Bush's Real Agenda

Hertzberg, telling the truth, writing in the New Yorker...

"the Bush Administration’s top priority, not excluding fighting terrorism: the use of the tax code to transfer wealth to the rich and, especially, the superrich."

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب

The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب I don't know who this guy is or anything about his credibility, but this is a welcome counterbalance to Bushworld

Back in the Saddle Again

Haven't blogged in some time, but am now in the mood. The degree to which I am social is positively correlated with my self-esteem. So I feel like talking again after a long time. A semi-dark time.

Making Torture Acceptable

Yesterday's New York Times reported that the CIA has been exporting "terrorists" to places that do not have explicit anti-torture laws. The newspaper documented several instances in which suspects had been transported overseas and subsequently tortured by US allies.

At the same time, Fox "24" television series routinely shows terrorism suspects being tortured by the US anti-terrorism good guys. As the practice seeps into the popular lore, we can perhaps assume that such acts are now acceptable in our so-called civilized society.

When we condemn others who resort to other forms of depravity, we now have no real moral highground to stand on. Other acts of barbarism, such as beheading hostages, differ only in manner of degree. Our condemnation of these acts of barbarism therefore amounts to little more than "the pot calling the kettle black."

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Moacir Santos

Just discovered a two-CD set, Ouro Negro by Brazilian composer Moacir Santos. Can't get the music out of my head. Mature, sophisticated, Brazilian soundtrack jazz.

Marsalis and the death of American jazz innovation

One wonders if anyone listens to jazz anymore, save old people with lp collections and overeducated New Yorkers. One of the reasons is the ubertraditionalist, Wynthon Marsalis, and his stranglehold on innovation in jazz. Marsalis' position with the Lincoln Center gives him imprimatur status -- the person who gives the stamp of legitimacy on what gets noticed and what gets played. Largely because of him, it can be argued that the American music has stagnated into a swamp of old school traditionalism and experimentalism has moved offshore to places like Paris and Stockholm. This piece contrasts Marsalis' traditionalist approach with one more concerned with being up-to-date that playing politically correct, "in-the-tradition," stale music.

village voice > music > Old School by Francis Davis

Conspiracies

Spent 4 rather pointless hours watching 24, Fox's weekly winter drama and my guilty pleasure. Now with the "war on terror" commonplace received wisdom, one wonders how many of these conspiracy-type yarns will grace the small screen. Powers would be would have you believe that their are terrorists under every rug.

War on Terror, my a...!

Glad to see my point of view mirrored in today's New York Times:

"The United States has a strategic problem: its war on terror, unlike its long fight against Communism, is not universally seen as the pivotal global struggle of the age...these continents are more or less united in a critical view of an American power routinely described as hegemonic and intent on using the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to impose what Candido Mendes, a Brazilian political analyst, called "a civilization of fear."

Indeed...

Reading is Overrated

First, a disclaimer: I am a very bookish individual. Like I imagine is the case with you, I have hundreds and hundreds of books. I delight in purchasing new and used books, particularly if they are reference books or if I can buy them exceptually cheaply.

Yet, I still think that reading is overrated. Here's why:

1 - Reading is usually NOT the most efficient means of accessing information. The best way is to talk to someone who has the information and in so doing, interacting with the data. Do you REALLY need to read that 500-word tome to find out what you need to know about, say, herbal medicine? Wouldn't it be more efficient to ask someone who is an authority on the subject? That way you might find precisely what you need to know and even question the source for clarity.

Of course, it might be useful to read a textbook if you want to master a subject. But even in this case, it is arguably more efficient to interact with subject matter experts.

2 - We overrely on reading to access "truth" or other forms of information. I believe it is literally true that all the answers we need can be found by going within. But we tend in this information age not to trust nor nurture our inner senses. In addition, our modern tendency is to buttress what we think we know by attributing it to some other so-called expert, e.g. "well, so and so said..." My belief is that recognizing the validity of the reading-accessed information is in actual fact a form of recognizing what we know to be true already.

If this is true for more abstract forms of information (e.g. "truth") it is likely also true for technical forms of information. I am not a Da Vinci scholar, but perhaps he utilized his intuition -- his inner sensing -- to discover his many technical contributions, many of which he did not find time to execute.

I don't mean to suggest here the philistinish view that reading is an inherently useless activity. Reading helps orient us, helps us discover -- in a sense -- what we know is true already.

Finally, gentle reader, I've hope you've enjoyed reading this!

Comments?

Task and Process

My current experience in the Game of Games confirms what I’d forgotten. There are poles: task and process. When accomplishment of task is impeded, issues of process are not being addressed. This is particularly true in groups, which often move to quickly to task while ignoring issues of process. To facilitate groups demands process skills, but process skills should always be at service to task.

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Four More Years

Well, democracy is great when your guy wins. Hard not to be glum about yesterday’s outcome. I take comfort from what one of my teachers told us when I and other westerners were struggling some years ago with life in a Japanese dojo. “No matter what the situation, we have to make friends, enjoy, do the best we can.” Four more years…

Election Day

Well, I have NEVER been so invested in an election. A Kerry victory today would be nothing less than a victory of light. Reverse, if Bush wins

Hung Over

In the afterglow of my “Afternoon of Poetry and Storytelling” with Ibou Ndoye, I am metaphorically a bit hung over. The reading was great fun – if a little undersubscribed. Yet my 30 days poetry collection remains about a third finished, work is sparse and I am back to the regular irregular. Just downloaded a tape of me pitching the Game of Games on a Rochester, NY radio station. A welcome antidote to a day of otherwise near-drudgery.

Playing the Deeper Game

I'm in the first week of facilitating the Game of Games developmental workshop. My thinking seems to be changing. I realize that what I've been seeking -- here and elsewhere -- are mentees, not mere licensees. I wish nothing less than to father a lineage, to pass down in that way what I've learned. To walk this path I need courage, an unwavering commitment to move against the grain. I search within to find strength to move through uncharted territory: warrior's way. It is time to junk a lot of stuff, mostly tired, conventional poses. It is time to break out of the box I've put myself in. It is time to play the deeper game.

"Hey, we're a star!"

star
Originally uploaded by Angelojohn.

This morning I was interviewed about the Game of Games by Stephen Jacobs, Professor of Information Technology at Rochester Institute of Technology and host of a show called What the Tech. Been a while since I'd done any voice PR so I was a bit rusty. My five minutes of airwaves exposure kicked in the memory of previous days and tricks I used to get on radio or TV. It is kind of a lifestyle and, to work, needs to be part of a regular routine. What it involves is endlessly recycling clips, audio tapes, video tapes -- any PR about you. Polishing these off and sending targeted cover letter(s). Leveraging every media appearance or mention into other, better media appearances or mentions. Repeating this endlessly.

In the internet, niche-market age, there are more outlets than ever before. With attention spans contracting in response to ever-expanding streams of information (and advertising), it is difficult to be successful without knowing how to play this game. But the rules fortunately areen't that difficult to master. It's more about persistence and confidence than anything else.

Of course, I can hear you smirking now: "Hey, if you're so smart, why aren't you rich?!"

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New Tools and Services

The internet, it seems, breeds new tools each day.

Current favorites:

Onfolio: I find this “content management” tool – enabling one to easily collect references in the form of links or whole pages – indispensable (translation: something I actually paid for). It makes collecting and publishing material for e-zines easy.

21Publish: A new tool, introduced to me by Fernanda Iberra, that enables group or community blogging. We will use this as the glue that binds gamers playing The Game of Games.


Aweber: There is a bit of a learning curve here, but this for me is the best e-zine service out there. It lets one craft autoresponders, which will be a necessary and central part of my efforts to create solo-games for coaching clients.

"affirmation"

open door
Originally uploaded by Angelojohn.

here
stumble forward
another try

push
brittle
bones
one more
time
up
crooked
streets:

hard-hearted
new york

here
cold
wind
slaps
hard
across your
face

water
falls
down
purifies
night
winter
once again
rain

step around
old
ruins
failed art
memory


step around
be
nimble
hurry
pick up
your pace


behind you
litter

all the times
you screwed up
picked yourself up
and walked

each time
sudden
dawn
blank
canvas
upon which
to paint

things
fall
apart
shatter
come back
together

life finds
a way
to open
a door

*******

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Reflection on the intro Game of Games

Ran a free, Emilio De Lia-ess, intro Game of Games last night. Six people all told. Worked real well, although people bitched about it taking more time than they anticipated, lack of structure and a few other things. Despite all this, all got a lot our of it. E-mails continued to go back and forth after the thing was over. Even the biggest complainer (being constructive, actually) claimed, "I really got a lot out of it." Know we are on to something. However, Emilio' sense of humor is missed. I think I'm a pretty funny guy, but he has a lighter touch in these circumstances than I.

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"Affirmation"

Ok, here's a working draft of the 20th poem in the Thirtydays series. BK, my best critic, tells me the poems he enjoys most are the ones mined from real life, containing real life details. He doesn't much care for these, which he likely views as an exercise in craft. He may be right. Anyway, it is quite a challenge to craft a paired down, word a line poem like this. Similiar, I suppose to hiaku. The skill comes in eliminating, paring the thing down to its raw essence. The goal is to say just enough, not a word more. This one likely needs some pruning, but here it is anway:

“affirmation”

here

stumble forward

another try

push

brittle

bones

one more

time

up

crooked

streets:

hard-hearted

new york

here

cold

wind

slaps

hard

across your

face

water

falls

down

purifies

night

winter

once again

rain

step around

old

ruins

failed art

memory

step around

be

nimble

hurry

pick up

your pace

behind you

litter

all the times

you screwed up

picked yourself up

and walked

each time

sudden

dawn

blank

canvas

upon which

to paint

things

fall

apart

shatter

come back

together

life finds

a way

to open

a door

Poetry, Again

Well, I started writing for the 30 days series again. I am reluctant to public it, need to get on a bit of a roll again. Dazzled by the Dodge Poetry Festival. Found myself comparing myself to others (sometimes favorably), and was entralled with the notion of dusting off my indifferent reputation in this area. In the meantime, I ready for my reading on 10/30 and the first developmental workshop of The Game of Games. If only I could make a bit of money from all this creativity...

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