I admire Tom Peters. I’ve read all of his books and met him once very briefly in the ’80s at a business conference. But when I read quotes like this one I have to wonder, does he think we all live in Lake Woebegone where all the children are above average? We have to plan for a world where the exceptional live in harmony with the average and the less than average. Otherwise we end up with another French Revolution.
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Mortgages and Madness.
Major kudos to the Plunerbund crew for putting the Sockobama doll away:
Racist Sock Obama Toy Prototype Manufacturer Refuses to Make Toy
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Make History Make Sense.
What strikes me as similar now with then, however, is the craving for change, for a break with the past. It dominates public thought and feeling today as it did in 1967. A tremendous desire existed – ready to break for the right person – to cast off old divisions, particularly of race, and set a new course. Stokes excited and help fulfill that passion as has Obama this year. They both inspired the young. They both employed hope as a spur.
There is a sense, I believe, among many that the center now as then is falling apart, that our leadership is taking us not only where we don”t want to go but toward disaster.
Cleveland then was a divided city just as America now is a divided nation. There are yearnings to return to the simpler past but strong desire to beat a new path. There was and is a strong longing to be done with those divisions in our society.
In Cleveland, there were undetermined forces at work ready to be unleashed. It needed a leader. It found one. Can we do it again?
From Freakonomics:
One major factor may have been the influence of soap operas, according to a fascinating new working paper by Eliana La Ferrara, Alberto Chong, and Suzanne Duryea, issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis for Development. Brazil”s most popular prime-time soaps have for years revolved around small and stable middle-class families that were much smaller than the traditional Brazilian family. The study found that wherever the soaps aired, the fertility for women dropped significantly, as they adapted to the reality they saw on television.
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Are You a Comfort Junkie?.
People: this is why we don”t do the hierarchy of oppression but we work to get rid of it ALL. Within ourselves (by becoming anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-anti-immigrant – I”m not even sure if that”s what it”s officially called but IT DOESN”T MATTER – it”s your behavior and attitudes that matter) and calling it out when others do it. Not by saying, “ha! you think that”s so bad? You should see THIS!” or by saying, “oh I know – it”s awful – but it happens.”
But by calling it out. And writing and saying over and over and over: IT. IS. WRONG.
Earlier this week I posted a picture of the latest bit of offensive racism: The Sockobama. Now the makers seem to claim that they’re not offensive racists, just dumb racists.
From The Daily Dish:
To Those with Heartfelt Queries,
We chose twenty-two customer queries today that we believe merit a response. You touched us with either your concern, intelligence, humor, sensitivity, and/or your thoughtfulness. We thank you. There are other queries we received today as well that we chose not to respond to, because of their spewing of venom and their aimlessness.
We at TheSockObama Co. are saddened that some individuals have chosen to misinterpret our plush toy. It is not, nor has it ever been our objective to hurt, dismay or anger anyone. We guess there is an element of naiveté on our part, in that we don’t think in terms of myths, fables, fairy tales and folklore. We simply made a casual and affectionate observation one night, and a charming association between a candidate and a toy we had when we were little. We wonder now if this might be a great opportunity to take this moment to really try and transcend still existing racial biases.
We think that if we can do this together, maybe it will behoove us a nation and maybe we’ll even begin to truly communicate with one another more tenderly, more real even. This is only our introductory plush toy.
If we choose to move forward with a Republican candidate, we’ll begin with an elongated and slightly lumpy, fuzzy Idaho potato. Had a different Democratic candidate won the nomination, we were prepared to move forward with the cutest, fluffiest 12″ chestnut and golden-haired squirrel, with a short Farrah-like do in a brown pantsuit and call her Squirellary.
In earnest folks, we’re so sorry we offended anybody.
But not so sorry as to actually do anything like take down the website, refund all unfulfilled orders and landfill any remaining stock.
Is there any one out there buying this?
How did America find itself back in The Jungle?
It started with ideology. Hard-core American conservatives have long idealized the Gilded Age, regarding everything that followed – not just the New Deal, but even the Progressive Era – as a great diversion from the true path of capitalism.
Thus, when Grover Norquist, the anti-tax advocate, was asked about his ultimate goal, he replied that he wanted a restoration of the way America was “up until Teddy Roosevelt, when the socialists took over. The income tax, the death tax, regulation, all that.”
The late Milton Friedman agreed, calling for the abolition of the Food and Drug Administration. It was unnecessary, he argued: private companies would avoid taking risks with public health to safeguard their reputations and to avoid damaging class-action lawsuits. (Friedman, unlike almost every other conservative I can think of, viewed lawyers as the guardians of free-market capitalism.)
I’m constantly tossing interesting websites into what I call my blogpile. Some of them find their way here in the form of regular posts, but more often than not they languish and get buried deeper in the pile. The end result is that I have to go back and do a bit of shoveling. Today’s item is Saving Time on Routine Tasks: Optimized Writing.
My son was then taken from me. Taken. From me. But they gave him to Debbie, which is okay, I guess. I cut the cord with one snip. It is tough like a fleshy electrical cord. They whisked him away to the warmer while I heard him start to scream lustily. I don”t really remember what I told Debbie, but I went over to “check out” the baby. What I was really doing was guarding him. Guarding my son. He was bright red and squalling. A beautiful, healthy boy. I looked over just in time to see the placenta plop out of Debbie. I wasn”t much interested in the placenta, so I hung out with my son for a bit before going back to Debbie and getting a few pictures. I wanted a good shot of me delivering the baby, but with all of the excitement, it didn”t turn out that way.
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