It Was The Best Of Times...And The Worst

People who love dogs know there is nothing in the world like them.  Least of all people.

Shortly after we lost our Saint Bernard Bacchus a new one came into our lives via You Tube.  Jub Jub.  At the time just months old and as owners of new puppies do, his owner flooded You Tube with videos of their adventures.  I received an invite that I would guess went to every Saint fan he could find.

It was all of our Saints all over again rolled into one.  I couldn't wait for new ones.  The timing was great because it helped heal the pain of my loss.

With time inconsolable grief turns into happy memories and you move on. At least it did with me and Jub Jub's young man.  He moved, the videos became less frequent but we were friends on Facebook and I check in every now and then.

Time came to clean some things out of our game room.  Sitting in a corner was a cardboard cut out of Beethoven I've had for 20 or so years.  I picked him up from our local video store just after we lost Oaf who had preceded Bacchus as head Saint in our household.  I couldn't think of anyone I'd rather pass him on to than Jub Jub and his human.  All because of their relationship - it's special, at least to me.  He's there now, in a place of honor on the wall above Jub Jub's sleeping space.  It seemed a happy and fitting thing to do, I had healed.

But you never really do.  My niece called me today in tears.  She had just had their greyhound euthanized.  The vet suspected a neurological problem for some time and yesterday it manifested itself to the point of no return.  She described it to me, her anguish palpable.  It brought back all those feelings as if my own experiences with Bacchus, all my dogs, had been yesterday.  My eyes are moist now.  For my niece and her family, for her Treason and all our pets that have gone before.

It hurts.  Oh my, I had forgotten how much. I grieve more for my dogs than I do for most people. I don't recall who said that dogs aren't your whole life but they make your life whole.  How true.

Such is the joy and the sorrow of allowing yourself to love that deeply and be loved equally as much in return.  Run free Treason.  That we could rejoin our dogs at some point in eternity would make all the pain and turmoil we live with in our earthly existance more than worth it.

Super Women - In Saudi No Less

For decades women in this country have been bemoaning the  inability to break through the glass ceiling.  Men, those evil creatures, have prevented it insisting women can't do it all and do it well. They, who don't have the burden of child bearing and rearing, are the most capable.

Of course women have tried and for every success there have been numerous failures.  I have no statistics, I just know.  I'm a woman and I know my limitations and those of my acquaintances. In this case there is some truth to that line of thinking.

So, how do women prove their capabilities?  Leave it to the Saudis to figure it out. Here is a country with a vast number of highly educated women who are restricted by their ultra conservative laws and customs.  Like not being able to drive nor mingle with men other than family.  The solution - at least on a trial basis - is women only cities!

Brilliant!  Within these cities women will rule by running the businesses and factories as well as being the workers. They will be able to prove their capabilities on a number of levels - like which are the businesses best suited for women.  More importantly, the women will be able to prove to themselves if they're really ready for prime time so to speak.

There are of course drawbacks.  They won't have men to blame and be sure, men will be watching.  They will be proving themselves against other women which in the world outside their cities won't be the case. Another aspect not discussed is the family unit over and above work.  Though they will live in areas adjacent to their cities, it can't be a true test unless they are solely responsible for home and family along with work.

If it does work well for them it has been suggested they enclose themselves within their little meccas of opportunity and let the men see what it's like without women to do their bidding.  Wouldn't we all like that at times!

Since this is an experiment being conducted in a middle eastern country perhaps it will provide real hope for the women residing in even more restrictive countries.  Those who not only cannot work, but are also denied education.  That doesn't necessarily mean they are without ability and there is nothing to say they couldn't band together, occupy their own piece of territory and fend for themselves.  No easy task to be sure.  If they fail they're likely to be stoned to death.

Never-the-less it's an experiment worth watching.  I think the close minded men will be shocked at what the women can do.  I think the women will find it's not as easy as they may think.  They both might learn the value of each to the other.

Wow.  Men and women complimenting one another rather than opposing one another.  What a concept!

A Job To Die For

The political focus, for the time being,  has shifted to Paul Ryan, his thoughts on monetary policy, the President's stash of beer on his bus and Biden's claim the Republicans are going to put us back in chains.  Ah, how uplifting.

Meanwhile back to the wars.  Syria's death toll in its civil war is now over 20, 000.  I find it interesting how a single word can have such different meanings.  On one hand a civil war means it involves everyday citizens of the same country.  On the other hand, if you take it as meaning courteous and polite, there is nothing 'civil' about it!  About any war.

However, the middle east remains drenched in blood.  Fourteen suicide bombers killed 46 people in Afghanistan today alone.  If there is an upside, Karzai can't blame us for the deaths.  Unless he decides we're not training his people well enough.  But then they're so busy killing us it's a difficult task at best.

It's hard to keep track of who's doing the most damage - the Taliban or al Qaeda.  All we know for sure the various religious factions don't like each other any better than they like us.

If you think it's something we don't have to take seriously as long as we're pulling out in two years, think again.  First, two more years and how many more fatalities? Even one more American is too many.  It is said Paul Ryan wants to stay and finish the job.  Well, basically it is finished.  We aren't going to win it.  They are determined to get us out of the way so they can have at one another unobstructed.  Obviously they're tired of waiting.

Consider this.   The Times of Israel reports al Qaeda has run an ad for suicide bombers.  Honest.  If that isn't taking their mission seriously I don't know what is.  Basically takers will be self-employed after having been given proper training.  They will be given the freedom to plan the attack against  a pre-selected target.  They won't have to give their real name, just a few details on languages they speak and passports they hold.  Little stuff.

Openings seem to be just about everywhere.  The ad states the area of activity is the planet earth.  Could that include us?  Don't discount it!

It doesn't mention salary but than most want ads don't.  They do usually claim to be competitive.  I'll bet!  One last assurance for the would be recruit is the promise of 'a very slight chance of being caught'. Or ever getting a raise.

I know jobs are in short supply these days and it's a big issue in this country.  I, however, wouldn't be caught dead even considering this line of work.  There's no career path.  No future.

In all seriousness though.  We can't afford to overlook foreign policy.  This is world wide recruitment, make no mistake.  Planet earth.  Where will the next 46 deaths be?

Tag Team Mudslinging!

The Republicans now have their team.  As has been said by some,  this presidential election is really about one thing.  Not jobs, not the economy though each has an important role.  It's about the type of country we want going forward.

Do we want one where government intrudes in everything?  Obama has made it clear this is his thinking.  The problem with it is we, who will be paying for his 'investments', don't get to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down on them.  So far government's track record has been dismal.

The Republicans say they are for less government and fiscal responsibility.  We'll see.  Paul Ryan is a plus if it's true but he, as well as his potential boss, has to do a better job of explaining how his ideas will work so as not to scare us to death like the Democrats are doing.

This election poses contrast like never before.  Don't forget the peripherals either.  Little things like foreign policy.  Our soldiers are still being killed in Afghanistan.  Syria is a disaster as the Secretary of State boogies in Africa. Iran and Israel get closer to war.

It's a disgrace and an embarrassment to me that this country allows it's politicians and their surrogates (super PACs) to stoop to such demeaning levels in their campaigns for the highest office in the land.  Some would say in the world.

Both sides are guilty.  Look what Romney did to his opponents in the primaries.  He didn't think it foul then, he has no right to now.  But when Lanny Davis, one of the most dyed in the wool Democrats around, says it's time to discuss policy issues rather than trying to destroy the opposition's reputations as human beings, you know it has gotten more than dirty. Try unscrupulous and unprincipled.

Can the bar be raised?  I doubt it.  So one more time we'll be stuck with the team left standing after all the mud is slung.  Lucky us.  Lucky world.

The Picket Project - Online Collaboration: Creating a Stream of Solutions for Politicial Issues

I understand where the Picket Project is trying to go with this.  I have some doubts as to whether it is achievable because of the necessity of finding enough people who will actually collaborate to be of any value.  Of course I'm looking for timely successes; what I consider to be timely is age driven.  Ambitions such as this takes time.

Never-the-less, I continue to think the effort a worthy one and since people far more savvy than myself are the movers behind it, I will continue to offer to you their insights.  One of these days there will be a breakthrough in this area and it will be internet driven.  Politicians who scoff at the thought will be the losers.  Beware though, they're getting there.  I haven't heard one laugh about not being computer literate since the last presidential election. For that matter they are using the web far more effetively than the electorate - thus projects such as this.  Happy reading.

We need to turn our government into something that works for everyone. The political leaders in this country, however, are too focused on their own agendas to recognize the solutions needed to solve real challenges. Despite their expertise, they are not the only stream of information for us to draw upon. Fortunately, there are many more intelligent Americans than intelligent insider politicians; and it is our insights which will direct the future.

But how can we properly reflect on these insights? How can we fully analyze the solutions we propose for complex problems? We need a tool which can provide a platform for recording, analyzing, and combining our collective insights in a meaningful way.

In a 2005 TED Talk, information technologist Clay Shirky explores a path to accomplish this. He points out that coordinating individuals through designed, online systems provides benefits far beyond what standard institutional models can. When you use a system which bypasses the control that institutions demand, you are given greater freedom and flexibility. By doing this, the system fosters more – and often better – contributions due to the lack of prerequisites to participate.



Shirky’s explanation on the benefits of coordination demonstrates that we can work together to find relationships in data that are not easily found in other ways. With the right tool, we each can make small contributions that compound to form a greater collaborative system. This has proven itself through the tagging system in Flickr, the friendship mappings in Facebook, and many other social media features. Using this principle for policy decisions seems quite natural.

A collaboration tool which leverages the benefits of decentralized cooperation can provide us with a place to record the vast number of ideas we should be exploring for our country. However, emotionally charged topics, like politics, need to be approached quite differently compared to other cooperation schemes.

One possible technique which could be used, argument mapping, is the process of breaking down and mapping arguments into a fixed structure that may include ideas, questions, pros and cons. Many have studied this structure, which has shown its effectiveness in a number of different scenarios: business, law and politics to name a few.

There are considerable benefits to using argument mapping. The one that seems most interesting is its ability to civilize polarizing discussions, such as political rhetoric. This increase in civility is a consequence of the structured approach to the idea’s analysis. When mapped, the important ideas which justify an opinion may diverge at any point in the argument when others disagree. This allows everyone, particularly those with conflicting opinions, to make their cases effectively without being drowned out.

This approach brings about other benefits as well. The promotion of an in-depth analysis of the issues and an increased comprehension of these issues will be discussed later. Furthermore, the downsides of argument mapping will be addressed by using a new but related technique that will provide even further benefits on top of those previously mentioned. However, for now, it is important to note that the studies done on argument mapping have shown that it is possible to allow a large group of people to cooperate on important, controversial issues. This is key.

If we want to be able to come up with the most beneficial solutions to America’s challenges, we have to explore a much larger set of possibilities than any group as small as our government can come up with and properly work through. Even out of sheer trial and error, Americans could explore more possible answers to their natural conclusions and consequences than just the politicians themselves could.

To accomplish this, however, we will need a proper group collaboration tool which allows us to fully explore an issue as well as the potential solutions to it and the inevitable consequences of them. The Picket Project is about creating a collaboration tool that could allow us to break free from our dependence on Washington and come up with meaningful solutions like never before possible.

As always, we look forward to hearing your opinions; we will be regularly updating our content based on the conversations started here through the comment system on the blog, our Facebook page, and Twitter using the #PicketProject hashtag.

Links:

• James Stavridis: A Navy Admiral's thoughts on global security