Bill Moyers is Back and He’s As Good As Ever

Posted on January 16, 2012
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One of the Good Guys

Bill Moyers has returned to TV with a vengeance. After what seemed to be a hiatus that lasted forever, one of the true champions of regular Americans and one one of the few remaining thoughtful journalists is back.

His most recent program focused in on Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson, the authors of Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer — And Turned Its Back on the Middle Class, argue that America’s vast inequality is no accident, but in fact has been politically engineered.

Moyers asks the following question: “How, in a nation as wealthy as America, can the economy simply stop working for people at large, while super-serving those at the very top? Through exhaustive research and analysis, the political scientists Hacker and Pierson — whom Bill regards as the “Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson” of economics — detail important truths behind a 30-year economic assault against the middle class.”

This is an incredibly compelling and disturbing episode. If you want to watch it, just click on the picture to the left.

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What the Hell is a Hyperpolyglott?

Posted on January 14, 2012
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Babel No More: The Search for the World’s Most Extraordinary Language Learners

According to author Michael Erand, if you speak 11 or more languages you’re what’s known as a hyperpolyglott. I was actually made aware of this interesting book while listening to Canadian Public Radio Program recently. I was fascinated by the discussion because, as someone who has studied languages both in college and for personal gratification, I’ve always found learning foreign languages a daunting and incredibly challenging discipline. I have personally known one hyperpolyglott. Let me tell you a quick story about this person:

I was a Classics Major at the University of Utah in the early 1980′s and my favorite professor, Dr. Gerald Gresseth, surprised me one day. I was taking a senior-level Greek Drama class. We were reading Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound in the original Classical Greek. Let me just say, I was never totally proficient in Classical Greek and this particular class was incredibly difficult. In spite of this, Dr. Gresseth was an incredibly good instructor. Now consider this: I had been taking classes from him for 4 years and I knew that he was a well-respected scholar and linguist; however, nothing prepared me for the day when he came into class and looked a the blackboard which was filled with Chinese by the previous instructor. He looked at me and asked, “Mr. Lupori, do you know Chinese?” “No Dr., I don’t.” At that point he smiled and said, “Well, let me tell you, this is fascinating!” He then proceeded to read the text to me translating it into English as if he were reading a newspaper………I was dumbfounded. I suspected the knew a number of the Romance Languages, Greek, Latin and I knew he even taught Sanskrit….but Chinese? I then asked him how many languages he knew and he said he could manage to understand about 20 or so……….

To this day, I struggle with Italian. My German is more than rusty and I’ve all but forgotten Latin and Greek. What I haven’t done is lost my passion for languages, linguistics and the way in which they force me to look at the world in a different way.

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The Filter Bubble: Eli Pariser’s Disturbing Discovery

Posted on December 15, 2011
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Earlier this year Eli Pariser, former Executive Director of MoveOn.org, was giving a lot of interviews about his book, “The Filter Bubble,” which describes in vivid (and disturbing) detail how our activities on the Internet are being closely observed in the background by what are essentially “algorithmic editors.” In essence, if you’re reading this blog you are being thin-sliced, categorized and prepared for a barrage of marketing, manipulation and coercion. It’s something you should be aware of. Here’s a TED presentation by Pariser that I’m sure you’ll find interesting:

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Community Supported Agriculture: A Refresher Course

Posted on December 11, 2011
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Thinking About Local Produce in December!

 

Yes indeed, today was one of those dreadfully gray, drizzly Northwest days in December. This inspired me to go back into my blog archives and take a look at some of my posts regarding my personal relationship to an increasingly important movement in our area: community supported agriculture or subscription farming.  My wife and I have been purchasing “shares” of local farms for many years now. We do so because 1) we believe in locally produced, fresh foods and, 2) we believe in supporting local farmers.  Here’s a good explanation of how they work:

Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or “share-holders” of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer’s salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm’s bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the farm. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.

The past 3 years we have been purchasing our vegetables (via a subscription) from Growing Washington. We have been incredibly pleased with the quality, variety and quantity of the produce. The summer subscription costs around $365 for 18 weeks of produce which is delivered to a pick-up location close by. When Mother Nature cooperates, the farm offers an extended season of 4 more weeks in November for another $120. It’s worth every penny!

So, to illustrate the complete 2011 season of produce we received from Growing Washington, I hope you enjoy the Capzles presentation (above)! Make sure your speakers are on! I hope this inspires you to try subscription farming if it’s available where you live. If not, I encourage you to always support local farmers. Corporate farms and the food they produce today is, for me, a troubling situation (a discussion for another day)but at least for today, I hope your mouth waters when you check out the vegetables we received this year!

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James Howard Kunstler: The Tragedy of Suburbia

Posted on December 10, 2011
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How Ugly is Your Town?

James Howard Kunstler is one of my favorite social/economic/political critics, probably because he’s not only outspoken and incredibly opinionated, but he also has a potty mouth. Yet, he’s an articulate, thoughtful and intelligent thinker who has some important and uncomfortable things to say about the way we do things here in the U.S.. Here’s his talk at the TED Talks conference in 2007.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the TED Conference: TED (Technology Entertainment and Design) is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate “ideas worth spreading”. (from wikipedia) If you want to watch some amazing presentations by some of the smartest people on earth, go to the TED website at http://www.ted.com/talks.

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“I Don’t Understand How Business Works” or I’m a Republican in Congress

Posted on December 9, 2011
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It’s All About Return-on-Investment, Not Payroll Taxes

NPR had an excellent story this morning about the Payroll-Tax war taking place in Washington DC.  It’s looking as if the Republicans who never saw a tax cut they didn’t like (whether or not it’s being “paid for”) are fighting tooth-and-nail against President Obama’s payroll-tax holiday extension. The piece begins with Eric Cantor and John Thune going on about how extending the holiday would hurt “the job creators.” As usual they use the tired-worn-out and FALSE canard that business owners obsess over taxes when hiring employees. Well, when NPR looked into this notion they came up with a totally different reality. When they  went out to find business owners (job creators) who illustrate the Republican talking point here’s what happened:

Business Basics for Dummies

“We wanted to talk to business owners who would be affected. So, NPR requested help from numerous Republican congressional offices, including House and Senate leadership. They were unable to produce a single millionaire job creator for us to interview.So we went to the business groups that have been lobbying against the surtax. Again, three days after putting in a request, none of them was able to find someone for us to talk to. A group called the Tax Relief Coalition said the problem was finding someone willing to talk about their personal taxes on national radio.”

 

Click on the picture to read/listen to the article!

I highly recommend you listen to (or read the transcript of) this story. Then read down the comment thread. Lot’s of lively conversation there. My main problem with the way the Main Stream Media covers economic issues is that it often allows the “conservative” perspective to dominate the discussion. Even though NPR ended up interviewing presumably “liberal” business owners (because they vote Democrat), at least NPR gave a voice to “job creators” who basically call the Republicans out on their bullshit.

What do we ultimately learn from the article: The issue of taxes isn’t in the top list of an owner’s hiring decisions. It’s about contracts, attracting and keeping customers and the ROI (return-on-investment) an employee will bring to the equation. Perhaps Cantor, Boehner, Thune and all the rest of the Republicans need to go back to school and re-learn their basic business principles…..Better yet, perhaps they should go get a real job.

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The CEO Definition of “Talent & Genius”: Jon Corzine

Posted on December 9, 2011
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Why They Get Paid the Big Bucks!

Click on this photo to read the DealB%K article

I’ve had plenty of arguments over the years with all sorts of “free market’ apologists who love to praise the lions of industry who, through their “talent and genius” take the big risks, make the crucial decisions and turn lead into gold. Yes, these men (almost always men) are the masters of the universe, Ayn Rand wet-dreams. To many folks, CEO’s are gods who wield the power of capitalism, finance and genius to create vast piles of wealth, jobs and power. We’ve heard all about the Warren Buffets, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, but today we received a glimpse into the slimy world of CEO’s whose talent and genius didn’t amount to a pile of shit. Jon Corzine admitted that his company MF Global managed to lose $1 billion (they’ve also filed for bankruptcy). Corzine’s overall statement amounted to: “Gosh, I didn’t mean to break any rules and……I’m SO SORRY!” When asked by one Senator if he would be willing to pay back shareholders the lost monies with his own assets, Mr. Corzine said (surprise, surprise) “no.” No skin in the game I guess.

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Karl A. Pillemer, Ph.D.: Top 10 Lessons for Living from the Wisest Americans

Posted on December 7, 2011
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Here Are Some Great Lessons!

Karl A. Pillemer, Ph.D.: Top 10 Lessons for Living from the Wisest Americans.

I usually don’t like these formulaic lists about happiness and wisdom ; however Pillemer’s list really hit me. I’m not a 20-something anymore and, as time seems to pass more quickly, friends and family pass away and the world seems determined to make things more and more difficult, I think this article offers some great advice.

 

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Robert Reich: The Most Important Economic Speech of His Presidency

Posted on December 7, 2011
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Robert Reich: The Most Important Economic Speech of His Presidency.

I always find Robert Reich’s commentaries about economics, government, labor and the state of our American republic to be some of the most articulate, thoughtful and consistent of any thinker out there today. I found this on the Huffington Post today. In the future I’ll try to make the presentation more palatable. I’m still trying to figure out how all the bells and whistles work on this new site.

 

 

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Being Wrong: Kathryn Schulz Didn’t Get This Wrong!

Posted on December 6, 2011
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We All Hate “Being Wrong!” Should We?

Author Kathryn Schulz’s New Book, “Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error” sheds new light on this fascinating subject

Kathryn Schulz has written an excellent book about that most human thing of all: screwing up, making mistakes. She adds a whole new, profoundly articulate language to the idea that “to err is human.” I highly recommend you all pick this book up. For a little taste of Schulz’s style and perspective, here’s a wonderful interview with her on KUOW (our local NPR affiliate) during which she discusses the book. It’s good stuff!

http://kuow.org/program.php?id=25268

 

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