Following my experience working with Bill Callahan and others in the Emergency Community Computer Center at the Cleveland Covention Center, I’ve been very interested in what would come out of Recovery 2.0 this weekend. Jeff Jarvis has been blogging the hell out of the concept and posts a wrap-up this evening about what was done.

About 45 good people came to our Recovery 2.0 meeting in San Francisco, called there by nothing more than a few blog posts and a desire to find ways to improve the internet”s response to the next disaster.

I didn”t know what, if anything, we could accomplish in an hour and a half. At best, I hoped for a simple list of simple starting points and that”s what we got.

The shopping list that follows is a good one, but the cental piece is the Recovery wiki.

The points flagged at the meeting included:

We need a place online to gather and share information, needs, and solutions.

We need to meet face-to-face with government, NGOs, and business to offer help and coordinate.

Jarvis’ third-from-the-last paragraph is, I think, the most important:

Then we spent some time listing key needs and characteristics of recovery 2.0: how we need to be even more concerned about preparedness than recovery; how systems need to be open; how we need to find ways to connect to the unconnected (e.g., the Skype virtual phone room idea); how it needs to connect with authorities; other characteristics: searchable, fluid, matchable, swarmable, transparent, trustworthy, discoverable, accountable, tested… and more. We ended up with many words describing what it needs to be.

The most important of all, of course, is that it needs to be.

My Soundtrack: For A Few Dollars More by Terranova onWOXY.

I haven’t seen it mentioned yet in the papers, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. Some 2,000 to 18,000, and climbing, are dead in Pakistan’s earthquake. The epicenter is only about 150 miles from the Afghanistan border where Osama ben Laden is suspected of hiding in caves. Suspose it got him? How would we ever know?

Tish at Snarkaholic (also Love And Hope And Sex And Dreams) offers her low-on-the-food-chain observations of the We Media Conference in New York. Sure Tish’s words are pointed, but it’s her the-bubble-is-a-few-degrees-off- center take that makes her worth reading. While everyone else bashed Al Gore, Tish liked what he had to say:

It is not that we no longer share ideas with one another about public matters; of course we do. But the “Public Forum” in which our Founders searched for general agreement and applied the Rule of Reason has been grossly distorted and “restructured” beyond all recognition.

And here is my point: it is the destruction of that marketplace of ideas that accounts for the “strangeness” that now continually haunts our efforts to reason together about the choices we must make as a nation.

To which Tish commented:

And I got to thinking: There is no marketplace of ideas because we are constantly fed the ideas of others. We are constantly acquiring information and knowledge, but we do not process it. We have 24 hour media — if we are not seeking entertainment we are seeking information.

We do not stop for fear we will be uncool or left out of the loop. We can’t think on our own. We can’t apply the Rule of Reason because we have no time for Contemplation.

Tish on Media Gawking: I didn’t expect much from Jessica [Cohen], but got more from Jay [Rosen]. Jessica did voice an opinion that many of the people have about Public Eye (CBS’s blogging venture): that it’s a sad, sad little website. Nobody faults Vaughn Ververs though. I think a lot of us feel sorry for Ververs — and know that Larry Kramer’s inability to understand the blogosphere is part of what censors Ververs (but we figured that out on BuzzMachine some time ago.)

Tish on In Us We Trust: I got that this was a lot of academic philosophizing, that it was intentionally meant to be over the heads of everybody, but I had a bit of trouble with what seemed to be a celebration of cultural relativism and the corporation.

I’d have to read the transcripts again to see if I’m right on that one…but, personally, I’m not a big fan of cultural relativism nor of corporations. I don’t like the idea that corporations might manipulate blogs and bloggers so that we trust them more. Why should we trust corporations any more than we trust the government? All I could think of was Rollerball (the James Cann/Norman Jewison version).

Tish on We The News: Lots of talk how the people are shaping things, how the people (considered to be the 18-34 age cohort) are changing the way Big Media writes and disseminates news…yadda, yadda, yadda.

The only one on the panel who has a clue was Farai Chideya, who mentioned how the people in the caboose of media culture need to be brought to the fore. But, even Chideya missed a key point–to get from the caboose one has to go thru the Club Car.

And there are loads of us — average middle-class, bach degree’d, working-stiff non-tech, non-journalism citizens in the 35-59 age cohort who are sitting in that Club Car.

To paraphrase Ken Kesey, are you on the train or off the train? Which car are you riding in? And why don’t we have our hand on the throttle?

My Soundtrack: Goddess On A Highway by Mercury Rev on WOXY.

Official Announcement:

Damn, it just doesn’t get more accurate than that!

And another…

Five surgeons are discussing who has the best patients to operate on.

But the fifth surgeon shut them all up when he observed: “You’re all wrong. Politicians are the easiest to operate on. There’s no guts, no heart, no balls, no brains and no spine, and the head and the butt are interchangeable.”

And last, but not least, this.

And my dad lives in one of the reddest counties in Ohio.

My Soundtrack: Soul In Lust by The High Dials on WOXY.

Vocations Club
by
Paula Sergei

People, I’d begin, today we’re talking about…
whatever I want to!
Nuns got great rosaries with fancy beads
and lots of gifts at Christmas.
And the solitude of celibacy sounded pretty good,
better than worrying about French kissing
like my sister, better than pining for men,
like mom, whose men left anyway.

My Soundtrack: I Wanna Know Girls by Portastatic on WOXY.

When I was growing up along the Ohio River, one of our more popular types of jokes involved the inherent mental capacities of people living in West Virginia. (West Virginians, of course tell Ohioan jokes.) Further south along the river, the target shifts to Kentuckians. This example of mountain cunning comes from my dad.

DUI – Kentucky style

“I doubt it,” said the truly proud Kentuckian. “Tonight I’m the designated decoy.”

My Soundtrack: Let You Down by Goldrush on WOXY.

Okay this is Off The Record. About abortion, its what all this is about. If you think I should say what my position is, and you want me to be confirmed depending on what my position is, then I’m sorry, your just dumb because as soon as I say what my position is I can’t be confirmed. I mean no matter what my position is someone will get….

Arghhhh, where be the rum you scurvy petal plucker?

My Soundtrack: Calla by Swagger on WOXY.

Instructions
by
Sheri Hostetler

Give up the world; give up self; finally, give up God.
Find god in rhododendrons and rocks,
passers-by, your cat.
Pare your beliefs, your absolutes.
Make it simple; make it clean.
No carry-on luggage allowed.
Examine all you have
with a loving and critical eye, then
throw away some more.
Repeat. Repeat.
Keep this and only this:
what your heart beats loudly for
what feels heavy and full in your gut.
There will only be one or two
things you will keep,
and they will fit lightly
in your pocket.

There is freedom in a bowl and a cloak.

My Soundtrack: Song Of Our So-Called Friend by Okkervil River on WOXY.

Leonardo da Vinci possesed the greatest mind of any age. His works stand so far above those of the rest of humanity, that if I were a believer in aliens visiting Earth I would point to him as proof of their existance. You can now search his complete notebooks at askSam.com. The Master on young artists:

Moral precepts for the student of painting.

Many are they who have a taste and love for drawing, but no talent; and this will be discernible in boys who are not diligent and never finish their drawings with shading.

My Soundtrack: Do It Again by Nada Surf on WOXY.

Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha goin’ ta do…?

My Soundtrack: At My Post by Grandaddy on WOXY.

Ohio is the focus of an eight-page report from the AFL-CIO that explores how Wal Mart’s policy of seeking the lowest possible cost from its suppliers has driven hundreds of thousands of jobs to China. On PBS’s Frontline, Duke University Professor Gary Gereffi said, Wal Mart is… promoting a global race to the bottom.

The report, Wal Mart Imports From China, Exports Ohio Jobs, tells the stories of four Ohio companies that sell to Wal-Mart.

The loss of jobs at the Huffy Corp., Rubbermaid, Mr. Coffee and Thomson factories in Ohio demonstrates how Wal-Mart pressures suppliers to send Ohio jobs overseas. These jobs exported by Wal-Mart suppliers represent just a handful of the hundreds of thousands of good jobs Ohio has lost in the new Wal-Mart economy. Other such Wal-Mart suppliers as Hasbro, Ohio Art, Texas Instruments Inc., Hoover, World Kitchen Inc. and Philips also have closed plants in Ohio.

And the hemoraging continues:

In 2003, World Kitchen shut its bakeware manufacturing plant in Massillon, Ohio. This year, as World Kitchen continues to cut jobs in America and move them overseas, Wal-Mart rewarded a World Kitchen subsidiary with its Supplier of the Year Award.

Kind of sounds like President George Bush and his medals of freedom, doesn’t it?

My Soundtrack: Michael A Grammar by Broadcast on WOXY.

Citing over-fishing, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has banned the importation of caviar from beluga sturgeon in the Caspian Sea. The $200-an-ounce fish eggs, (cocaine is cheaper) are considered desirable for the name and not the taste; osetra caviar is rated higher, says The Washington Post.

One of my favorite poets, Parisian (Kentucky) Sherry Chandler has been published along side one of my favorite writers Barbara Kingsolver in Imagine A World: Poetry For Peacemakers. Sherry’s poem Bombed Wedding was selected for the anthology along side William Stafford and Carolyn Forché. Buy it.

I’ve been a huge fan of writer Wendell Berry for many years, but I’ve soured somewhat on his poetry, mostly because of my exposure to other Kentucky poets like Sherry Chandler. But Berry still gets it right more than he gets it wrong. These closing lines from his poem The Future are a perfect example.

… No future
can be stuffed into this presence
except by being dead. The day is
clear and bright, and overhead
the sun not yet half finished
with his daily praise.

My Soundtrack: Out Of The Blue by Ash on WOXY.

3 group: $9385.00

Ouch! I bought my first car in 1983 for $3,500.]

One of the conditions that can ruin a good espresso is water temperature. When you pull an espresso shot you’re at the mercey of the machine. A drop in temperature of even a few degrees between boiler and brew head can leave you with a sour, even nasty, tasting espresso. Synesso thinks it’s fixed that.

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

The company’s biggest achievement has been to reliably stabilize the temperature of the hot water forced through the coffee grounds to within 0.75 of a degree, said [Mark] Barnett, 42, who started the three-person company and handles design and engineering.

In many machines, the temperature can vary by 8 degrees or more.

Water that’s too cold makes a real sour taste, he said. When it’s too hot, it’s got this ‘I’m chewing charcoal’ taste.

PID [proportional, integral and derivative] technology, which uses sophisticated physics, ensures that ground espresso beans can be brewed at precisely the temperature for which they’ve been roasted.

Unlike most competitors, Synesso uses stainless steel everywhere except in the cold-water tubing, because the material doesn’t impart flavors, build up scale, corrode or conduct away heat.

To the average coffee drinker that can sound pretty boring, but to a coffee wonk, it can be, well…

…the holy grail of espresso machines, a coffee nerd”s shining wet dream.

That’s the lede from the Victrola Coffee & Art’s newsletter describing how it beta tested Synesso’s three-group machine. Seattle-based Victrola has a well designed website. I specially like the staff profiles.

My Soundtrack: Stormy Weather by Echo And The Bunnymen on WOXY.

The Lady Speaks(for God): Good job down there, little soldier. Never mind St. Peter, his bark is worse than his bite. (pulls a sheet of golden paper from his pocket and adjusts his bifocals) Got a message here for you…”Your grandmother and I are waiting for you at the Chocolate and Beer Buffet. If you get lost, just ask one of the…

Photographers frame, focus and crop their images to capture the image they think best carries the message they want. Zombie Time offers an example taken from the San Francisco Chronicle. Transparency did not please the Chronicle. It demanded (and got) a link to it’s objections, but didn’t link back. How stupid.

Remember the ice that FEMA sent to Maine? Well, here’s an look at FEMA planning from today’s Washington Post: Ninety-one thousand tons of ice cubes… intended to cool food, medicine and sweltering victims of the storm. It would cost taxpayers more than $100 million, and most of it would never be delivered.

The emails are pouring in to Captain Ian Fishback and Andrew Sullivan is posting a few on his website. He’s also made Fishback the topic of his Sunday London Times column. Please read as many as is possible for you; and write your own if you can. From Soldier To Soldier… Dear Captain Fishback…