Month: September 2006

Fractured family has often struck me as the ‘undiscovered’ premier issue of our times. So common. So much impact. So little said about it.

She says, “For human beings, life’s pain can be modified by wealth but cannot be cured by wealth.”

This site will take me a bit to digest.

Not pre-judging.
Always open.
Forever willing.
You must try too.

A Song that says
It’s Naughty
To Magnify the Small

Seeking an authoritive morality
To lead our landsmen to the vision,
To guarantee living less fallibly,
To assure no failure’s incision,
Has become our repetitive dream
Lying just beneath the known,
Stitched into each day like a seam
That binds us to the hope we’re shown.

For we all know of our yearning
And the imperative of our need.
We all see in reality’s turning,
Love in the face of greed.

Yet the horror of what isn’t said,
The blame that’s never fair,
The agonies that fuel our dread,
Encumber our want to care.

So we seek to leave what’s worst alone.
We delegate the truth of our shores:
We join with what may still entone
The dream of goodness, as if we’re whores
Who curb the passing rhythm of life
In safe contention with our threats.
For most believe, reviewing strife,
We’ll know the instant if the nets
Will tighten to disrupt our plan.
Do we judge us wicked in our subjective?
Our inner judge, half woman, half of man,
Risks much divine in our rejective.

Our dream is not assured nor alien.
Not all see life as too much to know.
Not all aspiring ends Pygmalion.
There is much in life that tempts to show
That what’s our worst is much the same;
Is all within this time and space;
That both the passionate and the tame
Are part and parcel of our animate race.

We have a duty that drives the whole
From which a few prognosticate.
We have a path from mountain to shoal
Whereupon too few will legislate
Our vision, goals and leaning to need.
And here where souls have surety,
Governance written by the freed
To carry our will in purity,
It must, it seems, be still recalled
That each of us has no place to hide,
Nor can deny our work when called
To explore this liberty never denied
Or lost in conformity, hidden in nerves,
Or given to cult or loosely tied
In a populist slogan that swerves
And sways through our dangerous day.
When trouble cloaks, becomes persistent;
When fears annoy, won’t go away;
When emptiness becomes consistent;
When hopes are lost in perplexities
Or controlled by causes remote,
Some of the curious seek the complexities
While others entrench in the rote.

Yes, so many seek comforting diversion,
Ostensibly relaxed and secured
In what’s claimed a wise reversion
To simpler things, like what’s inured
To saving the self, distinct from the rest:
Pursuit of demands to maintain and keep
The preservative forces surrounding the best,
‘Til those invoking growth are forced to leap
Away from the place that could heal.
And this is the price denial must keep.
This our tired protectors ache and feel.

Confrontation of fear and of threat,
Explored in the forum of civic concern,
Too impotent sketches of defeat, and yet
Is there no other way for people to learn
That when most of the world is worried
And millions of agony’s quests are alert
To changes dramatic and flurried,
To futures either gentle or curt;
When teams of ambitious roam in and through,
As detente seems still rough and tumble;
When tomorrow is squeezed on me or on you
With no practical plan in case of a rumble,
Whether naturally cosmic or desert-imperial;
When so caustic an option is revealed,
Is this the time to retreat to the ethereal?

Instead like a forger who hammers a shield,
Each blow is a victory long before battle!
Our gifts of futurity are compassion curled
As we improve our goals, real and chattel,
In the strength we have found here together.
Not hidden in towers of rare and inspired,
Not magic or stroked with mystic feather,
Not delivered by experts endorsed when hired
To mimic our hope until we’ve agreed
We’re no more than tokens, opinions in court,
Gleaned in response to polled queries of need:
How wise is this answer? “Sell it out short:
Our safest response is what keeps us invisible
And hope no one wants what we’ve gained.”
Our union is glaring: Is best rare, indivisible?
Or is union the safest, in truth or if feigned?

Is our aggregate hiding in our cranky abstract,
Accepting pronouncements that little is great;
That daily cash is our only pertinent fact,
Ignoring our views of conspiring fate?

Intending to use us?
“All right. Abuse us,
But as long as the pay is on time.”
There’s living from here, from the worst.
We’ll comply to the game, call it sublime,
And concur that those lessor are cursed.”

But notice that what was once paying the bill
Is annoyingly drawing us to face it.
It’s here and now our lives are able to fill
Our needs –and our dream– if we’ll chase it.

The world is huge in our aim,
Despite the smaller some claim.
We can seek and we’ll find cooperative deals,
Create partners in growth with small and the great;
Crack languish and threat and join in repeals
Of all but continued good fate.

Unhook from the habits that lock us to loss.
Unhook from the stories invented for wars.
Participate with all the ideas we toss
To each other to pry open the doors
To industry, commerce and governing fair,
With leadership trusted to meter our plans
And bring us the tools, not threats and high tare.
Not unlike ancients or families and clans
That clock blood for days we think hard to endure,
No progress is made by holding to patter
Or running from probes into trouble or cur.
Why insist that the trivial should matter?

Why stay in a group for only approval?
Each of us have concerns deeper than that.
Why seek to justify only removal,
Instead of solution, fair and democrat?

Why prop our goals in mutual rigidity
That leaves us detached and too static
To clear life’s constant turbidity,
To clear the gates of strife’s erratic?

Why sell our dreams for a myth or a song
Delivered in automat lyric airwaves?
Why tune our minds to the hawking of wrong,
Or tied to a drama of political close shaves?

When as clear as the sky that’s curving the light
Is a beckoning insistence in us all,
That annoys as deep as the worst that we see:
It’s our promise shadowed on history’s wall:
The past we’re from and the hope we are free.

It’s initiative growing in faith’s provocation
That diverting suggestions can’t bury.
We have no reason to leave the care of this nation
To any sponsoring agent of hustle and hurry,
Or to any sly maker of meme hid in the back
Propelling our grief into taking much less
Than we know we could do if we’d work on our lack,
And enjoin with the vision and plans of the best
That comes to our lives every day.
Choose the moral, the true.
Let each of our lives find this way.

Let all of our forums see the eagle flew
And has never left grace to defeat;
Has never been blind in bright sun
Or singed with the cataclyst’s heat,
And always carries the best we’ve done.

It nests in the innocent roots of our life,
And soars in the queries of truth.
It links to the stillness above all the strife,
And signals bright justice since youth.

It maintains, it lingers, but huddles no part
And never disrupts the contentment of peace,
But brings noblesse to the gates of our heart,
Where this symbol of strength is part of our fleece
That’s soft in the depth of this land,
And strong in the breadth of our plan
.

No empire dreamer or keeper of keys
Has known better than each, we all, and any,
How each finds a motive in greater liberties,
Through the insistent calls from the many,

And handles our way
Bringing each: our best to the day.

SWANsat or Super-Wide Area Network Satellite intend to be a global broadband Internet service provider by 2011 that can facilitate up to 600 million connections per satellite. All you need is a handheld mobile device to connect to the system. via gizmoCafe

“The yellow pages are going extinct…”
“In 10 years you won’t have the yellow pages anymore.”

…a San Francisco wedding gown designer said his company has had 500 inquiries this year from the Knot, an online wedding site with customer reviews, but only three from the yellow pages.

As review sites become more established, they’re likely to become more useful to customers. Today many businesses remain unreviewed, or have only one or two reviews — not enough to make a reliable judgment about them. Eventually the number of reviews will grow and provide a more solid information base.

Article here

And here’s a strong reminder:

The most important relationship for brands to manage today isn’t the realationship between products and customers, but rather the relationships between customers.
from Agency by Others

There is a billion-dollar industry in America for individuals wanting a better financial life. There is a lot of information about attaining wealth, the proper mindset, the proper attitude, the proper way to dress, the proper sales presentation, the next great industry, the key to awakening the great power within us…

But are success seminars, books and tapes detrimental to success?

People need blueprints to achieve success, just as a builder needs blueprints to build a house.

A builder does not go to a seminar so he can get in the right frame of mind, get a positive mental attitude or learn how to dress to build a house. A builder does not have to awaken the giant within him.

He just needs specific directions – Blueprints. Whether you are building a house or building a business, you need to know what has worked in the past. That is what $1,000,000aire Blueprints is all about.

Millionaire Blueprints

20 Things You Didn’t Know About… Death

7. So much for recycling: Burials in America deposit 827,060 gallons of embalming fluid—formaldehyde, methanol, and ethanol—into the soil each year. Cremation pumps dioxins, hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide into the air.

8. Alternatively . . . A Swedish company, Promessa, will freeze-dry your body in liquid nitrogen, pulverize it with high-frequency vibrations, and seal the resulting powder in a cornstarch coffin. They claim this “ecological burial” will decompose in 6 to 12 months as you fertilize a newly planted tree.

Check out the list at Discover.com

Notes:
The traditional casket burial effects the drainage-, ground- and drinking water as well as the ground itself and contributes to eutrophication and oxygen depletion of the seas. The main reason is the lack of oxygen at the depth a casket is buried.

The energy consumption during a cremation is high, equivalent to 6 gallons of fluid oil and about a pound of activated carbon for each cremation. The effect on the air is considerable. During the combustion flue gases contain carbon dioxide and dioxin which increases the green house effect. Mercury is released in the form of gas. Studies estimate that 1/3 of total mercury emissions may be from cremation.

Much my flat back did tell me

I can in quiet see
my sweet good child of me
so such a cloud would reach
across my hope and yearning teach

ye hah!

What will our world be?

Will it be wind along boulevard in happy company?

Oh I so wish it so, that village will always spring in our hearts.

The Boomer Chronicles

I thought, “Oh look! They took a bottle off the beach. And fear the waves of poverty. Selective Attention Deficit Disorder (SADD).”

Buildv1 is a new service to help connect business projects, “a space where entrepreneurs can explore ideas, learn from successful entrepreneurs, and begin their entrepreneurial journey.”

I posted a request for support in agribusiness.

Help improve our food supply
http://preview.buildv1.com/starter/help-our-food-supply-improve

Hey! Who said Web2.0 was only for Web2.0?
The internet is a communication system,
part of our transportation system:

The Intermodal Yodel

Network from matrix
And matrix from node

to coin a modern ode.

A friend in Sacramento sent me this Letter to the Editor.

He says, “My letter was published in the August 31st edition of the Sacramento Bee. I got to be the first letter. Top Billing.”

Dear Editor,
On August 27, The Sacramento Bee had two important front page headlines about our community. The “Arena” received top billing, while the “Levee” issue took second seat.

Too bad our “Levees” did not receive top billing. To me, levees are essential to our community and building another arena should have taken second. Why is it that our elected officials have this concept backwards? I’d rather be taxed to protect our community from a flood then for another arena.

Other famous sport landmarks throughout our land have stood for centuries, Sacramento now has had two opportunities to give their team a nice home. Do we need a third opportunity to build a non-essential sport complex that will burden the community with an increase in tax?

Our elected officials should step up to the plate and address the “levee issue”, which would protect our community and property, and make this their top issue. Having made levees their top priority, Sacramento would then be able to take pride in a flood-proof town rather than a new arena for the Kings. New Orleans had their Superdome. But look what happened to their levees even after they had been told about the potential problems?

Steve M., Sacramento

Failure of the levee system in Sacramento could create a catastrophe much greater than New Orleans.

It is a serious issue requiring government in an era where it’s fashionable not to require government.

I replied to Steve.

Steve,
Bravo.
Right between the eyes.

Biting the bullet is required in Sacramento on this issue.

Keep yourself encouraged.

Change in policy isn’t always difficult. Studies show that a shift toward a new idea will cause both positive and negative reactions. Usually, just a few folks respond in the the early stages of change, sometimes loudly. But each time a new idea is presented, as time goes on, the bulk of the voters begin to shape their opinion and begin to step forward. Folks don’t rush into change all at one time.

This means that it often takes a bit of repetition before a solid change in direction will be seen to appear in the general population or group. Repetition is the key secret.

It’s important, and it should be routine, that ideas are repeated again and again.

It’s not necessary to engage in arguing all the facts or getting involved in fiery reactions or figuring out the funding and engineering. Experts will be available. It’s only necessary, with human society, to be patiently presenting the idea until it grows across the population.

Bringing a few friends along could be very useful.

Additional letters could be sent on and off. A poster drive over a few months and next year would only cost a few dollars. A website with a few informative pages could consolidate data sources.

You are a persistent fellow.

You would be pleased to know that science proves that persistence is often the best leadership.

Regards,

Brian

Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us. Bill Waterson

If students see a visual presentation, do they learn faster?

Harvard University expects a performance improvement of its biology students of almost 30% by using visualization tools.

Your next college should be a multimedia powerhouse.

How new technologies are modifying our way of life

Worldchanging thoughts and comments about internet utilization in the nonprofit sector.

Nonprofits tend to be mission-driven and not enamored of cutting-edge new technologies unless it’s very clear that they create a benefit, and are easy for non-techies to use. So adoption of new applications and new thinking about network approaches has been slow.

…but the point is that the NPO world is changing, and that change is driven in part by access to inexpensive technologies that can extend the capabilities of the smallest organization.

“…more small nonprofits are appearing with better (generally web-based) tools for accepting donations, and this potentially changes distribution of donations, and facilitates a “long tail” in the nonprofit realm.”, says Jon Lebkowsky.

Last year, when some influential factions of California’s major electrical union, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), saw the financial size of the solar pot being debated in California, they wanted a piece of the action.

The IBEW went on to insist that all future work related to California’s Million Solar Roofs bill would have to be done with licensed electricians and a specific type of license that, not coincidentally, most solar installers do not have, and most IBEW members do have.

One solar installer says, “The labor unions saw the solar industry was about to have lots of dollars pumped into it and they jumped on board. It wasn’t for safety, it was basically a way to hijack the process and protect their own interests….”

California’s Million Solar Roofs bill hasn’t solved the issues. Story here.

From a press release but interesting as farmers enter the power plant business.

By using renewable biogas generated by digesting onion peels and other fresh produce waste, Gills Onions will reduce fuel and waste disposal costs resulting in significant annual savings.

Currently the company disposes of its solid onion waste in composting fields–an expensive use the company’s valuable land. Other onion refuse historically has been disposed as sewage and required Gills Onions to pay for the volume of its total dissolvable solids.

“Gills Onions and FuelCell Energy are providing a truly innovative solution for the fresh-cut industry’s waste disposal headache,” said Steven Gill, Partner, Gills Onions.

“Since pioneering the fresh-cut industry with our ready-to-eat onions, vegetables and salads, we have been looking for alternatives to composting our waste.

Years of research and then connecting with FuelCell Energy have provided a breakthrough where the raw vegetable waste can be converted into electricity, thereby reducing greenhouse emissions, eliminating costly offsite waste disposal, reducing our energy needs, and making a new model for sustaining California agriculture.

‘Waste not, want not’ sums up the conservation and farming philosophy of the Gill family.”

The Energy Policy Act provides up to $1000 for each kilowatt for the purchase of fuel cell power plants.

It seems this power plant is free!