EL Doctorow: "Bush Doesn't Feel": The award-winning writer brilliantly diagnoses Bush's psychopathy in the Alachua Post. Thanks to Dale Asberry for the link. Excerpt:
He is the President who does not
feel. He does not feel for the families of the dead; he does not feel
for the thirty five million of us who live in poverty; he does not feel
for the forty percent who cannot afford health insurance; he does not
feel for the miners whose lungs are turning black or for the working
people he has deprived of the chance to work overtime at
time-and-a-half to pay their bills---it is amazing for how many people
in this country this President does not feel. But he will dissemble feeling. He will say in all sincerity he is
relieving the wealthiest one percent of the population of their tax
burden for the sake of the rest of us, and that he is polluting the air
we breathe for the sake of our economy, and that he is decreasing the
safety regulations for coal mines to save the coal miners` jobs, and
that he is depriving workers of their time-and-a- half benefits for
overtime because this is actually a way to honor them by raising them
into the professional class. And this litany of lies he will versify with reverences for God and the
flag and democracy, when just what he and his party are doing to our
democracy is choking the life out of it.
Survey Reveals Most Businesses are 'Unhealthy': A new survey
by Strategy + Business magazine finds that two thirds of all businesses
are 'unhealthy' -- basically incapable of responding effectively to
economic events and changing customers needs and wants. The main
syndromes of the unhealthy majority: Passive-aggressive behaviour,
Inadequate resources, Over-management, and Fits-and-starts behaviour.
European companies rated much healthier than North American, UK,
Australian and Japanese companies.
Blogs as Conversations: I recently discovered the unique Muse to Muse
blog, a two-person 'group' blog whose authors, Frida and Georgia,
'talk' to each other about their daily posts on the blog, so that
instead of being a reader, you are a listener to their conversation.
Good for stretching your thinking about what a blog could be.
Learning the Ground-Rules of Political Activism: The New Progressive Coalition's
site aims to inform and teach progressives and new progressive
organizations all the tips and traps of political activism, and to
allow them to coordinate, connect and learn from each other 'best
practices' in fundraising, investing and organization.
Self-Diagnosis and Self-Treatment:
Many people aren't aware that until the early part of this century,
when lawyers got into liability suits and learned helplessness became a
global disease, it was legal and socially acceptable to sell any drug,
and to self-prescribe any drug, on a buyer-beware basis -- people were
assumed to be able to take responsibility for their own health and
well-being. What a concept, eh? Well, now some young people
disenchanted with the crumbling health care system are skirting the law
to accept this responsibility again. The NYT's Amy Harmon reports.
Why Agricultural Subsidies Promote Poor Health: An article by Scott Fields in EHP explains
how agricultural subsidies not only distort the market and allow giant
agribusiness to become wealthy while farmers suffer, they also produce
poor public health by making the least healthy foods the most
affordable. Thanks to Dale Asberry for the link.
Small Retailers Bring Online Shopping Across the Digital Divide:
Some savvy small retailers are hooking up with online specialty stores
to bring into their own shops unique, customized, and sometimes even
local, well-made, socially and environmentally responsible products, so
they can be made available to the 80% of the population that have no
access to, or ability to effectively use, the web. The NYT's Keith
Schneider reports.
Sony Chokes On Its Own Security Technology:
Sony/BMG music has been forced to recall millions of CDs with
despicable 'digital-rights' technology, when the technology was found
to expose buyers' computers to crippling viruses. The NYT's Tom Zeller reports.
Simple, Inspiring Animation: The image above comes from a charming little animation by two students at Canada's Sheridan College, Jon Klassen and Dan Rodrigues. Thanks to Creative Generalist for the link.
Found Poetry: There's a meme going around the blogosphere on 'found poetry' -- prose writing that, with a little reformatting, becomes exquisite poetic work. The best example I've found so far is this piece
from fellow Salon blogger Bonnie Willow. One does not need any
imagination to feel the poetry in this delightful bit of writing.
Anyone else discovered great 'found poetry'? |
MADE IN CANADA
trust your
instincts 
