You’re too young to have gone to Lulu White’s, Jazz Workshop, or Pall’s mall?

An abstract might run: Water is the oil of the 21st century. By 2050 two billion people will lack sufficient potable water. Russia has enough to satisfy the needs of two planets. The Kremlin hopes to use these resources for financial and political gain through a network of piplelines similar to that used to transport oil, though in this instance water would be conveyed even farther afield, to the Middle East and Africa. As water resources literally dry up, Russia would be able to position itself at the head of the “alimentary chain” governing the lives of millions of people. Water is an increasingly precious financial commodity…

At first, it appears to be about medical science.
Then it appears to be about politics.
Then again, it turns out to be about religion!

Government/health programs – sex – the religious right – this has it all !

You can get women speakers !

Tom B: Sarcasm in political dialogue…how would you flesh this out into a whole hour? What would you want to talk about? Who’s good on this subject?

Paul Massari: The bad stuff turning out to be good might have the makings of a blog feature, but probably not a show. Where would you hear the conversation going after the first five minutes on chocolate, wine, and naps?

Paul Massari Hi again. You’ll find Michael Pollan on The Children of the Corn Subsidies and on We Say Potato. The Omnivore’s Dilemma is indeed a wonderful book.

How are the secondary markets about any of the above ?

Once the insiders have distributed their shares, the secondary markets are only there incase insiders need to sell more later.

It is a game of musical chairs – don’t get caught when the music stops!

I strongly second mynocturama’s pitch above, re the popularity & growing power of on-line video sketches, as they relate to opportunities to inform the public with perspectives that won’t appear on anyone’s “nightly news” broadcasts. Ultimately, this format may be the answer to the rules change (under Reagan) that ended the “equal time” fiat for broadcasters. It may also presage an increase in the exercise of the vote by the young… or at least give “talking points” a wider audience. ^..^

kasperhauser.com

It stirred in me the sort of intense laughter that’s practically indistinguishable from crying.

Some highlights: Garden Emoti-Gnomes (p.31), Nazi Grandpa Locator (p.54), and Home Beluga-quarium (p.58).

Kasper Hauser puts out a successful podcast (produced in part, I think, by Jesse Thorn, one of the guests for the Borat show). So I frame the pitch in terms of the reach of the internet and the technology of podcasts in relation to sketch comedy, a form once accessible/experienced only via TV and live performance.

But, frankly, I suggest it just to share something deeply, liberatingly funny. Part of my own private utopia would have to include all Sky Mall catalogues on planes replaced by Sky Maul. It may very well help the airline industry.

When David Brooks says that Chaney’s irretraceable positions are self destructive – that insight is found in the book The 48 Laws of Power.

When Hillary Clinton says, if attacked, decimate your adversary – that insight is found in the book The 48 Laws of Power

The 48 Laws of Power parallels the teachings from Sun Tzu’s the Art of War and Niccolo Machiavelli’s the Prince

Several states have therefore introduced bills which, if passed, could begin the impeachment process.[4]

Hurley and Herbert Browne: can you guys give me a quick civics lesson? Does a bill in the WA state senate have any bearing on the impeachment of a president? Is this anything more than the taking of temperature in places like the Pacific Northwest and Vermont?

To bring everyone more up to date however, I would like to draw their attention to that which can serve as a basis for prima-facie litigation. Sufficient enough for liability are the more internet-generated terms such as “causation of damage” and “intermeddling” – related to ‘hacking’, and the instalation of virusus and/or spyware. Should any attempt to steal my identity, damage my reputation, or cause loss of productivity occur – a lawsuit will be filed as soon as possible.

I would expect behavior like this from the Pope, but not from the advanced hominids on Open Source.

Daniel: BramGolah@gmail.com

As for spending per student, I have managed to find some data that pokes holes in the more-money-is-better theory. In 2004, out the the 50 states and the District of Columbia, DC spent the most money per student: $13,317. Thia is about 62% more than the national average of $8,248. In 2004 DC students also averaged the lowest composite SAT score in the country: 965, compared to 1026 for the nation and the highest average score of 1195 in Iowa. Iowa happens to be well below the national average for per-student spending, at $7,279 a head.

The SAT scores for 2004 were pulled off of an Oklahoma state web site here:
http://www.sde.state.ok.us/test/SAT/SATstateSCORES.pdf

Per-capita spending data was taken from a National Education Association report, tables H-11 and H-12:
http://www.nea.org/edstats/images/05rankings.pdf

For potential interviews, Class Size Matters (www.classsizematters.org) is one organization I found promoting smaller classes. There are probably many others. I’m sure the NEA would have comments, as would local school boards.

It’s more than just having the capital. The fab shop I’ve done a minor amount of IT work for has a set of laser mills. Suckers cut metal to greater than a thousandth of a millimeter tolerance. The point is it’s not just about having enough money to purchase the gear you have to have skilled operators, quality control over the finished product, transportation to get it to the customer, and most important skilled techs to fly in and fix it when it breaks. Foreign shops can certainly gear up for all of this .. by which time the domestic places can buy the really-truly latest and greatest. It’s a never ending game but the advantage is to the capital rich and connected.

a lot of that “manufacturing middle” has gone.

I have no doubt of that. But I’m convinced that a great deal is still here just .. hidden from view. Some of it is new. My employer employs maybe 3,000 people domestically, 1500 local to my town – a lot of that growth is within the last decade. You’ll never even have heard of us unless you’re in our industry – and we have a world-wide presence and we’re _good_ at what we do.

Granted I am optimistic by nature but this can’t be an isolated datum.

Pollan’s latest, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, is at once a modern day version of The Jungle, a meditation on taking responsibility for what we eat, and an ode to farming, cooking, and eating well. His story of investing in a steer and following its trail from birth to slaughter to McDonald’s in the “Military Agricultural State” is both enthralling and deeply disturbing. Best of all, Pollan connects the dots: between industrial agriculture and our pertoleum culture; between big farming and ranching and our distance from nature; and between the corn based food chain and the obesity epidemic.

Put Pollan on with someone from Whole Foods (who come in for plenty of criticism in his book), a chef dedicated to cooking with locally grown food, and maybe an agribusiness guy. Terrific stuff!