1. The Long and Winding Road

Well, it's not only the scientists who are all getting hot under collar with the global warming thing. It seems as our beloved veggie, Paul McCartney, decided to go all green as well. I guess green makes sense after losgina few to the one-legged wonder heathen Heather Mills. She took a few green ones off him. Okay, I am not a huge McCartney (or Beatles) fan. Especially not Sir Paul. Anyone trying to force tofu and soya down my throat better run fast. But this time he got the pale people vegetarians greenies all worked up for all the wrong reasons. He bought a hybrid. Okay, not actually bought one - got it for free from Lexus. They are not pissed because he got it for free. Nah, it is interesting that those who have will get more, but that's not the reason. No. Sir Pale Paul got his hybrid flown in all the way from Japan... A bit of an environmental footprint hey? The equivalent of driving it 300 times around the earth. I'm not bugged, I say just Let It Be.

2. Libya liberated

It is official. Libya is back on the good side of life. Yes, the country called Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, but known to close friends as just plain old Libya, is now officially the place to be. Okay, not really official, but still - the signs are there that it is the in place right now. No Gaddafi didn't hand out oil for free or open a Arab Disney. Actually, I don't know why they are the place to be. I just know they are. Just the other day they caught 240 illegal immigrants hanging around the beaches at Tripoli. Must be the weather. Can't be that they were trying to get into Italy by any chance. I mean really. Italy? Why the hell would you want to do something like that? You know how I feel about Italy...

3. Flip-flop, here we go... again

Question to Presidential candidate: "Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?"

Presidential candidate answered: "They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that."

So McCane would be all over your... hum... backside it you said that right? I mean come on. Obama shouldn't be saying things like that. Talking to extreme governments. It should just not be done by an American President. What? Obama didn't say that? Oh... McLame said that... Just 2 years ago. Maybe it is his age catching up. I can understand that. He can't even remember where he put his teeth last night. Or his comb-over hair. Sad thing is. People will swallow this and vote for the man. I think it is Kool-Aid. Or could be stupidity.

4. Monster sue Monster sue Monster sue Monster...

So you are just playing a nice game of mini-golf and when you think to yourself. I should really get cable from these guys. It must be the blue lights getting you all confused and the putter feels a bit like a remote control. Now, you must be pretty stupid to confuse mini-golf with cable right? No - I don't mean watching Caddyshack on the box. I mean thinking that a mini-golf outfit will sell you cable on the side. Stupidity knows no end. Monster Cable is suing Monster Mini Golf because of copyright infringement. WTF? My question exactly. But it's okay. They've also sued Discovery over their Monster Garage series. And Monster.com. And Disney for Monster Inc. And the Red Sox for Monster Seats on the... Green Monster. I guess they are hoping for a Monster payout. Keep dreaming guys. Acting like Monsters, sorry little "m" - monsters, won't get you much sympathy. I'll sue if you dare register Angry Monster on the Loose. Monster! Monster! Monster! monsters. Now, let's sit back and wait to get sued.

5. Stopping poverty at the door

I think this Samuelson dude (sorry, Robert J. Samuelson) needs to get back to university. Start reading Logic 101 instead of The Economist. I think he might be conservative. Hear him out. "Finally, let's discuss poverty. Everyone is against it, but hardly anyone admits that most of the increase in the past 15 years reflects immigration -- new immigrants or children of recent immigrants. Unless we stop poor people from coming across our Southern border, legally and illegally, we won't reduce poverty." Hum... Dude. I apologize. That is way logic. You will reduce poverty by letting less poor people in. Hum... Dude. I really don't know what to say. Maybe you should become Mac's economic adviser. Your sense of economics makes about as much sense as his views on war, torture, foreign policy, Hamas flip-flop, Sonny & Cher, (sorry, Sunni & Shiite), gas prices and his comb-over. Here's another few pieces of logic Mr Smartypants - stop the killing by stopping the war or stop the dying by giving people health-care or stop the bigotry by giving people equal rights or stop the pain by stopping the torture or stop global warming by stopping the oil. Puh-lease. As if you have the balls or logic to do that.

That's it folks. See ya later. And have a great, great weekend.

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Press Conference/Community Forum:  

Eight Unsavory Practices that Strip Cash from Working Families

and a special three hour workshop titled Boosting the Economic Success of Low-Income Working Families at LCCC Educational Conference Center, Nanticoke, PA.  Presented by John Molinaro, Associate Director, Community Strategies Group, Aspen Institute, Washington, DC.  Sponsored by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania and LCCC Division of Workforce and Community Development.  All details on this website:  http://www.luzerne.edu/workforce/main.jsp

The article talks about the countless U.S. cities that are voting to demolish their archaic and poorly planned highways. The one in Oklahoma City, highlighted in the article, will be turned into a park while other cities look to open up the waterfront property that many highways overtook because of the flat terrain. (Seriously, I don't understand any of the motivations behind urban development in the U.S. mid-20th century.)

As for observations from Berlin...they all deal with public transportation. And though none are unexpected, they still are worth mentioning.

First, bikes are everywhere. On nearly all Berlin streets, bikers have their own dedicated lanes, sometimes in the street, but more often as a part of the sidewalk, indicated by a different color brick. Also, bikers always follow the rules of the road (unlike Atlanta bikers that pretend that traffic lights and signs don't apply to them)

Second, trains and buses are ultra-efficient and always on time. Even the bus stops tell you when the next bus will arrive with electronic signs

I'd be a fool to think that we're not a long way off from this in the U.S., especially in a city like Atlanta. But cities like Berlin show us that $8 gas creates an entirely different urban dynamic.

The worst part was that surviving this situation required that I develop two personalities. One personality was authentic, the part of me that believed what I wanted to believe, thinking freely and independently; the other part was everything a good Mormon boy should be, clean cut, devoted, faithful. The big problem was that I had to spend most of my time in my false personality. In high school, I went to church for three hours on Sunday, "seminary" for an hour every weekday, and "mutual" for two hours every Wednesday. Plus, I couldn't be myself at school, either, because word would inevitably get back to my parents, and I would surely face punishment. (Also, with my narcissistic mother, the punishment was never commensurate with the crime.)

My two halves became intermingled to the point that I could barely tell which side was which. Worse yet, having such a screwed up personality made it impossible to relate to others, creating a horrible social awkwardness. I wanted to believe so badly, but my logic and intuition told me otherwise. No doubt that aggravated my Bipolar Disorder, or it may have even been the root cause.

Fortunately, I graduated when I was 17 and immediately moved out to go to school. It was at that point that I stopped going to church and started discovering myself again, outside of my parents' influence. Over time, my social awkwardness disappeared, I let go of the personality I created to cope, and later discovered Paganism.

I know my parents wanted what they believed was best for me, and I love them more than I can say, but there were few things they could have done that would have been worse for my development. Let me just reiterate one more time that I don't believe there is anything wrong with Mormons and what they believe. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Mormons are great people and what they believe is far less ridiculous than many other so-called "Christian" religions; it just wasn't for me.

For a long time I held a grudge against my parents and the church, but I think I've finally let that go. Now, I'm at peace with who I am and what I believe, and I only hope all of you can feel the same. Blessings to you.

Some other interesting news: the Africa Commitment to Development Index has come out.  Check it out, we're giving Africa loads of guns.  But at least we're not down as stealing from them through trade rules, the way Japan is.  Although I have my doubts about that.  Sweden coasts to the lead.  On the energy side of things, I think deep down I always knew that the epically huge mountain of money which we're throwing at the war in Iraq could generate renewable energy, provide clean water and sanitation for all, and possibly cure cancer.  Now, thanks to a DOE report, my suspicions about the renewable energy at least have been confirmed.  And - eeeeee - an ipod has married a supercomputer in the hope that their offspring will solve the climate crisis.  Brangelina, you ain't got nothing on that.  I think I just had a nerdgasm.

P.S.  Reading about the monotone theme made me want to try it out, so I've started a photo blog.  Ideally I can use it to challenge myself to be somewhat more proficient with my camera.  I'm hoping to add a new picture every day.

But, now it's my turn. Persian is the first right-to-left language which has been finished by the translator, so I should make it available on SoccerProject as soon as possible. This has turned out not to be simple...

I did find a tool by Google, which seemed perfect for the job : CSS Janus. If you're ever facing the same problem (how to make your site right-to-left ready), I think this is the tool you should try out. Unfortunately, it was not sufficient for my needs.

That means that I'm rewriting css myself at the moment. Kind of hard, because I need to look at SoccerProject in Persian, of which I don't understand a word :-) Luckily 'Jose Morinho' helps me and shows me which things to fix....

Sightline Daily | Northwest News That Matters

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1. A Little Fish's Evolution Revolution - Seattle Post-Intelligencer 5/16/2008

2. 60,000 Sturgeon Have a Ball - Portland Oregonian 5/16/2008

3. California Senate Bill Would Ban Suspect Plastic - San Francisco Chronical 5/16/2008

4. Bush Strikes Clean Air Rules Protecting Parks - Washington Post 5/16/2008

5. Unnatural Preservation - Missoula Independent 5/16/2008

6. Study on Native Addiction Brings Elders to Tears - Toronto Globe and Mail 5/16/2008

7. Canada OKs Over-the-Counter Morning-After Pill - Vancouver Sun 5/16/2008

8. Whales Inspire Better Blade Designs - Christian Science Monitor 5/16/2008

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10.  Views: New Urbanism's Contrarion - Toronto Globe and Mail 5/16/2008

" “It’s an unbelievable opportunity...the potential is there to make something beautiful. [The yards] are a black hole for Montreal,” he said. “At least 60 percent of the land is public property,” owned by different levels of government. Autoroute 20 through LaSalle would effectively become a parkway, enhancing the city’s image in the eyes of visitors driving in from Trudeau International Airport."

Not that I see it as a black hole because the glass is always half full at Turcot for me, at least until they officially actually go ahead and do something dumb and totally uninspired such as the current plan to rebuild the Interchange and effectively waste hundreds and hundreds of acres of possibilities.

Please read, Turcot Park? Will the Feds get on board or is it a pipe dream? in The Suburban.

To view the entire plan, visit here.

This plan, however, does not take in a truly global overview such as how the Falaise Saint Jacques can become the "connector" for green corridors and bike path networks on the west side of the city. Still, it is indeed light years ahead of what has been presented by Transport Quebec thus far.

Stallholders at the market, established there for some 200 years in one form or another, have proposed acquiring the lease for the area from Network Rail by setting up a no-for-profit trust to run the market, rather than having it taken over by the council, and having it sterilised under council plans to regenerate the area.

The traders say they would fence off the area, and check the background of those trading there, to help cut crime in the area, which the council describes as "a crime ridden midden".

I wonder though, what is the impact of adoption of these technologies on the lives of people? Do they make their lives easier? Happier? More prosperous? How do they use it? How different these ways are from what we are used for? What business and technological innovation is taking place in this process?

Quite fascinating...

By providing start-up loans and business support, Shared Interest works to see poor communities make use of trade opportunities, in line with the Fairtrade principles. By 2007, they had distributed £21million, and if all goes to plan they will have shifted £75million by 2012.

At the other end, Shared Interest works by members pooling their resources. The £21million above has been raised from the 8,500 members, who have all contributed between £100 and £20,000. This is an investment, not a gift, so it pays a return and can be withdrawn if necessary. The returns are less than the market rate, but it's about putting your money into something worthwhile, and who our money works for is always an important question. If you believe in ethical business, and want to participate more actively in the fairtrade movement than just buying an occasional pot of coffee, here's your chance.

It's a fantastic one-day conference with very little of the fluff or this-is-how-you-do-'Hello World' seen at some of the larger conferences. It's worth attending if you can make it.

A four-year stint at college. Long hours at work. A divorce because you're never home. Failing health because you never leave your desk. Kids that grow up not really knowing you.

Many wonder at the wealth and fame that many people seem to attain without effort - but somewhere, someone had to make sacrifices and trade offs to make it all happen. Nothing ever happens solely on account of luck - unless you happen to hit the lottery. Like I said - fortune rarely falls into our laps.

My wife and I were talking last night about choices friends and family had made, how many choices were made because they were the easy choice, and how the consequences of those choices had led them to lives that they probably didn't envision for themselves only a short while back. Evidently, the prices being exacted wasn't worth what they were willing to do to achieve their goals - so they settled.

Or maybe it only seems like they settled from my viewpoint. This post really isn't supposed to be about my bias in this regard. I simply mean that for every great success or achievement, an exacting cost will be required - and at some point, everyone has to make the decision on what price they are willing to pay to achieve their goals in life.

I've been on enough "death march" software development projects over the course of my career to understand that sometimes the price we pay is like casting pearls before swine.

I have seen colleagues work themselves to death, have seen them grow apart from their kids, and watched as their marriages and relationships crumbled away because of the time spent pursuing the product that has to be shipped by a certain date. I still have many friends who leave home Sunday night and return Thursday evening, each and every week, in order to live in a beautiful gated community.

Much has been written about how Gen Y no longer sees the need for such sacrifices in order to attain success, or to be considered successful. However, reading the preliminary reviews of Sarah Lacy's upcoming book "Once You're Lucky, Twice You're Good" seems to belie this notion, because the successful peiple she has interviewed all have one thing in common - they work their ass off.

I think Baby Boomers sometimes get way too much credit for being Type A overachievers, because I sure have known a lot of boomers in my time that more resembled Wally than Dilbert. I've also worked with Gen Xers and Gen Ys that were very hard workers as well. We are deluding ourselves if we try to pigeonhole the workforce and their willingness to sacrifice solely on age - though it is a determining factor.

What we as collaborators and employers have to do is identify what goals our co-workers and employees wish to accomplish and set about ways that make sure that the prices that are being exacted of their success and promotion coincide with what they are willing to invest. If these two diverge, then congratulations - you've just qualified your candidate pool.

One of my favorite books - but not the movie - is "Interview with the Vampire." Lestat, the main character, is an immortal who periodically retreats from the world to re-emerge to find himself absolutely disconnected from the age, the customs, and spirit of the times. He envies his fellow vampire and friend, Louis, who seemingly flows within whatever period he finds himself in, at one with the world in which he finds himself.

As someone who is about mid way through my professional life, I can recognize how the times and acceptable business practices have changed dramatically since I entered the work force.

I recognize that those "of a certain age" don't use a computer or email and don't care; that those of another age use email but are oblivious to texting and SMS; and still others than never use email, don't watch TV or listen to radio, and eat at the dinner table with their heads down and thumbs flying furiously.

In many ways, professionally, we are like frogs in a pot of water that is slowly being heated to a boil. We don't realize that the world about us is changing, maybe not for the better for us, until it is too late to do anything about it.

For me, the daily struggle is staying relevant and productive in a world that values success but downplays what it takes to achieve that success. Some days I win - some days, not so much.

What price do you pay, and is it worth it?

Of course the biggie is that next week is the official opening of the new Alameda Theatre.    I'll probably go into more detail next week, but, Eve Pearlman has posted an entry on her blog saying that the impossible has actually happened.   The gala event is sold out.   Really?!   $100 per person and they managed to sell it out, those are some very very excited people.  I guess that more than just a handful of people were or now currently are supporters of the theater.

Although, I was told that they will be screening some classic films during the event which sort of made me want to go when I heard that Singing in the Rain was going to be one of the movies featured.   Gene Kelly larger than life, that's a pretty big sell.  

And another tidbit from Eve P. the new Borders is open at Alameda Towne Centre.   I suppose this is what they term a "soft opening" since there hasn't been a lot of buzz around a May 15th opening date.  They will be having grand opening festivities starting May 30 through June 1, although I wonder who will bring in the bigger crowd, Strawberry Shortcake, or former San Francisco mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr?  There is a pretty interesting event prior to the Willie Brown book signing though, which features the authors of a book called Cooking with All Things Trader Joe's, which should be a draw for all you TJ fans out there.  From the website, it appears the authors are a more ethnic version of Sandra Lee and concentrate on using just items from TJ.

Finally, last but not least, Saturday will be the last of three community build days at the former Woodstock Elementary School for Alternatives in Action.   Alternatives in Action is moving their programs from Alameda Point to this site and that includes the BASE charter school, HOME Sweet HOME preschool, and the HOME Project.  What is great is that the Woodstock site will be playing home to many other great programs like the Boys and Girls Club and some AUSD resources will still be sited there.   So if you feel like picking up a paintbrush or a trowel this Saturday for a great cause, head over the Woodstock and build a community.

I think this is one of the things that sets Toyota apart from the average company. Few companies invest so much effort into the people systems, yet we hear that "people are our most important asset." Because they invest so heavily into selecting the right people and making sure they get engaged in the culture, the employees are able to also get engaged in the product systems and the philosophy of continuous improvement, thereby keeping Toyota at the top of the heap in customer satisfaction.

The biggest difference I heard Mr. Liker say was that they hire someone with the idea that they have taken them into the company for life. Therefore, it is worth their investment to develop them. I think this is very different from the average company and therefore the average employee who see each other as expendable. It is the rare company that takes the time and effort to really engage their employees so they will want to stay and then provide them development opportunities so they can grow to be the best employee possible. Partly because of this, it is the rare employee who sees a company as a partnership for life where they can grow, contribute, and take pride in ownership of its success.