Romans 12:16, NLT

. . . Only to be told we needed to download some software. Slowly. We went for cake. We came back. The software finally loaded, we shut down, we booted up, we installed, we shut down again, we booted up again...and we pressed play!

. . . And got a message that, due to our internet connection, the movie would take nearly two hours to load.

"You know," I said at this point. "I've never seen Say Anything."

"Really?" said my roommate. "I have Say Anything!"

"I know!"

So, now I can knock that one off the list.

My mother once said to me that she didn't understand why all movies and books and plays had to be about terrible things happening to people. I replied that I couldn't think of a way to tell a story about everything going swimmingly.

I stand corrected. Say Anything is a story about everything going swimmingly. Two hot, nice, well-liked young people meet, go nuts for each other, and everything goes well for them about it. Oh, sure, the girl has the momentary "I'm going to London, we should break up preemptively," panic, but then she's all, "Or, why don't you come with me?!" And there's the whole thing with the dad, but seriously, what movie watcher is really all that upset about a dad going to jail for white-collar crime when there is hot teen sex to be had? Nobody cares about John Mahoney's hypocrisy when John Cusack is standing in the rain with a boombox over his head. Especially since the fall-out with dad has no hugely negative effects in the heroine's life - sure, she's disillusioned with him (although I must say here that the thin reasoning behind how he rationalized his crime is super belabored - you can practically hear the writers' gears grinding as they try to find a way to inject some sort of plot-necessary conflict into this movie that won't put even a slight shadow over all the good-feelingness), but he still loves her and is there ready to resume their relationship whenever she can reconcile herself to his shortcomings, and too - she has a full, merit-based scholarship! So, conveniently, she need not even sweat over whether or not to use Daddy's ill-gotten gains to fund her already planned-for dreams. She's her own woman now, with a bonus Cusack along for the ride.

Which is not to say that I didn't like Say Anything. I did like it - how could you not like it, is my point?

At some point during our Say Anything viewing, Ordinary People finally downloaded, so we started to watch that on my laptop. Ordinary People . . . was very brown. Everything in it was brown, which is typical for movies made during the time period - it was a very brown country around 1980. There was a lot of snow. There was swimming, and a suicidal boy, and Robin Williams was a kind, but no-nonsense therapist, and everything was pretty much Sally Field's fault, because she was such a cold, self-absorbed bitch for no real reason. And Christina Ricci's boyfriend got electrocuted, and there was a giant robot bunny that issued proclamations having something to do with string theory, and everybody got new sneakers.

Or something like that. I don't know. The main thing I know about Ordinary People is that it took us about seven hours to watch it, due to the Netflix "instant" watch feature being (a) a piece of crap and (b) about as "instant" as osso bucco (you like that one? I worked hard on it). Every fifteen minutes, the movie informed us that it would need to spend 30-45 minutes re-downloading itself, to avoid viewing difficulties (by which I can only assume it meant cause viewing difficulties). But we watched it all the way through anyway, because we are ladies who finish what we start. It was the most gruelling Saturday night I've had in months.

This past week, I went with some friends to the free showing of Wet Hot American Summer at the McCarren Park Pool. The Pool is a couple blocks from my apartment - it used to be an actual pool, but now it's a drained pool that's used for summer concerts and movies, at which times it gets terrifyingly packed with hipsters. This movie was the first one this summer, and I unintentionally went in costume. I had never seen the movie and didn't know anything about it, but I have in my wardrobe two pairs of shorts: one is a knee-lenth pair of cutoffs, and the other is a pair of red cotton short-shorts with white trim, which I now know are the exact same pair that the gay guy in WHAS wears throughout the movie. It turns out coming in costume to these outdoor movies is encouraged, so I ended up displaying far more enthusiasm than I'm normally comfortable with, completely by accident.

At any rate, movies at McCarren Park Pool are really fun, especially if you get there early enough to put down a blanket and enforce a small zone of personal space around it (which we did). You're not supposed to bring your own food and beer, but everybody does, so next time, I'm bringing a 40. The other thing I will do differently next time (other than not dress up like a character) is wait afterward until the crowd bottlenecking through the narrow entry gates has disbursed. The crowd inside is not too bothersome, what with the open sky and all, but the rush through the gates was terrifying, and required bodily contact with many strangers dressed for (and all asweat with) the hot summer night. It was a wet hot American stampede (you like that one? I worked hard on it).

At some point in the past week, I also watched Indochine. For the first 2/3 of this movie, all I had to say about it was: 'a bunch of French people act like assholes in Vietnam. The especially good-looking French people show some small compunction about their bad behavior.' But then (around the time the daughter shot the guy) the movie got much, much better, and by the end, I'd decided it was a great movie. This had something to do with the perspective of the movie broadening out from being entirely through the perspective of the French, and becoming more objectively about Vietnam itself and the colonization conflict overall.

But, boy, if I'd been the daughter, I'd have totally gone for the revolutionary, enlightened childhood sweetheart who's all "you and I don't matter - join the resistance" over the "I'm sort of useless and intermittently cruel and racist, plus I slept with your mother, but man, look at these eyes" French soldier.

On a sidenote, I always take note when theatre people are portrayed as the political underground in movies or plays. This happens a lot, because people who write and do theatre and films really want to write their ilk as hugely politically significant, and while I know that in some situations playwrights are quite influential and active (Prague Spring, early-19th c. Russia), I think that, especially during the red scare, playwrights got way too much credit for their influence on public opinion. Was anybody really ever inclined toward Communism just because Brecht's plays were oh so thrillingly entertaining? Please. Charlie Chaplin, maybe. Brecht, no. And as for more active forms of subversion, theater people are the most feckless, inactive, self-absorbed people on Earth (I can say it - I kind of am one, albeit in a reluctant, half-assed sort of way). Performers might kick up a stink if they're censored, but they're highly unlikely to go around assassinating officials and circulating broadsheets. Because those activities require discretion, and the only thing that theater people want out of life is to be widely and constantly observed. "Underground" is the last place a performer wants to go.

Broken is just a ligual threat
Broken is just
You've got no drive
I smell apathy and it does you just fine
Dry mind inside
You've got no drive

Apathy
Apathy to this lifestyle

You're diseased and craving
Not craving what we're paving
Only the mundane
Only the mundane.
_________________________________

I have been writing some WEIRD shit lately.

John Legend - Ordinary People

This week men single tennis final match between Federer (#1) vs. his number one rival opponent, Nadal (#2), made up for the slow and boring Euro Cup final match between Germany and Spain last Sunday. It was the longest match, 5 sets - 4.5 hours [6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7], in Wimbledon history and the best match I ever watched. Even though Federer couldn’t continue his winning streak but that was the greatest come back from his end after losing the first 2 sets. That was a very even match - the kind of match that keeps your eyes glue to the TV. I had my IM up during the match and this is what my friends got to say:

Teresa from the Greater Bay Area

drnguyen23: yeah~ it was SO good

drnguyen23: i actually wanted Federer to continue his streak but it was a great match

Thao from Zurich, Switzerland

thaonow: Whoa Nadal won

thaonow: Did you see it all?

me: the last 3 sets only

thaonow: well that was what counted

Harrison from the East Bay Hillside

Harrison: don't know when they will resume

me: i think they are back now

Harrison: really? damn I’m going back upstairs

Harrison: wow one of the best matches ever

A bit later on the day, I tuned in to see beach volleyball because I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to see two great players, Kerri Walsh and Misty May, kicking ass. However, watching their games was not fun anymore…the game ended too fast and the scoring from the other team was nothing. It seems like there’s no competition out there for them. I’d be very very surprised if they don’t take home the gold in Beijing.

How can I stand watching sport without playing it? My friend and I managed to play a tennis game in the heat of an afternoon but we couldn’t last that long, and the game was ended in my friend favor.

Well, after all I am just an ordinary person. I watch TV like hundred and million people out there. I cheer for my favorite team and boo when the opponent scores. I didn’t win the game because I still have a lot to improve and because I made mistakes along the way. However, I am trying really hard to learn from those mistakes because ordinary people make mistakes – costly mistakes. Who doesn’t? I am certain there will be a rematch, a second chance and a redemption so be patient and give time the time. There's absolutely nothing wrong with ordinary people.

-D-

Esto fue lo que ví en una mirada fugaz mientras esperaba cruzar la calle. Realidades que ignoramos por que mientras no nos afecten, no son problemas nuestros...

"Everything that is done in the Church--the leading, the teaching, the calling, the ordaining, the praying, the singing, the preparation of the sacrament, the counseling, and everything else--is done by ordinary members, the 'weak things of the world.'"We see in the Christian churches their struggle to fill the need for clergy. We do not have that problem. Once the gospel is preached and the Church is organized, there is an inexhaustible supply of faithful brothers and sisters who have that testimony and are willing to answer the call to serve. They commit themselves to the work of the Lord and live the standards required of them."

Boyd K. Packer, "The Weak and the Simple of the Church," Ensign, Nov. 2007, 6 7

Jan Coates, Author/Speaker/Consultant, www.jancoates.com

Always remember that what you do matters. In fact, your actions and deeds today could change a life tomorrow. 

I’ve probably met thousands of difference makers. Sometimes a song, a fragrance, or even a gesture reminds me of an individual who offered a gentle smile, a warm embrace, or a simple prayer. Difference makers in the life of people like you and me are everywhere. The cool thing is they probably don’t even realize that they are indeed making a difference in the life of an ordinary, everyday person.

For me, it’s sometimes through the rear-view mirror of my life that I actually realize the depth of the impact a difference maker made within my life.

Several weeks ago while speaking for a large group of women in New York I shared a true story about a photographer’s assistant who made a difference in my life, and I’m guessing throughout her life she continued to inspire many others.

I believe I was in second or third grade, when this lady touched my heart and impacted my life forever.

I remember “picture day” very clearly. As I stood in the line with the other kids, I felt rather embarrassed. My hair was messy. In fact, I couldn’t get a comb through it before leaving home so I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the tangles off and plopped the them into the bathroom trashcan. The other girls in the line were dressed in freshly ironed, cute dresses. Their hair was nicely groomed. Really, I didn’t fit in.

Each time the photographer’s flashbulb popped, I moved one step closer to the front of the line. I tried to blend in with the other kids, but that didn’t happen. The photographer’s assistant walked up to me, knelt down, sighed, and looked me in the eye. I trembled with fear and hoped she wouldn’t make a scene, or tell others about the way I looked.

“I’ll be right back, sweetie,” she whispered.

I watched as she walked across the room to a brown metal table. She opened her purse and took out her comb, and then smiled at me as she walked towards me.

”It’s almost time for you to get your picture taken, honey, and you have a few hairs sticking up. Do you mind if I comb your hair?”

My heart melted as this beautiful lady licked her fingertips and ran them through my hair. She gently combed my hair and did the best she could to make my fine, short hair look nice.

More than 45 years later I still remember the kindness and compassion of this lady. She loved on me. She made me feel special. She definitely made a difference in my life.

Like the photographer’s assistant, difference makers are God's chosen people. They generously share compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience even when no one is looking (Colossians 3:12 paraphrased).

Thank you to all the difference makers of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Jan

Un feliz encuento de dos enamorados...

Michael-Bradley's Picks

1. Liars - Plastic Casts of Everything

This is the opening track off the the noisey New York rockers Liars' latest and self titled album. This album terrificly just drudges along, with robust smears of melody and rhythm. Even though I've heard comparisons to newer noise rockers Health (who I admit share some styles  occasionally [less so in this album]), this album reminds me more of SF punkers Flipper, in their sludgy sounds. Plaster Casts of Everything is a great opener, setting up momentum that carries through the whole album.

2. Sebadoh - Not a Friend

This may not be the best song to be singing by a friend. But i can't help myself right now, so I apologize in advance..... Sebadoh is a wonderful band from the 90's with a sort of post-punk sensibility, that are really important for the development of lo fi and indie music.  Their soft analog distortion used on the guitar is part of that patented Sebadoh sound that had me hooked early on.  Bakesale is I think their finest album, where I think their style really came into it's own- mixing between real rocking songs, to quieter jams like Not A Friend.  The open writing style of Sebadoh's lyrics are really refreshing.  Sometimes it's nice to have a singer talk to you in the way you would to them. The final track off this album, Together or Alone can just melt me down.

3. Suffocate For Fuck Sake - Blue Lights and Sunshine

Woah, right? Either you're incredibly interested, or you've already moved on.  Suffocate For Fuck Sake is a really great band I just discovered from Sweden. This clearly won't be for most, but I suggest giving the song a whole play through, cause you're not going to find stuff like this on the radio.  They go from quiet and beautiful post-rock pieces with clips of Swedish talking sound bites (anybody want to translate), to some really heavy stuff! Post-Rock has been a genre that always bothered me. Bands like Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai always just frustrated me. Maybe I could just not appreciate their minimalism, but I found them totally boring. Their music never went anywhere. I always thought Post-Rock would be amazing if you use it in parts, while not being afraid to blast through others. I started finding a few bands like *Shels [sic] [http://www.myspace.com/shels], who did that, but was never satisfied with the results. UNTIL, i heard SFFS, and their brief titled first album "Blazing fires and helicopters on the frontpage of the newspaper. There's a war going on and I'm maching in heavy boots." They've found the perfect match of Post-Rock and heavy-[something] for me!  Don't be afraid of the scream.This album is mind blowing. Interesting fact is that they are the poster child of music globalization. Swedish band, with a label and publisher in Mexico? Pretty cool.

Jonathan's Picks

1. John Legend Feat. Andre 3000 - Green Light

I like John Legend. I've liked him since I first heard "Used to Love U" back in 2004. And I continued to like the man and his music through his first two albums, Get Lifted and Once Again. In fact, the first time I heard "Ordinary People" and "Again," I think I was ready to add them to the pantheon of all-time great love songs. (Or at least all-time great lovers quarreling songs). I never minded the fact that Legend seemed basically stuck in one gear all the time, never venturing far from his R&B/Soul sound, even when it meant some of his material sounded borderline repetitive. But the man is a crooner. He's old-school like that. And I like that about him. So when I heard the first single off Legend's upcoming third studio album, "Green Light," I was confused. Something like: "Wait, this is John Legend? Really? Wow, dude's really going in a different direction on this one, huh?" And that he is. "Green Light" is a catchy uptempo synth-fest, which still allows Legend to get on his love story tip, yet sounds unlike anything he's ever done before. And this new, loosened up John Legend is brought out of his shell by a jocular (and literally laughing at times) Andre 3000, whose guest verse appears to slip away from him towards the end, only for him suddenly reveal he's been freestyling the whole time. Jokester. But Andre's "throwaway" line directed at Legend as the track rides out really says it all: "Sometimes you gotta step from behind that piano!" He definitely did.

2. Lady GaGa Feat. Colby O'Donis - Just Dance

There's something I want to say that applies to both my second and third picks: there was a time when "pop" music (aka "popular" music) meant that the music itself was easily accessible and enjoyable to the average listener. But it absolutely did NOT mean that the music had to simplistic, dumbed-down, or mediocre, and it did NOT mean that it was to be made largely by talentless artists with no skills or ideas of their own. The Beach Boys and The Beatles were a far cry from the modern-day no-talent-ass-clownery of Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Thus, I want to highlight two new "pop" singers who bring a little more to the table. First, Lady GaGa. Horrible name aside, this 22 year old New York City lifer and downtown scenester actually possesses far greater talent than our average pop singers of today. The girl went to NYU's Tisch School of the Arts at age 17 and Tisch isn't like a record company -- they don't just let anybody in and hand 'em a mic. You gotta have more talent than 99 percent of the population, and Lady GaGa (sorry, but my god I hate that name) certainly has talent -- the girl's got a powerful and clear voice built for tearing down arenas and stadiums (in a good way). Her lyrics are fun, playful, and poppy to be sure, but they're also slightly wacky and even a little edgy (gasp!) at times. "Just Dance" is the first single off her debut album, and it features rising male pop star Colby O'Donis. It's just funny because I've never noticed that O'Donis had a weak or lousy voice before --and he doesn't, really -- but he is COMPLETELY outgunned and gets COMPLETELY shown up by the overly talented newcomer, Lady GaGa. So just try to forget about the clothes, the hair, and the makeup. That isn't the point of pop music. Instead just remember the voice.

3. Keke Palmer - Bottoms Up

An even more interesting case of a new pop singer with a little too much actual talent is Keke Palmer, who's still known mostly for her roles as a child actor in films like Akeelah and the Bee and Jump In!, though now seems to be transitioning into the music world. Now I haven't seen either of those movies, so I have no idea if she can act. (I bet she can). But damn can she grab hold of song and take it for a ride under her control. And it's not just that Palmer can actually sing well, it's that she easily flits back and forth between her singing and some shockingly convincing rapping, which somehow (I have no idea how, seriously) manages to avoid sounding the least bit awkward or forced. "Bottoms Up" is clearly just a fun party track with a better-than-it-has-to-be beat before anything else -- the title says it all --regardless of how you interpret the type of "bottoms" Palmer is encouraging us to raise. But here's the thing: Palmer's still young. How young, you ask? Very young. So now I ask that you take a good listen or two to "Bottoms Up" before running over to "the Google" to find out just how old the lovely and talented Ms. Palmer actually is. After hearing the song for the first time months ago and doing that very thing, my jaw practically hit the floor. Her self-confidence on the mic and her natural command of the song is utterly incredible for anyone Palmer's age, so if this girl doesn't become a star now, she damn well should be one someday.  

JustJake's Picks

1. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

This weeks picks are from my two favorite females in pop (I guess that's what it's called). This first one is the title track off Fiona Apple's extraordinary 2005 album, Extraordinary Machine. Time and again, I keep coming back to this album which has proven that it deserves every bit of credit that it got when it was released. Under the tutelage of superproducer Jon Brion, Apple broke new ground on this record, not only for her but for female pop stars in general. This song, by far my favorite of hers, is just one example of the album's quirky-beautiful arrangements and Apple's subtly-perfect timing.

2. Joanna Newsom - Bridges and Balloons

Another opening track to a strange, sensory, and groundbreaking album, "Bridges and Balloons" is a fantasy and a journey. I haven't really figured out where Newsom and her nymph-like voice is taking us, but it's somewhere quiet, fluid, and pretty. Her harp is a flurry of beautifully constructed melodies and is the true star of Newsom's music, although many don't get beyond her voice. Her style can seem queer or even creepy, but after watching her captivate an entire opera house, with standing ovations to boot, I will defend her magic and its power, however odd they may appear.

roswellmueller's Picks

1. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma

I'll start off by saying that I do not like Vampire Weekend. While I can sort of understand their appeal, I just really am not impressed in any way by this album - the exception being Oxford Comma. For the life of me I can't decide why I like this song, I just know that I can't get it out of my head and have kept it on my commuting playlist for weeks now. It might be the irritatingly catchy lick at the center of the song, or the simplistic drumming reminiscent of Ringo at his most unimaginative, I'm not sure. I just hope I either get sick of the song, or it stops getting stuck in my head sometime soon.

2. Maps & Atlases - The Ongoing Horrible

A month or so ago, Mr. Michael-Bradley put up Maps & Atlases - Trees, Swallows, Houses on Quick Hits. Now, I've never listened seriously to math rock but this record completely sold me, unbelievable musicianship. An early favorite (probably because it's the most accessible from an outsider's perspective) is "The Ongoing Horrible." Lacking the frenetic pacing of the albums other tracks, the song highlights Maps uncanny ability to create intricate harmonic landscapes through crisp, meticulous technique and complex rhythmic structures.

3. Peter Gabriel - That Voice Again

I'm currently in the midst of a nostalgia binge, reverting back to some of the old chestnuts from my childhood. Specifically, the period where my parents' music was still the only stuff I was listening to (I'll spare everyone the Kenny Loggins and Gordon Lightfoot my dad was partial to around this time period). But, it should come as no surprise that Peter Gabriel was in heavy rotation for as long as I can remember being able to recognize the music that was playing around me. Either by osmosis or on its musical merits, which are considerable, "So" remains one of my favorite touchstone albums to return to every now and again.

Carman's Picks

1. Lizzy Mercier Descloux - Sports Spootnick

The story of Lizzy is pretty cool actually: hot French chick comes to New York in the '70s, befriends Patti Smith and Richard Hell, and records cool mutant disco. Mambo Nassau, her second album, was a departure from the sparse sounds of post-punk disco (like the ESG and Bush Tetras I posted before) that she helped establish with her debut album Press Color. Instead it was a globetrotting pastiche of world music that sounded like the Talking Heads on acid. Interestingly enough, it was recorded at the same studio in the Bahamas where Tom Tom Club recorded their debut album and Wally Badarou contributes synths to both Mambo Nassau and the Heads' Speaking in Tongues.

2. Alice Coltrane - Sita Ram

Alice Coltrane is an unusual and incredibly influential figure in the jazz world whose impact cannot be minimized by the enormous shadow cast by her husband. Not only was one of her main instruments of choice rather unusual (harp), she was one of the primary figures in developing fusion by introducing Eastern spirituality to the music and also emphasised the organ (much like Larry Young and Jimmy Smith, but in a different way) as a lead instrument. On top of all that, her free jazz leanings not only continued to the idea of spotaneous spirituality and expression that John showcased, but also made emphasized the peaceful and meditative qualities of the style with her gorgeous string arrangements. Universal Consciousness, the album from which this cut appears, is her finest of these early records.

Download this week's Friday Writers' Bloc Playlist HERE

Livestock and mudhuts were never recognised before for insurance purposes in the Transkei.  However, a venture through the combined efforts of Old Mutual (OM) group, Mutual & Federal (M&F) and Nedbank in partnership with empowerment company Wiphold, recently developed  insurance products that will cover mud houses as well as livestock.

This is great news for livestock and homeowners who will now be able to insure against crippling losses especially the livestock in an area where cattle rustling is a major problem.

This is a crucial development in the developing of the Transkei into a teritory that can grow business and feed its people, uplifting areas torn apart by poverty and unemployment. Sustainability is the key word here as this venture needs to gain momentum and sustain it.

A publicity campaign will be essential in educating the ordinary person about the importance of insuring against loss of livelihood. The situation will need to be monitored constantly to ensure that rural people are not taken for a ride by unscrupulous business people.

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4460000&fSectionId=552&fSetId=662

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=213770

Hidup tidak ngasih kita banyak waktu buat menyesali sesuatu yang 'kadung' kita lakuin. Pada saat kita menyesal terlalu lama, beribu langkah, kita telah ditinggalkan oleh hidup yang terus berjalan.

Saya akui dengan jujur, kadang ingin bisa memutar waktu hanya untuk memperbaiki hal-hal yang kita 'rusak' di masa lalu.. atau untuk melakukan sesuatu yang tidak sempet kita lakukan.

Tapi kemudian saya sadari dengan kesadaran penuh, tidak baik loh mengecilkan arti hikmah dan 'pembelajaran' dari tiap perbuatan yang kita lakukan, keputusan yang kita buat. Lupakan deh keinginan buat 'tiba-tiba' ketemu doraemon yang nunjukkin pintu ke masa lalu. But we've to learn... buat tidak terperosok ke lubang yang sama, dan melewatkan kesempatan untuk berbuat yang benar.

Mungkin ada kesalahan yang berbekas terlalu lama dalam benak orang lain, sehingga mengerutkan kata maaf.
Mungkin ada dosa yang tidak (baca: belum) tertebus dengan proses 'perbaikan' jalan hidup kita.
Tapi tidak berarti itu semua harus membelokkan niat kita untuk jadi seseorang yang lebih baik kan?

Yah.. daripada terus berharap dan berharap ada lorong waktu komplet dengan mesin waktunya..
Daripada menyesal dan terus menerus menyesal dengan sesuatu di masa lalu yang mengerucutkan opini orang tentang diri kita dengan melihat kesalahan, kekeliuran, ke-engga beneran kita...
Hal yang paling benar yang bisa kita lakukan cuma teguh dan yakin dengan apa yang kita jalani... bahwa ini jalan yang benar, bukan sekedar PEMBENARAN. Lillahi ta'ala... bukan berharap orang percaya bahwa kita berubah. Bukan berharap pujian dan penghargaan dari orang lain.

(i'm proud of you, bee)

Masih hasil dari ngebongkar ini

White Light is a movie about child soldiers in Uganda and the area around PSJ resembles very closely the terrain and hills in Uganda. Obviously PSJ as a movie making centre is not sustainable but if it happens once or twice a year the locals will be happy.

Port St Johns is ideal because of location and price but a little far from the big cities for transporting equipment and people. One can't win 'em all but two out of three ain't bad.

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=205514

Yo paso por tu puerta casi todos los días..
Yo paso y tu decides cuando asomarte.

True, elected officials are supposedly in touch with what their constituents want, if they hope to be re-elected.  But this does not necessarily happen.  Such people are often able to win re-election through deceptive political advertising, negative campaigning, and other strategies that tug at voters' emotions while leaving their larger life situations neglected.  Thus Americans, with their votes, have managed to spend many years in periods of excessive tobacco use, unpopular gun laws, substandard health care, and other circumstances that they actually do not want, circumstances that other advanced nations have been far more able to address responsively.

The suggestion here is not that the president should go back to a high-powered law firm, Hollywood filmmaking, or whatever it was that s/he did before becoming a politician.  The suggestion is, rather, that top leaders should be expected to spend a substantial number of hours, each week, working in a type of job that exposes him/her to a variety of real-life problems that people face.  Examples could include positions as counselors, social workers, nonprofit organization administrators, small businesspersons, legal aid lawyers, nurses, and community leaders.

Such leaders should be exposed, moreover, to real-life living conditions, to some practicable extent.  It is perhaps not realistic to imagine that a president could get a good feel for the life of a homeless person merely by tenting out in a park, surrounded by Secret Service agents.  Nor is it likely that such a leader would have the time to run an ordinary middle-class household.  But there may be some sort of living arrangement that would provide at least some constant reminder of what people are experiencing.  One example might be to live as a guest within a host family's home and to participate in that family's decisionmaking.

Such activities would detract from the number of hours available for affairs of state.  They could also distract the leader's attention from important decisions that a national leader must make.  That is an important concern.  It is not necessarily crucial, however.  Leaders spend much of their time undoing the damage (or reversing the progress) that previous leaders have managed to achieve.  While the distraction of a real life could hamper a leader's ability to achieve some things, it could also inform his/her judgment and instincts, so that the things that s/he did pursue and accomplish might be more likely to endure -- within, perhaps, less of a cultural of constant governmental upheaval.

It is also true that any job, including particularly a job in government, can become encrusted with internal politics, gossip, resentments, and other potentially destructive behaviors.  Leaders, in particular, can become accustomed to their comforts. to the point of being spoiled.  Whether or not the leader in question felt invigorated by regular exposure to the lives and problems of normal citizens, some such removal from a potentially insular world could be invigorating in fact.  There have been too many American presidencies, in particular, that have become insular, inward-looking, suspicious of the press, afraid of the public, and otherwise unresponsive and irresponsible.

The American government of 2100 can be more truly a government of the people, by the people, for the people.  Insuring that decisionmakers are ordinary people, directly or at least vicariously, could help to advance that goal.

Dama y su fiel Caballero.

Order Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders from Amazon for $16.61

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Other Kindle Books of Interest
The Complete TurtleTrader
Trend Following: How Great Traders Make Millions in Up or Down Markets
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
Enhancing Trader Performance: Proven Strategies From the Cutting Edge of Trading Psychology
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator

Comprando ilusiones....

The most remarkable thing about Three Letter Plague, the book about Lusikisiki and the AIDS epidemic in the Transkei written by Jonny Steinberg, is not the politics around President Mbeki and his ongoing denial of AIDS. It's not the struggle amid the shortages of almost everything needed in a health care system but rather the impact made by individuals who find ways and means to bypass obstacles in the health care system to make sure that people get care when they need it..

Pharmacy workers that get medicines through where it was thought impossible, lay persons that counsel and guide patients in the regular taking of their antiretrovirals and members of the rural communities that have tested and been found HIV positive who are living and counselling others despite a massive stigma and sometimes being ostracised from their communities.

Jonny Steinberg has captured a vivid picture of the Transkei and its hardships and desperate daily struggle just to survive. Add in AIDS and a government not willing to effectively rollout the medication that will save lives and there is a recipe for disaster and needless death.

The human spirit however is a curious phenomenon and this combustible situation has brought out some extremes in people with some taking their HIV positive test as a signal to help others and band together in groups thereby gaining strength in numbers.

The characters who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, in assisting to get people to clinics, making sure medicines arrive at the clinic and following up continuously with others who need to keep taking their antiretrovirals, are ordinary people living in extraordinary times.

They are real pioneers and ready to experiment when traditional methods used by the sangomas do not make an impact on the problem. There is a remarkable amount of rumour and unproven stories bandied about in the rural areas regarding the origins of AIDS, the idea that it only seems to affect black people as well as the shunning of those tested positive in case something should rub off when in contact with them.

In his book Steinberg has highlighted people born and raised in the rural villages, steeped in tribal traditions and ancient customs who have seen what this epidemic can do and also what antiretrovirals are capable of, namely saving lives and making HIV positive people able to function and contribute positively in society.

A paradigm shift is going to be needed if South Africa is going to weather this storm, not only the deaths but those that are left behind, especially the orphans.

The idea that the virus should be seen as a chronic illness rather than a death sentence is a step forward but its going to take some leadership in going forward and burying the uncertainty created by leaders that have encouraged a belief in better eating habits as a cure rather than a support system for antiretrovirals.

Rolling out antiretrovirals is only a start, maintaining the logistics and backup so that medicine is available when it is needed in order to sustain a life saving and life enhancing program will take strategic planning and sustained implementation. 

Here's a great link to some answers Steinberg had to questions about AIDS and South Africa. 

   http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2321323,00.html

Another interesting link

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/books/review/Hochschild-t.html?ex=1360299600&en=6bddd3d1db82d897&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

 Yet another interesting link

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/tavissmiley/archive/200802/20080226_steinberg.html

As you know, Manhattan is one of the most important center in the United States. Many organizations are based in Manhattan. There are many things incluiding museums, universities, zoos, aquariums, shops... ¿Why not Opus Dei in the Big Apple? They are the good neighbours in the northeast corner of Lexington Avenue and 34th Street.

Por eso de empezar por algún sitio hemos cogido testimonios de aquellas que se llaman Cristina. Otro día, con más tiempo, daremos paso a las que se llaman Rosa, Almudena o Patricia.

1. Cristina Rubio es gestora de proyectos, tiene una familia joven aquí explica cómo compatibiliza su trabajo profesional y su dedicación a la familia. Es supernumeraria del Opus Dei.

2. La segunda Cristina es otra madre de familia, supernumeraria del Opus Dei también, y madre de familia. Nos habla de una cuestión candente para novios y matrimonios: el amor y el sentimentalismo.

3. Para terminar Cristina Agundez, que también se dedica a su familia, aunque estudió Derecho. Es gente corriente, hace y dice lo que le da la gana y se siente muy libre. Es supernumearia del Opus Dei. Y un dato: ni Rajoy ni Zapatero.