Sunday, February 8, 2009

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Stephen C. Rose: Obama Pattern Language Primer -- 2 Top
By Stephen C Rose This is the second in my series of efforts to converse with a superb online outline of Christopher Alexander's book A Pattern Language . All the posts in this series can be accessed here as they appear. We are still in the initial Independent Regions section, dealing now with the following cluster of patterns. By giving you direct access to these, my comments below can be supplemented by your perusal of the brief entries for each one. Through city policies, encourage the piecemeal formation of those major structures which define the city. Mosaic of Subcultures Scattered Work Magic of the City Local Transport Areas Mosaic of Subcultures (May be part of City Country Fingers) Alexander says, correctly, that "The homogeneous and undifferentiated character of modern cities kills all variety of life styles and arrests the growth of individual character." He proposes enriching subcultures within cities, indeed breaking them up into "a vast mosaic .. each with its own spacial territory, and each with the power to create its own distinct life style." As this goes on you will see that what I am proposing would make this possible without falling into the trap Alexander sets. Most cities of any size are already examples of stratification into class, racial and ethnic groups. The problem is that such stratification, when it is not the product of choice, is oppressive and unjust. What will emerge as we go on is a proposal for just such a vast mosaic. But getting beyond today's oppressive stratification is part and parcel of the change we need. Scattered Work (May be part of Mosaic of Subcultures) Says Alexander: "The artificial separation of houses and work creates intolerable rifts in people's inner lives." This is the crux of the underlying malaise today. "Use zoning laws, neighbourhood planning, tax incentives, and any other means available to scatter workplaces throughout the city. Prohibit large concentrations of work, without family life around them. Prohibit large concentrations of family life, without workplaces around them." We will eventually see that this is only possible when we have fleshed things out to the point of arriving at the macro-decisions that make this micro-development possible. On the micro-level, for example, there would need to be a brand new evolution of what we now call internet cafes, places close to home where people can set up secure contact with their "offices". The reason for this is that not everyone wishes to work at home and for good reason. Therefore we are discussing a culture of work which is close to home. But such a development would be most likely in a community that was set up to have all local needs met by structures within walking distance. Magic of the City (May be part of Mosaic of Subcultures, City Country Fingers) Alexander sees correctly that access to the magic of the city is not easy in today's metrosprawl. The cost, particularly for families, of living in the center of Manhattan or Chicago is prohibitive. In essence Alexander believes that this magic needs to be replicated and I agree. The answer lies by implementation of "collective regional policies which restrict the growth of downtown areas so strongly that no one downtown can grow to serve more than 300,000 people. With this population base, the downtown's will be between two and nine miles apart." This may sound draconian, but it gets the thought synapses on the track of an evolved planning. Local Transport Areas (May be part of City Country Fingers, Mosaic of Subcultures) Alexander says: "Cars give people wonderful freedom and increase their opportunities. But they also destroy the environment, to an extent so drastic that they kill all social life." Here is Alexander's solution: "Break the urban area down into local transport areas each one between 1 and 2 miles across, surrounded by a ring road. Within the local transport area, build minor local roads and paths for internal movements on foot, by bike, on horseback and in local vehicles; build major roads which make it easy for cars and trucks to get to and from ring roads but place them to make internal local trips slow and inconvenient." I have quoted this at length because I do not think we will ever begin to implement any of the essential Alexander ideas if we do not confront the need to largely do away with the private automobile (as we know it) as anything but an ancillary aspect of a fully integrated existence. I think that most transportation within the new settlements that need to be built on the obsolete foundations of metrosprawl will be on foot. Vehicular transportation in wheeled vehicles will be separated from pedestrian areas. Parking that be exterior to the living areas. I believe we can devise transit for roads that include wheeled mini-trains, new-fangled bus-like vehicles, priority vehicles for necessary travel, and that cars as we envision them will ultimately be used as needed along some rental pattern. Pattern Primer Pages http://stephencrose.wordpress.com/ More on Cars
 
Jessica Biel Hosts Sci-Tech Oscars, Pixar Co-Founder Honored Top
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Host Jessica Biel wore Oscar de la Renta, but it was bearded, buttoned-down Pixar co-founder Ed Catmull who got whoops and whistles at the first Academy Awards presentation of the year. Attendees yelled and stood for Catmull, president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, as he accepted an Oscar statuette Saturday night for a lifetime of work in computer animation. He said he was inspired by early Disney films "Peter Pan" and "Pinocchio," then name-dropped collaborators George Lucas, Steve Jobs and Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter. "In each of the communities that I've been in, we know that when we make the movies look good, we make each other look good," Catmull said. "It's really been a great adventure." Pixar celebrates its 23rd birthday this year and is set to release "Up" _ its 10th feature _ in May. Its "WALL-E" is favored to win the animated feature category at the main Oscars ceremony Feb. 22. Nine other men were honored at the annual scientific and technical awards ceremony, which put a spotlight on the geekier side of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Biel, who was not accompanied by boyfriend Justin Timberlake, picked her way through tricky jargon like "anamorphic de-squeezers" and got cheek-peck greetings from European honorees. Philippe Parain, CEO of French lens maker Angenieux, checked with a cameraman to ensure that his company's product was being used to record the host of the black-tie ceremony. "I just want to make sure Jessica's image is as perfect as she is beautiful," he said. "Vive le cinema!" Biel, 26, who starred most recently in "Easy Virtue" and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry," said she's far from tech-savvy but has been steadily learning about equipment used behind the scenes on her films. "The older I get, the more movies I do, the more aware I am," she said. She praised "WALL-E" and said animated films deserve a place among best picture nominees. "They're so emotional," she said. "And most of the Pixar films, I usually laugh, cry, am frightened. Those types of movies could and should _ if they're good enough _ win an Oscar. Why not?" Among the other honorees Saturday: the makers of the Arrimax lighting system, the Hylen lens system, and Transvideo monitors. Computer scientist Mark Kimball, formerly of Disney, glanced from Biel to the medallion he'd been awarded for his technological achievements on films ranging from "Tron" to "Beauty and the Beast." "What a gorgeous thing!" he said, smiling broadly. (This version CORRECTS movie title to 'Pinocchio' not 'Pinnochio.') More on Award Season
 
Jay Mandle: Our Twin Crises Top
It might seem that $25 million is a lot of money. That is the level of campaign donations made by environmentalists and those associated with alternative energy industries since 1990. It sounds as if it should have made "greens" important political players. That it did not illustrates just how much money is required to become politically influential. Those "green" contributions paled when compared to more than $2 billion provided by individuals associated with Wall Street. Far and away, financial, real estate, and insurance interests were the single largest source of the money collected by politicians during those years. The dysfunction that results could not be more clear. The current world-wide economic melt-down largely is the perverse consequence of the United States' financial sector's ability to escape regulation, a "success" rooted in its role as the preeminent source of political funds. At the same time, the failure of our political system seriously to address the issue of fossil fuel emissions stems from the fact that the environmental movement lacked the financial resources to buy political clout. The problem here is that these two - the economic down-turn and the threat of an environmental crisis - are self-reinforcing. Before the economic crisis hit, world-wide private sector investment in alternative energy sources was growing strongly. Expenditures for wind farms, solar parks, biofuel plants, and biomass and waste-to-energy installations increased by 60% between 2006 and 2007, and were growing very strongly again in the first half of 2008. But then the crisis hit and these outlays plummeted. Because of Wall Street's greed and the resulting economic collapse, the probability of an environmental catastrophe has increased. What makes this situation so threatening is that while time is running out for the environment, neither the tailspin in the economy nor the decline in renewable energy investment is likely to reverse itself in the near future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that in order to stabilize the climate, greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2020 and be reduced by 40-70 percent by 2050. But for that to happen, clean energy investment will have to grow to $515 billion dollars per year. To provide context for that figure, investment in alternative energy sources came to $155 billion in 2008, and as one industry source has put it, "the best we think we can hope for in 2009 is a modest step beyond 2008's levels." However, not all is lost. It is good that at last we have a president in Barack Obama who is alive to both the catastrophe that has struck the economy and the imminent danger that global warming represents. His influence is the reason that a large fiscal stimulus package is advancing in Congress and that it contains upwards of $50 billion in measures to improve energy efficiency and to fund renewable energy research (though I confess to being less than enthusiastic about the provision in the House version of the bill calling for $350 million to be spent on "research into using renewable energy to power weapons systems and military bases"). But the fact is that these are efforts that only partially offset the damage that has been done. High and rising unemployment will be with us for a long time and the time frame in which we must act to successfully deal with global warming is growing ever shorter. The hope is that the President will be able to build on both the size and "green" content of the stimulus package. The content of that package will not be the last set of initiatives that the economy needs: still required for the housing market to recover for example is aggressive action to assist home owners at risk of defaulting on their adjustable rate mortgages. Similarly, much more has to be done to encourage the shift from fossil fuels. The President should make the case to the American people that a carbon tax is a matter of the highest priority. But above all he should take a leadership role in reshaping the structure of the American political system. A policy agenda shaped by special interests is an anachronism. It serves the country poorly both in the long run and the short run. That we are unable to manage a functioning economy or deal with climate change because rapacious Wall Street traders have disproportionate political clout is a measure of our political dysfunction. In addition therefore to working to drag the economy out of its doldrums and encouraging public sector green expenditures, President Obama should get behind the Senate bill that provides public funds for Congressional candidates. This legislation would go far to reduce the power of those who got us into our twin crises. Wealthy individuals must no longer be permitted to impose their special interests at the expense of the country and indeed the entire world. More on Stimulus Package
 
SNL: Bjork, Michael Phelps "Really," And The "Today" Show (VIDEO) Top
"Saturday Night Live" was hosted by Bradley Cooper ("He's Just Not That Into You," "Wedding Crashers") this week. The show featured skits making fun of the fourth hour of "Today," the marijuana incident of Michael Phelps, Iceland's fiscal crisis and more. See the Digital Short with T-Pain here. During Weekend Update there were two segments on Michael Phelps' marijuana bust. Seth Meyers did a "Really!?!" with his thoughts on Michael Phelps, on Kellogg's for possibly dropping him as a spokesman, and on whoever snapped the now-infamous bong photo and sold it to a tabloid. "Parents, if your kid says Michael Phelps smokes pot, why can't I? Say you can, as soon as you win 12 gold medals for your country." WATCH: In the other, Andy Samberg played Mark Spitz commenting on the incident: Also during Weekend Update, Icelandic singer Bjork (Kristen Wiig) commented on Iceland's economy. "Instead of paper money, we should change our currency to clouds." In a second skit spoofing the fourth hour of "Today" ( first one here) with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, Gifford (Wiig) continued with menopausal hot flashes and insults of Kotb (Michaela Watkins) while the two talked about current events and learned to model walk. More on Video On HuffPost
 
84 killed in deadliest-ever Australian wildfires Top
HEALESVILLE, Australia — Towering flames razed entire towns in southeastern Australia and burned fleeing residents in their cars as the death toll rose to 84 on Sunday, making it the country's deadliest fire disaster. At least 700 homes were destroyed in Saturday's inferno when searing temperatures and wind blasts produced a firestorm that swept across a swath of the country's Victoria state, where all the deaths occurred. "Hell in all its fury has visited the good people of Victoria," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told reporters as he toured the fire zone on Sunday. "It's an appalling tragedy for the nation." Thousands of exhausted volunteer firefighters were still battling about 30 uncontrolled fires Sunday night in Victoria, officials said, though conditions had eased considerably. It would be days before they were brought under control, even if temperatures stayed down, they said. Government officials said the army would be deployed to help out, and Rudd announced immediate emergency aid of 10 million Australian dollars ($7 million). The tragedy echoed across Australia. Leaders in other states _ most of which have been struck by their own fire disasters in the past _ pledged to send money and volunteer firefighters. Funds for public donations opened Sunday quickly started swelling. Witnesses described seeing trees exploding and skies raining ash on Saturday as temperatures of up 117 F (47 C) combined with blasting winds to create furnace-like conditions. The scene was utter devastation Sunday in at least two regions _ the town of Marysville and several hamlets in the Kinglake district, both about 50 miles (100 kilometers) north of the state capital Melbourne. In Kinglake, just five houses out of about 40 remained standing, an Associated Press news crew who overflew the region observed. Street after street was lined by smoldering wrecks of homes; roofs collapsed inward, iron roof sheets twisted from the heat. The burned-out hulks of cars dotted roads. Here and there, fire crews filled their trucks from ponds and sprayed down spot fires. There were no other signs of life. Even from the air, the landscape was blackened as far as the eye could see. Entire forests were reduced to leafless, charred trunks, farmland to ashes. The Victoria Country Fire Service said some 850 square miles (2,200 square kilometers) were burned out. "This is our house here _ totally gone," Wayne Bannister told Sky News, standing with his wife Anita amid a tangle of blackened timber and bricks in Kinglake. Another man, who was not named, described to Sky battling the flames with a garden hose until he heard first his car gas tank, then a house propane tank, explode. He and his wife fled through a window. "It rained fire," he said. "We hid in our olive grove for an hour and watched our house burn." Witnesses said about 90 percent of the buildings in Marysville, a town of about 800 people located 20 miles (35 kilometers) west of Kinglake, had been ruined. Police said two people died there. "Marysville is no more," Senior Constable Brian Cross told the AP as he manned a checkpoint in nearby Healesville on a road leading into the town. The official toll climbed higher during the day, reaching 84 at 20 locations by Sunday night, according to a police statement. It was expected to keep rising. Australia's previous worst fires were in 1983, when blazes killed 75 people and razed more than 3,000 homes in Victoria and South Australia state. Seventy-one died and 650 buildings were destroyed in 1939. Police said charred bodies had been found in cars in at least two places _ suggesting people were engulfed in flames as they tried to flee. At least 80 people were hospitalized with burns. Dr. John Coleridge of Alfred Hospital, one of the largest in the fire zone, said injuries ranged from scorches on the feet of people who fled across burning ground to life-threatening burns. At least three would probably die, he said. Victoria police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said police suspected some of the fires were set deliberately. Temperatures in the area dropped to about 77 F (25 C) on Sunday, but along with cooler conditions came wind changes that officials said could push fires in unpredictable directions. Dozens of fires were also burning in New South Wales state, where temperatures remained high for the third consecutive day. Properties were not under immediate threat. Wildfires are common during the Australian summer. Government research shows about half of the roughly 60,000 fires each year are deliberately lit or suspicious. Lightning and people using machinery near dry brush are other causes. ___ On the 'Net: Victoria's Country Fire Service: http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/index.htm
 
Maggie Gyllenhaal And Peter Sarsgaard Now Together On Stage Top
there is an added frisson to their coming collaboration in "Uncle Vanya" (which opens on Thursday and runs through March 8), one of the rare instances when the two will appear together in a professional capacity. Mr. Sarsgaard and Ms. Gyllenhaal said they would work together more often if there were more low-risk opportunities like this, at a small Off Broadway theater with an accommodating director. "It is only about the experience of doing it, and with your lover; why would we engage in anything any other way than that?" Mr. Sarsgaard said. "Why would we join forces commercially? It would be ----"
 
TV SoundOff: Sunday Talking Heads Top
Good morning everyone and welcome to your Sunday Morning Liveblog and I am Jason. Look at me, here ! All right, now stop that. I hope you are ready for a stimulating conversation, by which I mean a conversation about stimulating. By which I mean the stimulus package. And whether it stimulates the economy. You know, some people think the economy is best stimulated through tax cuts. Others think that we should pay out on spending projects that get things built and people employed. That's why I'm glad that Senators Susan Collins and Ben Nelson have taken over, because those two know what the country needs right now - hyper-timid incrementalist bullshit. Oh, say! Can you see by the dawn's early light all of the hyper-timid incrementalist bullshit being tossed at the walls of the Senate? It's delicious, really. Now, the package probably won't work, but it will at least be safe, and filibuster-proof. I mean, in the event that we even have a filibuster! Seems like lately, you just say the word "filibuster" and suddenly to can compel Harry Reid to start spinning straw into hyper-timid incrementalist-- Well, you get what I mean. But remember! Straight from the White House and President Obama, this bill is supposed to have a bipartisan stamp of approval! That bipartisanship is so important! Seriously. If you don't believe me, take out your wallet, and start enthusiastically shouting, "Bipartisanship is here!" to your money. See what happens? Seriously, can you tell me if you see anything happening? My money doesn't do anything when I tell it about the bipartisanship and I am really, really, really hoping it's broken. So, leave a comment, send an email , and enjoy hearing about how failure sausage gets made. FOX NEWS SUNDAY Oh, joy. Lawrence Summers is on televsion this morning, so maybe Paul Volcker can have a little White House face time while he's chatting up Wallace. How big a re-write is to be expected, once the stimulus package, or "Stimpy" goes to conference committee? Well, Summers wants you to know that the priority is jobs and that there will be some scrubbing and the nipping and tucking but everyone needs to transcend politics, which is like water trascending wetness. Summers thinks that there's too much at stake to miss the February 16 deadlines that Obama has sought. Wallace goes down some of the cuts that have been made. The $40 billion to the states that have been cut is a huge loss to Stimpy. Just re-route that money to the states of the Senators that don't vote against it. Seriously, why should Haley Barbour and Sarah Palin have money forced on them? Enjoy you FEMA trailers and wolf-pelts, Governors! Summers is all a-politicking here. I'm wondering if there's going to be any actual economic theory here. Wallace hits him with the timely-targeted-temporary tag, and wonders if Stimpy is living up to those principles. Summers notes that hiring on an infrastructure project begins right away. Wallace says that social spending initiatives aren't targeted, but Summers counters by saying that a family that receives assistance in sending their kid to college helps stimulate the economy in myriad ways (it also tucks someone who'd otherwise be looking for a job in a bad job market into a four year college program). Wallace asks if Obama's trying to permanently expand the size of government. Isn't that something the last administration did? Summers says we're "inheriting the worst financial situation since the Depression." Which, as you recall, was solved through bipartisanship. Summers addresses the too many chefs criticism by saying that Obama has "final edit" on economic decisions. As for the fact that Summers has been labelled as sort of a dick, Summers says he's just trying to help Obama with his awesome opinions, and a "high-degree of intensity" is needed. This is where I notice that Summers is answering these questions just like a guy who knows he's a hothead would, with slow, pointed preambles that allow him to mentally count to ten. He praises Paul Volcker, though, so maybe he got his nuts trod on during the week.
 
NATO commander: Afghanistan drug raids imminent Top
MUNICH — In an effort to strike at a key income source for Taliban militants, the top NATO commander said Sunday that operations to attack drug lords and labs in Afghanistan will begin within the "next several days." Gen. John Craddock, who also heads the U.S. European Command, also said that the U.S. and its allies are making progress in their efforts to fill the need for more troops, equipment and intelligence gathering in Afghanistan. He, however, would not disclose any specific commitments he got this weekend as world leaders met at a security conference here. NATO defense ministers, during a meeting last fall in Hungary, authorized troops in Afghanistan to launch the drug attacks, but there had been questions about whether allies would be willing to follow through. Money from Afghanistan's booming illicit drug trade has been blamed for pumping up to $100 million a year into the coffers of resurgent Taliban fighters. "Activities and actions will occur soon that will be helpful," Craddock told reporters. "We've got to get started." The U.S. delegation to the security conference, led by Vice President Joe Biden, was expected to talk to allies this weekend about the ongoing need for support in Afghanistan. Craddock said he still needs about 5,000 NATO troops to bolster Afghan forces during the coming elections, and he is confident he will get them from other NATO nations. At the same time, he said he still has a critical need for trainers that he has yet to fill, and the expected announcement about a forthcoming build-up in U.S. forces has been delayed as the Pentagon juggles the numbers in the face of an ongoing review by the new Obama administration. Allies, said Craddock, "expected they would be asked to step up and do more. Now it's a matter of political will." Leaders have speculated that good will surrounding the inauguration of President Barack Obama would generate greater efforts by NATO allies to send additional resources to Afghanistan. Pentagon officials have said they expect to send as many as 30,000 more troops there, including several brigades in the coming months.
 
Salman's New Lady: The Actress Who Plays Condi Top
He may be 61, a veteran of four marriages, and, yes, he was marked for death, but Salman Rushdie can still charm a beautiful woman. Having split with "Top Chef" enchantress Padma Lakshmi in 2007, the "Satanic Verses" author is now seeing Pia Glenn, the long-stemmed glamazon who plays Condoleezza Rice in Will Ferrell's Broadway show, "You're Welcome, America: A Final Night With George W. Bush." Some might find Rushdie and Glenn a curious couple. She was born in Harlem, he in India. At 32, she's 29 years his junior. At 6 feet tall in bare feet, she has 3 inches on him. But even with her wearing 4-inch heels, they looked rather adorable arriving arm in arm at the Mansion party for the show's opening night.
 
Gretchen Rubin: Happiness Project: Consider Switching Doctors Top
I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too ! Everyone's project will look different, but it's the rare person who can't benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. Each Friday's post will help you think about your own happiness project. Sometimes, by coincidence, several people mention the same happiness-boosting idea around the same time, so it hits me with particular force. A wonderful doctor is a tremendous source of comfort and reassurance; over the last few weeks, four friends have mentioned to me how much happier they were after they switched doctors. In every case, they were seeing a doctor who didn't appreciate the amount of pain they were in, and who dismissed their efforts to try to explain the problem or find some solution. One OB/GYN said something like, "Women have babies every day. You just had a baby. So you're in pain, get over yourself." Turns out my friend had a broken pelvis! Another friend kept explaining to a doctor that his advice wasn't yielding any results in her case. He implied that she wasn't being diligent about following instructions. When she switched, the new doctor put her on a medication that cleared up the problem immediately. Etc. Given the importance of trusting and respecting your doctor, why is it so hard to make a change? I myself find it practically impossible to prod myself to switch, once I have had even one appointment with a doctor. First, we need to believe that the doctor is smart and correct. Switching away from a doctor signals that we no longer trust his or her judgment, and that's scary, especially if there's some particular cause for concern. Second, what with the records and charts and everything, it's confusing to know HOW to switch. Third, inertia is so powerful. Switching means finding a better doctor, which means doing research, questioning your judgment, tracking down information, figuring out who takes your insurance, where the office is located, and so on. However, when my nine-year-old was a baby, I switched to a different pediatrician in a flash. My maternal instinct swamped my usual reluctance to make a change, and once I decided that I didn't like the doctor, I had no trouble telling his office that we were going elsewhere. Maybe a way to coax yourself into switching doctors is to think of yourself in the third person, or to imagine how you'd act if a member of your family were receiving the treatment you've been getting. (As a sidenote, I use this trick frequently: If I'm not sure about my reaction to some event, I imagine someone describing the situation to me as if it happened to a stranger. That often clarifies my view. Along the same lines, I remember reading somewhere that writer Anne Lamott thinks about herself in the third person, to take better care of herself: "I'm sorry, Anne Lamott can't accept that invitation to speak; she's finishing a book so needs to keep her schedule clear.") Remember, too, that you're helping other patients when you switch away from a bad doctor, because your switch demonstrates to a doctor that his or her treatment was indeed unacceptable. I heard a lecture by a child-education specialist who said, "The only way that teachers know they're assigning too much homework is when the most diligent kids can't complete it. If you let your child stay up until 2:00 a.m. to finish, you're not helping." Same thing with a doctor. Of course, tougher than making a switch from a bad doctor is having no choice about what doctor you see, or having no doctor at all. It's good to remember that. Have you had an experience where switching doctors made you happier? *** Have I mentioned lately how much I love Unclutterer ? *** Interested in starting your own happiness project? If you'd like to take a look at Gretchen Rubin's personal Resolutions Chart, for inspiration, just email her at grubin, then the "at" sign, then gretchenrubin dot com. (Sorry about writing it in that roundabout way; I'm trying to thwart spammers.) Just write "Resolutions Chart" in the subject line. More on Health
 
Susan Smalley: TED: Are You In Or Are You Out? Top
I spent Wednesday at the TED conference in Long Beach listening to inspiring, creative talks about 'doing' good in the world. The theme of most of these presentations is 'connection', multiple ways of showing that we share - via biology (genes), emotions, losses, loves, ecology - our humanity, that the universe is like one beating heart with its great diversity masking this unity at times. TED is about showing this unity in diversity at every level of existence - brain and body with their trillions of cells, technology with its exponential change, and human diversity - color, sex, religion, cultural diversity yet common shared experiences of birth, family, community, work, love, and death. But TED, like most things in life, fosters a dichotomy: TEDster vs. not TEDster, leader vs. follower, 'doers' vs. 'non-doers'. Are you IN or are you OUT? This dichotomy is pervasive under the surface of the content persuading us otherwise. One attendee confessed it was her first TED (called a TED virgin) and that it was a bit disturbing because her parents were in a cult and she has a strong aversion to anything that feels 'cult-like' at all. That led me to reflect on how easy it is to forget this Unity principal, how easy it is to act as if it is 'us' vs. 'them' (in the extreme this is the root of all war, genocide and evil behavior). Part of the reason I believe this happens so easily is that we rarely have a first person FELT experience of this unity, while we glimpse it often in life, the felt sense of Oneness is usually fleeting. The cultures in which we live - our day to day experiences (whether it be a TED conference, a school, the workplace, church, etc.) - tend to create borders of us vs. them time and time again requiring effort to override it. Touching this felt sense of Unity every moment of every day is likely the method by which we will evolve into a kinder species. While TED is a means to see, hear, and imagine this unity in words, images, and ideas, even it (TED) can lead the FELT sense astray. Awareness of the waxing and waning of your own first person experience of this Unity in Diversity can be attuned in recognizing its fleeting nature and what conditions tend to push you from it. Perhaps that is the crucial step in creating its global expansion. More on Inner Life
 
John Lundberg: Cops Find Comfort In Verse Top
The Arts and Equity Initiative, a non-profit program which pairs city workers with artists, recently decided that the Portland, Maine Police Department would benefit from some exposure to the fine arts. Clearly they had never seen Cop Rock . The department--thankfully--didn't try putting on a musical, but they did try their hand at writing poetry with the help of some local poets. As you'd expect, there was a lot of skepticism toward the project among the officers. At the first meeting between poets and police, one officer reportedly said, "I gotta be honest with you...if you gave me a choice between writing a poem or fighting four guys at the same time in the street out there, I'd be fighting those four guys right now." Officer Marty Pottenger, reflecting on the skepticism, told the Associated Press, "Officers are brave by nature, but it takes a different kind of courage to write a poem." Relations improved as the two groups got to know each other--the poets even did some ride-alongs--but the real breakthrough came after the funeral for Sergeant Rob Johnsey, who died last May when his weapon accidentally discharged. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, Johnsey had been writing poetry for years. As a tribute to their fallen colleague, the department put together a calendar of police poetry, with some of the proceeds going to help Johnsey's family. But the calendar has turned out to have more benefits than just fundraising. Portland Police Chief Joe Loughlin told the Initiative that the effort has had an unexpected impact on the department: "The poems in the hallways, reading poems at roll calls - it's brought us a different sense of who we are and what we do. Reports from the officers paired with artists were very positive, which I didn't expect." The calendar has also given the public a chance to see past their preconceived notions of who police officers are, to get to know a more human side and to better understand the challenges officers face. In this sense, an untitled poem by Officer Pottenger is particularly effective: ii. Say I go to Starbucks--Congress for a coffee. Outside there's five maybe six firemen having a good time. That's fine. They're supposed to. iii. And people are going in and out waving hey hey how are you good job way to go That's fine. They're supposed to. Me in my uniform PORTLAND POLICE they say is this your break? are you on duty? like I'm sloughing off don't deserve STARBUCKS moving away like they don't want to touch me. iv. So (t)here I am putting my--you've heard it all before-- life on the line dealing with things everyday that nobody else wants to knives needles puke obscenities bones sticking out guns drawn dead mammals you name it Like that's fine. Like I'm supposed to. Not surprisingly, in the process of helping others to understand them, the poems also helped officers to understand themselves. Officer Alissa Poisson told the Associated Press, "In this job, you try to keep your emotions in a box," she said. "It's a hard job and if you get too emotional, it becomes even harder." Her poem, "The Things I Carry" speaks, indirectly, to the possibility of violence and how she copes with it. Always it has to be in my right pocket, the knife with the dull blade. I look at it on the shelf in my locker and think, Why am I bringing that? I can't leave without it--just in case. My black gloves, fabric on top, Kevlar on the palms, in case someone has something sharp, a needle or razor-- I don't pat anybody down without those gloves. They're my second pair, someone's blood on the first. We do carry a lot of gear--20 pounds: pepper spray, flashlight, two sets of handcuffs, one hinged, one linked, radio, baton, knife, gun, two clips of bullets... I Carry a Glock 45 That's my gun. It's too big for my hand. And heavy. 13 x 3, plus one in the chamber. Forty bullets-- silver, with copper power points. The poem also addresses Sergeant Johnsey's death directly: Inside my hat a picture of Rob, the card from his funeral. There's a small plastic window in the hat. Some officers use a picture of someone in their family, some a prayer. Rob's in mine. Two of Johnsey's own poems are featured in the calendar, including this excerpt: I visit as a stranger But want to belong To a world that makes sense Not one that is wrong With the help of poetry--and in his honor--Johnsey's fellow officers are making a little more sense out of their part of the world. You can purchase the Portland Police Calendar through the Arts and Equity Initiative here .
 
Frank Rich: Populist Rage Coursing Through America Could Maim Obama's Best-Laid Plans Top
SOMEDAY historians may look back at Tom Daschle's flameout as a minor one-car (and chauffeur) accident. But that will depend on whether or not it's followed by a multi-vehicle pileup that still could come. Even as President Obama refreshingly took responsibility for having "screwed up," it's not clear that he fully understands the huge forces that hit his young administration last week. More on Financial Crisis
 
"Slumdog Millionaire" And "Milk" Win Top WGA Awards Top
LOS ANGELES — The Oscar contenders "Milk" and "Slumdog Millionaire" won top honors Saturday at the Writers Guild of America Awards. Dustin Lance Black won the original screenplay prize for "Milk," a biography of murdered slain gay-rights leader Harvey Milk. The adapted screenplay award for "Slumdog Millionaire" went to Simon Beaufoy, who based it on a novel by Vikas Swarup about an Indian street orphan's journey of survival and love. "Slumdog Millionaire" has been an unlikely hit. The low-budget feature has 10 Oscar nominations, including best picture, and also has taken awards at the Golden Globes and from the Producers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild. "Milk" has eight Academy Award nominations, including best picture and best actor for Sean Penn. Ari Folman won the documentary screenplay award for "Waltz with Bashir." The film, which is nominated in the foreign-language category at the Academy Awards, is an animated study of an Israeli soldier struggling to recall suppressed memories of his involvement in the war with Lebanon. In television categories, writers for NBC's "30 Rock" and AMC's "Mad Men" won in the comedy and drama categories, respectively. Both also won WGA awards last year: "30 Rock" for TV comedy and "Mad Men" for new series. Some of the other awards were: _ New Series: "In Treatment." _ Episodic Drama: "Breaking Bad" (Pilot). _ Episodic Comedy: "30 Rock" (Succession). _ Animation: "The Simpsons" (Apocalypse Cow). _ Daytime Serials: "As the World Turns." ___ On the Net: http://www.wga.org More on Award Season
 
Whitney Houston Makes A Comeback Top
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — A stunning-looking and strong-sounding Whitney Houston made a triumphant return to the stage at a pre-Grammy party honoring her mentor, music mogul Clive Davis. "I've got it, I've got it!" Houston, looking glamorous in a skintight leopard dress, sang early Sunday morning as she belted a line from one of her classic hits, "I'm Every Woman." But more than a lyric, it summarized to the crowd of A-list superstars and top industry execs that the superstar _ whose drug use and erratic behavior had caused a shocking fall from grace just a few years ago _ was back in top form. "We all crossed our fingers that her beautiful story would end (happily)," said Jamie Foxx, who stood at the front of the stage and took video of Houston like he was just another fan in the crowd. "This is a new begining." Houston's mini-concert put an exclamation point on a night that included a rousing performance by Kelly Clarkson, an unlikely but magical duet between Jennifer Hudson and Barry Manilow and a rambling monologue by Kanye West. "I have to bow in the presence of greats right now," West said as he looked out into the crowd, which at one point included Sir Paul McCartney, Prince, Diddy, Rihanna, the Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, Quincy Jones, and other luminaries. "I'm just humbled by your greatness, and also Clive," West told the audience. Davis, the music mogul who founded labels, signed greats ranging from Houston to Bruce Springsteen to Janis Joplin, and resuscitated the careers of veterans like Rod Stewart and Carlos Santana, was honored by the Recording Academy as an industry icon on Saturday, hours before Sunday's Grammys. For nearly three decades, Davis' pre-Grammy party and concert had become one of the industry's most coveted invites; this year, the Recording Academy took the event over and honored Davis instead. But while Davis got an award, he still held court like it was his own party, acting as the evening's host as he introduced performers like Stewart, the Kings of Leon and Leona Lewis. Diddy got the often staid crowd on their feet with a moving rendition of his tribute to the slain Notorious B.I.G., "I'll Be Missing You," with Biggie's widow, singer Faith Evans, and a gospel choir. Clarkson got one of the evening's biggest ovations with her performance of her new single, "My Life Would Suck Without You" and the Joplin gem "Piece of My Heart." But Hudson was perhaps the night's biggest star _ until Houston hit the stage. Starting with the Super Bowl last Sunday, Hudson has been raising her profile after spending months in seclusion following the slayings of her mother, brother and nephew last October. A smiling Houston performed her hit "Spotlight," which earned her one of her four Grammy nominations, and got a standing ovation from the crowd. But she raised the bar with a pairing with Barry Manilow, injecting one of his signature songs, "Weekend in New England," with a lacking ingredient _ soul. Afterward, the Oscar-winner joined the audience (and friend Fantasia), stood in the front and danced and sang as Houston performed. Houston started off with "I Will Always Love You," but didn't hit the high, sustaining notes that made the song such a dramatic, stirring hit. Instead, she kept her voice at medium power, deciding to croon rather than soar. But as she got into hits like "It's Not Right, But It's O.K.," her voice appeared to get stronger _ and louder, and while she never replicated the vocal gymnastics of some of her past work, delivered a mesmerizing performance nonetheless. The 45-year-old, one of the best-selling artists of all time and among the greatest singers, hasn't made an album since 2002. Then she was was sinking due to drug use and a tumultuous personal life _ a far cry from the princess image she cultivated since her debut in the 1980s. But the singer is expected to release an album sometime this year, and unlike other reported returns, this comeback seems to be the real deal. "She was on it, she was happy _ she's back," said Foxx. "Everybody else watch out." The Grammys air on Sunday on CBS. ___ On the Net: http://www.grammy.com
 
I'm On A Boat: SNL Digital Short (VIDEO) Top
T-Pain, Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer hit the open waters this week for an SNL digital short. "I'm on a Boat" is a track off Lonely Island's upcoming album. See other SNL skits from the week here Lonely Island (aka the group of men behind SNL's digital shorts) is releasing "Incredibad" on February 10. The album features artists like Norah Jones, Natalie Portman, and Jack Black, and SNL hits such as "Dick in a Box" and "Natalie Raps." More on SNL
 
John Tepper Marlin: HuffPost Editors Warm Up 92Y Top
Four of HuffPost's staffers were on offer at Manhattan's 92nd Street Y February 5. This panel discussion is billed as giving the lowdown on "How they choose the stories that make the news" and "their insights into blogging, including what blogs they link to and why, what content gets blogs noticed, the best practices for community building and quick tips for making blogging more empowering, profitable and fun." The MC is Editor Roy Sekoff, shown at left. With him are Senior News Editor Katharine Zaleski, Senior Blog Editor Colin Sterling and Columnist-Reporter Jason Linkins. If you've never clicked on the "About Us" button on HuffPost, here's the editorial staff lineup (the business side is another world). The four speakers are shown in bold : Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief: Arianna Huffington Chief Executive Officer: Betsy Morgan Editor: Roy Sekoff Political Editor: Thomas B. Edsall Senior Editor: Willow Bay Senior News Editor: Katharine Zaleski Senior Blog Editor: Colin Sterling National Editor: Nico Pitney; Senior Features Editor: Katherine Thomson Senior Style Editor: Anya Strzemien; Media Editor: Danny Shea Business/Green Editor: Dave Burdick; Living Editor: Verena von Pfetten; World Editor: Hanna Ingber Win; Chicago Editor: Ben Goldberger; Washington Editor at Large: Hilary Rosen; Night Editor: Marcus Baram Associate News Editors: Nicholas Graham, Nicholas Sabloff Associate Video Editor: Patrick Waldo Associate Editor, Citizen Journalism: Matt Palevsky Associate Blog Editors: David Flumenbaum, Katherine Goldstein, David Weiner, Whitney Snyder Reporters: Ryan Grim, Jason Linkins , Sam Stein Community Manager: Katie Saddlemire Editor at Large: Nora Ephron Roy has a challenge as MC. The crowd of about 100 has struggled in from a dark, icy-cold, windy night. Roy is well tanned, obviously just flown in from the LA sun and zephyrs. He's breezy himself and used to taking control of the house. However, I feel for him as his first couple of warmup jokes fall flat on the earnest New Yorkers, God's frozen people. My take: They resent he hasn't been suffering the bitter NYC weather. Think: Jovial American journalist covering the 900th day of the Siege of Leningrad. Roy starts in about the blogger tone being "more personal than the typical news story, something you would write to a friend." If they could have text-messaged, it would have been: "Pls LA guy speed up." Roy does step up the pace. We find out why he has a rep for very hard work on the nuts and bolts of the HuffPost operation. He's the Founding Editor, been with HuffPost since it opened in May 2005, same month, we find out, as Katharine Zaleski. Roy came to HuffPost via Film School and a job with Michael Moore, where he honed his skills as a champion of the progressive POV. He was hired by Arianna Huffington before HuffPost opened. He speaks a lot about Arianna, how she gets the word out during her travels, how she serves as a sounding board, how she listens because she is interested in everything. Roy has a huge job serving as the cable-bridge between Arianna and her e-empire. The panel is mightily impressed by the rapid growth of Twitter. Users send Tweets that must be no longer than 140 characters. Great time-saver for the reader. Except that maybe the number of Tweets will just rise. I do a Google search and find Twitter users exceed 200,000 per day, firing out 3 million Tweets - a mind-blowing average of 15 Tweets per Twit. It's like the invention of the machine gun. No one is safe any more. Another Google search tells us global blogposts were 1.6 million in 2006, but have grown so fast that in 2008 Japan alone has that many. MySpace page views are 1.5 billion per day. Facebook is growing by 600,000 users per day. Stunning. Katharine Zaleski is News Editor and the most decorative of the four panelists. She is in the eye of the storm in HuffPost's NYC operations where the news is edited. She notes that almost all readers used to get to the site via the "front door" - the home page (www.huffingtonpost.com) - but now 60 percent of readers get to HuffPost via links direct to a story from a search or Digg or a blogpost. She says the nature of news coverage has been transformed by the Internet. Old model: News reporter looks for a scoop or a new angle, files story, goes to bed. People would get the news in the morning. Television shortened the lag. All-news radio shortened it some more. New model: Delays in reporting important news are down to minutes. The amount of related content that can be offered soon becomes gigantic. Katharine says her job is "to latch onto a breaking story and then stay with it" through the day or night. She works through the night when important stories are breaking. When news surfaced about Eliot Spitzer having meetings with a female in Washington, HuffPost for a while "owned" the story of the collateral damage to Ashley Alexander Dupree, by having more new information on Ashley's music and career than anyone else. Katharine waves off reports of antagonism between the main stream media and the blogsites. The two are complementary. A good major story on HuffPost, she says, is inclusive, with lots of links to the msm. Sure, HuffPost depends on the newspapers. The papers also benefit by their content being promoted on the blogs. The great newspapers are using the Internet, adding online news sites with comment boxes, frequent updates and blogs. Same with television, though she opines that CNN is just 10 percent dependent on the story, with 90 percent of the value in the production. Clark Hoyt, in today's New York Times , raises the question whether the pressures of "real time" competition introduced by the Internet are eroding journalistic standards. He acknowledges that the Old Model of journalism, which gives reporters and editors a day to sort through the news and sources, still requires last-minute decisions as deadlines bear down. But he reviews the reporting in the Times of Caroline Kennedy's candidacy for appointment to the U.S. Senate and concludes that the reporting and editing mistakes were made in the online Times , where (let's get to the heart of his complaint) standards are lower. At question time, Katharine's mother Caroline, sitting near HuffPost blogger Blake Fleetwood, asks a question anonymously. Katharine mercilessly outs her Mom. But Mom is unflappable. You can see where Katharine gets her poise. Jason Linkins is the third panelist. He writes "Eat the Press", and was rated one of the five funniest bloggers by Comedy Central. He says HuffPost has 3,000 bloggers. When the final numbers were in on election night, the TV commentators were saying goodbye to one another and their audiences. That's one concept, says Jason, that would never occur to a blogsite. The stories keep rolling in - Rod Blagojevich, Bernie Madoff, who knows what next? He says that the job of bloggers is to "kneecap people who screw up." So far as "tone" goes, Jason says he got there by trial and error. He started out to be a marine biologist and swam his way into the new medium. Colin Sterling , Senior Blog Editor, is the final speaker. He is introduced as Harry Potter and you can judge the likeness for yourself. He says he tries to make HuffPost authoritative by including links, and more Google-able by adding enough tags. Colin's most embarrassing moment, he says in answer to a question from the by-now engaged audience, was when he posted a skeptical view of global warming. He's a graduate of UCLA and was, like Roy, working for Arianna before HuffPost was created. By the end of the evening, the crowd is happy. Frankly, they didn't get everything promised in the promotion, but who cares? They got what they paid for, $27 worth of information on the new HuffPost phenomenon, and some entertainment as a bonus. If they need more information, they can buy the $15 book on sale in the lobby, The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging . Now I'd dearly like to go to a panel featuring the business side of HuffPost, i.e., the rest of the masthead that keeps the brand afloat and valued last year in the $40-$200 million range .
 

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