Saturday, January 31, 2009

Friday, January 30, 2009

Consumption = Life?

I'm passing along a reference from my friend's very good blog, Thoughts in the Days of an Economist, from Andrew Sullivan on the economy:

Why is a lower standard of living unimaginable for us for a while? Why is it essential that income keeps rising? Why can't we do more with less?...

This is why our problem is not just economic; it's spiritual. We have mistaken consuming for living.

Healthy body, healthy mind

Before he agreed to cook for the Obama family in the White House, Chicago chef Sam Kass was already talking about changing the way American children eat.

During weekly Tuesday gatherings at the Jane Addams Hull-House Museum in Chicago, Mr. Kass hosted “Rethinking Soup,” which he described as “a communal event where we will eat delicious, healthy soup and have fresh, organic conversation about many of the urgent social, cultural, economic and environmental food issues that we should be addressing.”

In May, over a meal of locally-produced beef and barley soup, Mr. Kass lamented the sorry state of the National School Lunch Program, which provides low-cost or free lunches to schoolchildren. He noted that what gets served up to kids is influenced by government agricultural subsidies. As a result, he says, meals served to students are low in vegetables and disproportionately high in fat, additives, preservatives and high-fructose corn syrup. (He also links the high consumption of sugary foods and food additives to learning difficulties and attention deficit disorder, although the medical community remains divided on that issue.) [NYT]

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

And the serious stuff....

:Michelle's fashion, the take by the NY Times. I loved the yellow dress for the inauguration. Wasn't quite as excited about the white dress for the balls.

Chant with me.... Obama! Obama!

Here's a link to the full text of the inauguration speech.

Some of my favorite lines:

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less.

It has not been the path for the faint-hearted, for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame.

Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.....

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage....

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. [!!!]....

They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy, guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort, even greater cooperation and understanding between nations.


Saturday, January 17, 2009

Micro-franchising

Here's a piece in Business Week about a group in Colorado developing franchises for the <$1/day billion people on the earth:

Most of us look at the 1 billion men, women, and children in the world who live on less than a dollar a day and see poor people. Paul Polak sees market failure. He sees 1 billion potential entrepreneurs who would rather earn money than accept handouts, if given the opportunity. And if companies would develop the products these people needed, he sees 1 billion potential customers as well.

It may seem obvious that poor people are poor because they don't have enough income, but most anti-poverty programs don't actually focus on helping people earn more. "So much money is wasted on big infrastructure projects and government-run programs," says Polak, from his airy office in Denver. "We need to change the way we approach development. We need to see the poor as customers rather than charity recipients." On a roll, he adds, "we need a revolution in how multinationals design, price, and market their products. There is a huge virgin market out there!"

"Windhorse is a combination of disruptive technologies and microfranchising," he says, offering the example of a "Windhorse Energy" franchise. The company has developed a cheap device made of plywood and mylar that will reflect sunrays on a solar panel, intensifying the light by a power of 10. The concentrator essentially turns a 20-watt solar panel into a 200-watt unit for marginally higher cost. Customers who buy the $200 setup become micro-utilities, reselling the electricity to anyone who needs to charge, for instance, a cell phone or a motorcycle battery and, says Polak, earning back their initial investment within six months.


Thursday, January 15, 2009

Manners/Social Skills

There's a piece in the NY Times discussing how teaching children social skills or manners is critical, in fact the central point of child rearing, perhaps.

But that first big counterintuitive lesson — that there are other people out there whose feelings must be considered — affects a child’s most basic moral development. For a child, as for an adult, manners represent a strategy for getting along in life, but also a successful intellectual engagement with the business of being human.

While I believe this is true and if I ever have a child I will teach him/her manners, I wonder if it really does make life better for the child. It certainly makes life better for people around the child, but the world is so full on rude, self-centered people that I wonder if you're better off also being self-centered. If you are, then you will ignore the rude people and give as good as you get.

Will rude, self-centered people actually get farther in life or business?

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

I'm applying!

Could it get better than this?

An Australian state is offering internationally what it calls "the best job in the world" -- earning a top salary for lazing around a beautiful tropical island for six months.

The job pays 150,000 Australian dollars (105,000 US dollars) and includes free airfares from the winner's home country to Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland's state government announced on Tuesday.

In return, the "island caretaker" will be expected to stroll the white sands, snorkel the reef, take care of "a few minor tasks" -- and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.

The successful applicant, who will stay rent-free in a three-bedroom beach home complete with plunge pool and golf buggy, must be a good swimmer, excellent communicator and be able to speak and write English.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Obama and Europe

Another good article from today's FT taking a look at how the relationship between the US and Europe will change with the new administration, and how the US may ask difficult things of its European allies.

With Barack Obama’s arrival in the White House on January 20, differences between the US and Europe are likely to narrow on policies ranging from climate change to detention of terrorist suspects at the US prison camp at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. As a result, leaders on both sides of the Atlantic – the alliance that won the cold war and which still represents the most significant economic relationship in the world – are looking forward to working together more closely than they have for years.

All the same, Europe is about to discover yet again that America can be an uncomfortable ally. Strobe Talbott, former deputy secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, warns of “a very real risk of excessive expectations”. But he adds: “There will be an eagerness in many capitals around the world for President Obama to succeed ... because of a recognition that these extraordinary, difficult and multitudinous problems are not going to be amenable to solution unless there’s mutual effort and American leadership.”

On issues such as Guantánamo Bay and Afghanistan, the US is likely to make painful requests of the Europeans, requests that will be all the harder to ignore precisely because of the philosophical convergence between the two sides. Difficult strategic decisions await on topics such as Iran, the Middle East and Russia. All the time, Europe and America will have to work closer than ever on the issue Mr Obama identifies as his biggest challenge of all – the economic and financial crisis.

Euro Default

There's a column in today's FT contemplating the default of a Euro-zone country, possibly Spain, Greece or Ireland. All of their bonds have been downgraded in the last few days, fueling speculation on their economic strength. Indeed the Euro is down almost 10% in the last few weeks because of this speculation and fell 1% just on the news of the Spanish downgrade.

A crisis over Greece might be the euro’s ultimate “stress test” (to borrow a phrase from Daniel Katzive of Credit Suisse). If the eurozone could find a way to deal with a default, that might confirm the euro’s status as the world’s next reserve currency.

But if the eurozone could not work out a solution, and a country exited, any such ambition would be over.

The dollar-euro exchange rate affects many other assets.

Now that fears are in the open that Greece (or another peripheral country) could be the Trojan horse that breaks up the euro, any news on this front could shake many other markets.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Endless fun

I'm home not feeling well today. Fortunately, I have a laser pointer and two cats. When one gets tired of chasing the red dot on the floor the other one takes over.

Hours of fun. I highly recommend it.

Food/Gardens/Locavores in Chicago

There is a community garden just a few blocks south of our place where you can get a garden plot for the summer. Now that I'm all married and stuff, I guess I'm feeling domestic (domesticated?) and was searching around on the web for information trying to figure out how to get a plot. I ran across many interesting Chicago and Hyde Park foodie resources:

The Local Beet - a Chicago locavore blog, nice name, eh?
Experimental Station - Artist's loft now hosting farmers market, cafe, garden plot coordinators and bicycle repair workshop/youth employment center

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Chicago's Green Hotels

The City of Chicago began a Green Hotel Initiative, working to have the most green hotels of any city in the country. Given the incredible resource use that hotels represent, I love that the City is working on this. Thirty-some hotels have either gone through the certification process already or are on their way.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Lao-Tse on Peace

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.

If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.

chinese philospher - lao-tse - 6th century bce

If you're feeling the need for peace or a bit of stress reduction, go to this website where I found this piece: WorldPrayers.org. Click on Meditations at the bottom.

Friday, January 9, 2009

5 Prez's for lunch

Here's a great, funny piece in the NY Magazine imagining the lunch conversation on Tuesday among the former, current and future Presidents. Here's a bit of it:

George W. Bush: Not so easy, is it Obama? Not so simple. Making decisions is hard.
Barack Obama: Look, to be honest, I’m hoping the whole Israel-Palestine thing will be over by the time I’m president. Until then, it’s your problem.
George W. Bush: As if I want to get into this mess two weeks before my term is up? That’s like starting a movie five minutes before bedtime. Sorry, Obama, this is your quagmire now.
Bill Clinton: There are some situations, Barack, even the best of us can’t weasel our way out of. Like getting a—
Barack Obama: Puppy for your kids?
Bill Clinton: Uh, yeah, a puppy. A nice, warm puppy in the middle of the day.

More Light Fare




The Telegraph publishes pictures of funny signs submitted by readers.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Rumi on Peace in the Context of the Gaza Conflict

The text of the poem can be found here.


Carter and Palestine

A few days ago I watched the documentary Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains, which traced his book tour in 2006/2007 promoting Palestine: Peace not Apartheid. The book was/is quite controversial, as you might guess from the title. Carter's premise is that within the Palestinian territories, the Palestinians are segregated from the Israeli settlers and systematically deprived of access and human rights. A nice summary of reaction to the book can be found in this Washington Post blog entry.

Much of Carter's concern was about the conditions under which the Palestinians live, especially in Gaza. I've looked around on the web and have not found any statement or op-ed from Carter on the current situation. Perhaps he's been asked to keep quiet so as not to send mixed signals about what the current and soon-to-be administrations will do.

I'd love to know what he's thinking and hear what he has to say on the subject. I imagine that, first, he would make a humanitarian plea for food, clean water and medical supplies in Gaza.

Cyprus: Celebrating (?) 20 years of Dialogue

In this house, we read Cyprus Mail on line fairly often, usually for chuckles over the news covering an entire country of about half a million people. Many of the stories end up being about suspicious dog lineages and today, calls for action against stores that started their January sales too early.

Today there was another article, which in all seriousness really brings mixed feelings. The Czechoslovakian and then Slovak embassies in Cyprus have been hosting Greek and Turkish Cypriot leadership in dialogue for over 20 years and they are now inviting that leadership to Bratislava to "celebrate" 20 years of dialogue. While 20 years of dialogue is better than 20 years without dialogue, it does make you wonder just how much longer they can go on talking without coming to some resolution.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Twaddle

Lucy Kellaway of the FT does an annual article giving awards for Business Twaddle. (What a great word, by the way.) A highlight:

In recognition of the economic climate the judges are giving a special award this year for Best Term For Sacking People. An honorary mention goes to the new phrase “dynamic rightsizing”, which means regular sackings, only more exciting and souped-up. The winner, for its sheer disingenuity, goes to “upgrade”. A reader reports that when she was fired by her US company in mid-2008 she was told: “We are going to upgrade you with immediate effect. We are going to allow you to move on in order that you can you use your talents and skills more effectively and thus upgrade your career and opportunities.”

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Ten Ideas for 2009

10. Floss

9. Make time for the important things, at work and personally, rather than only running from deadline to deadline.

8. Buy less stuff.

7. Find out more about a cause near and dear to my heart, The Academy for Global Citizenship, providing exceptional education to underprivileged kids on Chicago's southwest side.

6. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Not only is it good for you, it is less burdensome on the resources of the earth than eating meat.

5. Check out Apathy is Deadly, a campaign started by George's son that gives guidance on how to communicate with elected representatives about Darfur, reducing Climate Change and eliminating poverty.

4. Make a regular habit of connecting with the people who are important to you: call an old friend, send a letter to your aunt, listen to your spouse, play with your kids.

3. Learn a new skill, or take the time to improve one.

2. Find an opportunity to use your strengths everyday.

1. Give time and/or money to a cause you believe in. In this economy, the world is more in need of generosity than ever.

Friday, January 2, 2009

200 in 2009

This year marks the 200th birthday of two important people, Louis Braille, the inventor of Braille, which allows the blind to read, and Abraham Lincoln.