazing story of Geoff Lawton an expert in reclaiming agricultural areas that seem impossible to cultivate. His site offers a step-by-step approach describing how to plant trees and crops and desalinate “salt laden dustbowls”.

This is a very hopeful sign. Here is the link.

Posted by Edd at 1:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In a recent NYT article there was a graph displayed to show how housing prices for existing home have fluctuated over the last century or so. The Yale economist, Robert Shiller created this index that factored out the impact of inflation. Looking at the current “hockey stick” spike gives an eerie picture of just how unsustainable it all is.

Very powerful. Check it out here.

Posted by Edd at 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As most know, Kyra Phillips, CNN anchorperson/newsreader, made a trip to the ladies room recently while George Bush was explaining once again to the American people why the So-Called War On Terrorism (SCWOT – pronounced “squat”) is winnable, even if not during his term in office. Going to the john seems like a sensible thing to do on such occasions. Unfortunately, her wireless microphone was left on while she conversed with a colleague about her family, especially her “control freak” sister-in-law.

In the aftermath she apologized, and then she did a really smart thing. Rather than backpedal or dissemble, she moved into action. On the Letterman Show, she read the “Top Ten List”. In this case the lit was the ‘Top Ten Kyra Phillips Excuses”. It was a very funny bit, and served to diffuse any possible negative outcome from such a flub.

Through the magic of You Tube, here is the video clip.

Posted by Edd at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)