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| compos mentis. Concision. Media. Clarity. Memes. Context. Melange. Confluence. Mishmash. Conflation. Mellifluous. Conviviality. Miscellany. Confelicity. Milieu. Cogent. Minty. Concoction. |
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| Topic: Media |
12:10 pm EDT, May 23, 2004 |
It should be noted that becoming a Personality and having a personality are distinct achievements. In fact, those with well-developed personalities often struggle to become Personalities. A successful Personality attracts a large audience without challenging them. He lulls and coddles and strives not to alienate. He presents himself as likable, nonthreatening and, most important, reachable -- never too handsome or too happening or too sharp. Our current culture is a petri dish for Personalities. We have, as a country, become suspicious of excellence, wary of the smarty-pants. These days we gravitate toward the uncomplicated, the simple and the negligible goal of keeping it real. "To me L.A. feels like the center of the universe. There's no ceiling on success here. I would do anything to stay." Bland Ambition |
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On Language: Off the Record |
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| Topic: Society |
11:50 am EDT, May 23, 2004 |
In the fine art of spinning and the counterart of sourcemanship, there are no junior officials. This is also true for a surprising number of businesses. How about yours? On Language: Off the Record |
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Abolish the Ghettopoly Mentality! |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
11:40 am EDT, May 23, 2004 |
To: NAACP, The Urban League, The Nation of Islam, Our Black Leadership Worldwide David Chang, a Taiwanese immigrant, has created a racially offensive board game called "Ghettopoly," loosely based on Milton Bradley's "Monolopy." The game pieces are a whore, a 40 oz. bottle of malt liquor, a pimp, a piece of crack cocaine, a marijuana leaf, a basketball, and an Uzi machine gun. Sign this petition, which will be forwarded to the NAACP, The Urban League, The Nation of Islam, and any other organization that can mobilize to stand up and say "NO MORE!" Send the link to as many people as you can. The goal is to collect 500 signatures in one month. Let's speak in one voice and say -- ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Sincerely, The Undersigned Abolish the Ghettopoly Mentality! |
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Liberals Are Down but Not Out |
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| Topic: Politics and Law |
11:31 am EDT, May 23, 2004 |
Given that brains and brawn on both sides are about even, what explains liberals' inability to compete? Conservatives would say it is the cogency of their ideas, and perhaps this is so, but perhaps it is something else. Many liberals regard their ideas as being received wisdom from on high, as being so obviously true they do not require explication. This type of complacency cedes the field to the conservatives. It is, simply speaking, stultifying smugness. "Conservative institutions have been more dogged and focused in their approach than liberal ones." This is certainly so; greed and selfishness are great motivators. The mistake of small and large "d" democrats was to think that society had gotten past them, and to stop fighting vigorously for such equally durable counter-ideas as fairness, justice, equality and reason. Liberals don't suffer from a lack of ideas of how to change our nation for the better. But we have been losing ground because so many of us have chosen an approach that leaves us thinking "I need to convince my representative how important (name of political issue) is" instead of choosing to run for office ourselves. You might call it The Petition Mentality. Liberals Are Down but Not Out |
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| Topic: Arts |
2:23 pm EDT, May 22, 2004 |
"For fans of the capital's hidden underbelly, these abandoned and derelict buildings carry a melancholy poignancy." "Derelict London" is an unusual photographic portrait of the nation's capital. This is not a compilation of familiar tourist sights, as another of those is hardly needed, but a depiction of an (often un-picturesque) view of everyday life in London. Derelict London |
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The World Has Changed, But Our Mindset Has Not |
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| Topic: War on Terrorism |
2:17 pm EDT, May 22, 2004 |
The end of the Cold War fundamentally changed the security environment, which changed further on 9/11 and yet again as a consequence of the war in Iraq. We have yet to digest the full impact of these changes, seeing them as temporary tactical deviations, exotic interludes. We have barely begun to reexamine our obsolete assumptions about the way our enemies organize and operate. We wage a "global war on terror" -- a confusing conflation of threats -- while we continue to concentrate on future conventional wars with hypothetical, nation-state foes. We ignore the vital role of the drug traffic in central Asia as we single-mindedly pursue terrorists. It is time for us to take a deliberately unconventional, broad, and inclusive approach. My intention is not to argue for one threat over another. No single scenario predominates. That is the point. The World Has Changed, But Our Mindset Has Not |
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The Terrorist Leader as CEO |
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| Topic: War on Terrorism |
2:13 pm EDT, May 22, 2004 |
Killing Osama bin Laden will not quash the terrorist threat from al Qaeda. The closest organizational relative to al Qaeda is perhaps a private multinational corporation. Bin Laden has operated as a venture capitalist by soliciting ideas from below, by encouraging creative approaches and out-of-the-box thinking, and by providing funding to those proposals he finds promising. The epic battle launched by bin Laden is not over. If anything, al Qaedas commitment and sense of purpose today are arguably greater than ever. The Terrorist Leader as CEO |
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The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century |
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| Topic: Technology |
2:08 pm EDT, May 22, 2004 |
The Engineer of 2020 Project centers on an effort to envision the future and to use that knowledge to attempt to predict the roles that engineers will play in the future. It is intended to provide a framework to position engineering education in the US for what lies ahead, rather than waiting and then trying to respond. Bran Ferren (President at Walt Disney Imagineering) gave a keynote address to the committee. The participants used scenario-based strategic planning with the help of Peter Schwartz (a director at the Long Now Foundation). G. Wayne Clough, president of Georgia Tech and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, chaired the committee that prepared this report. Committee members include: Alan Kay, now of HP Labs; Robert Lucky, of Telcordia and long-time IEEE columnist; and Henry Petroski, of Duke, and best-selling author. Noticeably absent? Gates. Jobs. Joy! The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century |
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| Topic: Society |
12:34 pm EDT, May 22, 2004 |
Malcom Gladwell: "The Wisdom of Crowds is dazzling. It is one of those books that will turn your world upside down. It's an adventure story, a manifesto, and the most brilliant book on business, society, and everyday life that I've read in years." Po Bronson: "This book should be in every thinking businessperson's library. Without exception." "Wise crowds" need:
(1) diversity of opinion;
(2) independence of members from one another;
(3) decentralization; and
(4) a good method for aggregating opinions. If MemeStreams is a core Internet technology, why is no one using it? The Wisdom of Crowds |
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| Topic: Society |
12:31 pm EDT, May 22, 2004 |
Generations have banked on the premises of Sigmund Freud ... The crowd is considerably dumber than its smartest members. This explains, for example, Britney Spears. In "The Wisdom of Crowds," James Surowiecki marshals evidence from the social sciences indicating that people in large groups are, in effect, better informed and more rational than any single member might be. The Wisdom of Crowds |
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