Posts
Eminger Berries files for bankruptcy
With the abrupt closing and departure of Susan Eminger, of Eminger Berries fame, there has been no shortage of water cooler speculation about what happened and her whereabouts.
This morning’s Lewiston Sun Journal ran what appeared to be a wire story indicating that Eminger Berries has filed for bankruptcy. The two-year-old business, which shut down its operations suddenly, last month, shows documents filed on June 20th, seeking Chapter 7 protection from creditors.
According to the news story, the company shows assets of $124,974 and liabilities of $229,537, with sizeable unpaid bills to FedEx and UPS.
The business, which opened in 2005 with Eminger filling orders from her home when she began, was featured on the Food Network, specifically Paula Deen’s show, the culinary equivalent of having a book featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Eminger has apparently relocated to Texas, with her husband and two small children.
Starting a business is never easy, even with a delicious product and some national exposure. Having met Ms. Eminger, who emanated confidence and capability, I hope she lands on her feet and finds something new to focus her food-related talents on.
Death of a Coffee Shop
Barnie’s Café, a wonderful coffee bar, featuring light breakfast and some yummy sandwiches and other summer fare, is closing its doors on Monday.
Located in the historic Bates Mill, in Lewiston, Barnie’s was one of several new businesses that had located to the renovated Mill No. 6 and featured dozens of coffees, from espresso, to latte and cappuccino. The complex, which is home to one of the city’s major employers, TD Banknorth, as well as partial operations for Androscoggin Bank, medical offices and two restaurants, seemed like the perfect locale for the upscale coffee shop, feauturing Wi-Fi for business clients.
Having utilized Barnie’s for several client meetings and a Saturday rendez-vous with a potential RiverVision Press book project suitor, I enjoyed the café’s atmosphere and coffee, not to mention that it emanated a much hipper vibe than any other coffee shop in a town. While Barnie’s was a franchise of the Florida-based Barnie’s Coffee and Tea Company, it had local ownership and wasn’t just another one of multiple chain store offerings in Lewiston/Auburn, catering to the caffeine habit.
While local economic development people insist that there isn’t a trend developing, these two closings, coupled with the recent closure of Uncle Troy’s a locally-owned family BBQ restaurant across the river, aren’t positive signals to those of us that prefer variety and something other than the big-box, or pre-packaged gastronomic experience.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Public radio paints a negative picture
Driving home from my final appointment yesterday, I happened to have NPR on the radio, listening to the evening’s "All Things Considered" Segment. Much to my surprise, reporter Adam Davidson was doing a story on Maine—not Portland, or some “touristy” area of the state, either—the feature was on Skowhegan and how the former mill town was struggling to stay afloat. Immediately, my ears perked up and I even called my wife to listen to the feature, on her way home.
Since last August, when I began my current workforce training gig, I’ve spent more than my fair share of work time, in this community. While I recognize the challenges faced by a town that had hitched its wagon to Maine’s papermaking industry, as well as old-style manufacturing, I still felt a sense of hope, at least from the people I've met and been working with. Maybe its because I had the opportunity to spend some time with some of the members of the community that hadn’t thrown in the towel yet. People very different than Mary Jane Clifford, the woman that Davidson interviewed, who heads up the town’s general assistance office. Maybe it’s the nature of Clifford’s job and hence, all she sees are the folks that made her paint the future in such negative terms. She came across as the typical small-town rube that reporters from the big city try to find, to set up and “plant” the kind of quotes they are looking for—like Clifford talking about some of the young people that come to her—the one’s that she sees as having no future; the ones she gave such a ringing endorsement with the following quote:
“I'm dealing with a lot of young people who really seem unemployable," Clifford says. "They've dropped out of school. Their families have thrown them out. They have no plan. Many of them are heavily tattooed, heavily pierced.”
One of these “heavily tattooed, heavily pierced” folks recently completed the first pilot of a new training initiative that I’ve been part of. In fact, I spent quite a bit of time doing some of the ground work for and helping members of the community put together an employer advisory group that will oversee the program. In my opinion, our first time through was a success and we saw some people that Clifford would deem “hopeless” complete the training and a number of them have been employed after graduating from our three week soft skills training initiative. By the way; our young graduate, who removed her piercings, covered up her tattoos and cut the red coloring out of her hair, recently got hired by a local employer to perform a customer-service role. Unfortunately, Davidson didn’t talk to any of the local employers, or other community-based people that were responsible for the success of this program, called WorkReady.
Interestingly, Davidson interviewed the interim chamber director, who was bemoaning cuts in town that are putting a crimp on tourist-friendly amenities that Skowhegan had. As if all that matters for the future of the town are fireworks, balloon festivals and public restrooms. One interview, with a member of the business community, with something positive to say would have helped to lend a bit of balance to the story. In my opinion, a chamber director ought to be looking to create some positive energy from his membership. Our local workforce development committee has tried to solicit support for our training program from the chamber and for whatever reason, the chamber has chosen to not attend any meetings, or the subsequent graduation of WorkReady, as we focused on upgrading the skills of the local workforce. I guess he doesn’t see the correlation that exists between workforce skills and economic development, which is too bad, given his function of marshaling the area's business community.
One person that does understand the connection and who was noticeably absent from the parade of negative interview subjects and hand-ringers in Davidson’s piece, was Jim Batey, who heads up Somerset Economic Development Corporation.
Batey is someone who I’ve come to respect a great deal in the community. He was a major catalyst for WorkReady and commands respect among the business community, which by the way, also impressed me and appears committed to the future of Skowhegan.
It was Batey who held a series of public forums, one of which I drove up to attend, where he solicited input from members of the community, as he was formulating a five-year plan of economic development. The forum I attended was engaging, many positive ideas were put forth and unlike Davidson, I came away from this meeting with a sense that Skowhegan and Somerset County was on the verge of something positive. Silly me, with my love of rural America and small town economies. Better to be a cynical big city journalist and portray rural Maine as a bunch of benighted hicks in a post-manufacturing backwater, than a place where hope still flickers.
I suppose that to some, like realtor Amy McLellan and Main Street Skowhegan’s Audrey Lovering, the future of the town rests with rich folks from away coming in and buying up the town and tossing a few scraps to the locals. Apparently that’s what Davidson and other visitors to Maine must think when they come here for their requisite lobster dinners and drives along the state’s idyllic coastline, with occasional forays inland, to places like Skowhegan. To some extent, why should we expect anything else? We've placed many of our eggs in the basket of tourism for far too long. It is Maine's tourism-based economic model that fuels the caricature of Maine that the Adam Davidsons of the world enjoy perpetuating.
Somerset County and Skowhegan have challenges. Anyone with any sense would be foolish not to acknowledge that. At the same time, there are people with a positive vision still active in the community, who see the possibilities of economic growth, are working towards raising the requisite skills employers need and will be the ones who ultimately determine the future of the town.
Interestingly, neighboring Franklin County, a county with some of the same challenges as Somerset County and Skowhegan, exudes confidence for the future. Rather than wringing their hands, they are moving forward, increasing educational opportunities, attracting businesses to the county and facing the future with optimism, rather than the pessimism of people like Clifford and others.
Sometimes it all comes down to perspective, I guess. Sadly, in Skowhegan, the perspective of many appears to be negative and the NPR feature won't do much to change that view.
Since last August, when I began my current workforce training gig, I’ve spent more than my fair share of work time, in this community. While I recognize the challenges faced by a town that had hitched its wagon to Maine’s papermaking industry, as well as old-style manufacturing, I still felt a sense of hope, at least from the people I've met and been working with. Maybe its because I had the opportunity to spend some time with some of the members of the community that hadn’t thrown in the towel yet. People very different than Mary Jane Clifford, the woman that Davidson interviewed, who heads up the town’s general assistance office. Maybe it’s the nature of Clifford’s job and hence, all she sees are the folks that made her paint the future in such negative terms. She came across as the typical small-town rube that reporters from the big city try to find, to set up and “plant” the kind of quotes they are looking for—like Clifford talking about some of the young people that come to her—the one’s that she sees as having no future; the ones she gave such a ringing endorsement with the following quote:
“I'm dealing with a lot of young people who really seem unemployable," Clifford says. "They've dropped out of school. Their families have thrown them out. They have no plan. Many of them are heavily tattooed, heavily pierced.”
One of these “heavily tattooed, heavily pierced” folks recently completed the first pilot of a new training initiative that I’ve been part of. In fact, I spent quite a bit of time doing some of the ground work for and helping members of the community put together an employer advisory group that will oversee the program. In my opinion, our first time through was a success and we saw some people that Clifford would deem “hopeless” complete the training and a number of them have been employed after graduating from our three week soft skills training initiative. By the way; our young graduate, who removed her piercings, covered up her tattoos and cut the red coloring out of her hair, recently got hired by a local employer to perform a customer-service role. Unfortunately, Davidson didn’t talk to any of the local employers, or other community-based people that were responsible for the success of this program, called WorkReady.
Interestingly, Davidson interviewed the interim chamber director, who was bemoaning cuts in town that are putting a crimp on tourist-friendly amenities that Skowhegan had. As if all that matters for the future of the town are fireworks, balloon festivals and public restrooms. One interview, with a member of the business community, with something positive to say would have helped to lend a bit of balance to the story. In my opinion, a chamber director ought to be looking to create some positive energy from his membership. Our local workforce development committee has tried to solicit support for our training program from the chamber and for whatever reason, the chamber has chosen to not attend any meetings, or the subsequent graduation of WorkReady, as we focused on upgrading the skills of the local workforce. I guess he doesn’t see the correlation that exists between workforce skills and economic development, which is too bad, given his function of marshaling the area's business community.
One person that does understand the connection and who was noticeably absent from the parade of negative interview subjects and hand-ringers in Davidson’s piece, was Jim Batey, who heads up Somerset Economic Development Corporation.
Batey is someone who I’ve come to respect a great deal in the community. He was a major catalyst for WorkReady and commands respect among the business community, which by the way, also impressed me and appears committed to the future of Skowhegan.
It was Batey who held a series of public forums, one of which I drove up to attend, where he solicited input from members of the community, as he was formulating a five-year plan of economic development. The forum I attended was engaging, many positive ideas were put forth and unlike Davidson, I came away from this meeting with a sense that Skowhegan and Somerset County was on the verge of something positive. Silly me, with my love of rural America and small town economies. Better to be a cynical big city journalist and portray rural Maine as a bunch of benighted hicks in a post-manufacturing backwater, than a place where hope still flickers.
I suppose that to some, like realtor Amy McLellan and Main Street Skowhegan’s Audrey Lovering, the future of the town rests with rich folks from away coming in and buying up the town and tossing a few scraps to the locals. Apparently that’s what Davidson and other visitors to Maine must think when they come here for their requisite lobster dinners and drives along the state’s idyllic coastline, with occasional forays inland, to places like Skowhegan. To some extent, why should we expect anything else? We've placed many of our eggs in the basket of tourism for far too long. It is Maine's tourism-based economic model that fuels the caricature of Maine that the Adam Davidsons of the world enjoy perpetuating.
Somerset County and Skowhegan have challenges. Anyone with any sense would be foolish not to acknowledge that. At the same time, there are people with a positive vision still active in the community, who see the possibilities of economic growth, are working towards raising the requisite skills employers need and will be the ones who ultimately determine the future of the town.
Interestingly, neighboring Franklin County, a county with some of the same challenges as Somerset County and Skowhegan, exudes confidence for the future. Rather than wringing their hands, they are moving forward, increasing educational opportunities, attracting businesses to the county and facing the future with optimism, rather than the pessimism of people like Clifford and others.
Sometimes it all comes down to perspective, I guess. Sadly, in Skowhegan, the perspective of many appears to be negative and the NPR feature won't do much to change that view.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
It's time to impeach
I'm so fed up with the state of national politics and most notably, our war criminal of a president that it's better for me to not write about national issues, because it gets me too worked up. Plus, having taken part in enough orchestrated protests that have amounted to nothing, marching around in our "protest pens," I fully recognize that these do nothing to change things, even though I had to fight the urge on Sunday, to drag my tired ass down to K'port and shout some slogans towards Walker's Point.
Last night, hearing that Lewis "Scooter" Libby had his sentence commuted by the president, just ratcheted up my level of being "pissed-off" that I usually feel around this time (flag-waving and the 4th of July, with all its subsequent jingoism) of year.
Think Progress has a post on Libby and the subsequent moral bleatings that major newspapers are good for. Periodically, even the disgraced and irrelevant MSM manages to screw up what remains of their moral indignation and fires up their op ed machines. Of course, since no one reads the papers and as long as there's still some petrol coming out of the end of the hose at the gas pump and there's a reality TV program on the flat screen at home, Americans just don't give a rat's ass about anything outside their narcissistic three-foot circle of interest.
Last night, hearing that Lewis "Scooter" Libby had his sentence commuted by the president, just ratcheted up my level of being "pissed-off" that I usually feel around this time (flag-waving and the 4th of July, with all its subsequent jingoism) of year.
Think Progress has a post on Libby and the subsequent moral bleatings that major newspapers are good for. Periodically, even the disgraced and irrelevant MSM manages to screw up what remains of their moral indignation and fires up their op ed machines. Of course, since no one reads the papers and as long as there's still some petrol coming out of the end of the hose at the gas pump and there's a reality TV program on the flat screen at home, Americans just don't give a rat's ass about anything outside their narcissistic three-foot circle of interest.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Why won't the public sector blog?
New media is no longer considered arcane, fringe, or the sole domain of geeks. Blogging, representing new media's "first wave," has become very mainstream, with businesses and other members of the status quo jumping on board the blogging bandwagon.
Back in 2003, when I took the plunge and launched my first blog, it was a common occurrence to tell someone you were blogging and get the usual, “you’re doing what?” response and the inevitable weird look when you tried to explain the concept. While millions have crossed over to media’s New Jerusalem, amazingly, there are still many that still have no sense of what blogging is about and how it might be utilized as a communications tool. I won’t even start with social networking sites like MySpace, or the metaverse.
Nowhere is this more glaringly obvious than in the parallel universe, better known as the world of government. Apparently, people who populate this world are not fans of the cutting edge, or anything that smacks of the 21st century. In fact, many in government seem better suited for the 19th century, when the horse and buggy ruled the road and quill pens and ink wells were tools of the communicator’s trade.
For the past year, I’ve been immersed in a quasi-governmental world. Opportunities have presented themselves to talk about writing and I’ve shared with a handful of people that I have a blog (in fact, I have two). Yet, I have yet to meet anyone else in this world who has one of their own, or even knows what the hell I’m talking about, most of the time.
As I’ve written before and I’ve shared with others who wanted advice about becoming a writer, having a blog is a wonderful forum for perfecting your craft. If you care about blogging and want people to take your online writing seriously, you have to make time for it. You also should strive to put up as much meaningful content as possible. While it can be taxing at times, particularly when your life reaches a fevered pace (a pace that I’ve been friends with for the past two months), your blog should have enough importance and you should respect your regular and semi-regular readers enough, to regularly update your blog, at least your primary site for your thoughts and ideas.
There are a variety of bloggers out there, including authors and columnists, who find blogging to be an additional outlet for them, beyond the traditional channels of publishing, to share their thoughts and opinions.
One of my favorite books of late has been A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future, by Daniel Pink. Pink maintains a blog, utilizing new content that ties in well to the themes that he wrote about in the book. Between his publishing, public talks and article writing, Pink finds time to regularly post at his blog. Most of his posts are pithy and to the point, while bringing to his reader’s attention, trends, products and other ideas geared towards the themes in his latest book and this seems to work well for him.
I was curious to see if there were places where I could get a sense of who might be blogging from the public sector. Are there people in government, either state, or federal that have embraced the blog?
I found a website, which compiled blogs by government. How did I find it? I Googled this highly intuitive phrase—“government blogs.” I was sorely disappointed that my very own state of Maine did not show one active blog by a government agency on the list. Neither did fellow New England states, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island. Vermont appeared to be an active link, but when I clicked on it, the link was in fact dead. Only Connecticut made the cut, with State Senator, Bill Finch putting “The Constitution State” on the blogging map, with his own blog. Finch, to his credit, has been blogging since April of 2005. I must tell you, this impressed me.
A group of Americorps workers based in New Orleans, going by the name of The Lost Tribe of Green 5, have their own blog. All seven members of the team take turns blogging about their experiences with Americorps and I found the blog to be both informative and worth some time given to reading member’s posts.
Utah came away as our governmental blog champion, with four sites listed. The Senate Site: Unofficial Voice of the Utah Senate Majority, was created by the Utah Senate GOP membership as a one-year pilot in 2005, attempting to “add something meaningful to the way people understand and participate in the policy-making process.” Apparently it’s been a success, as the GOP site is still blogging away, two years later.
What I liked when I read about the blog, was the spirit of bipartisanship and openness they were looking to create with the blog, giving their friends and foes across the aisle the chance to blog, as well as opening it up to guest bloggers from the public.
From the very same Utah Senate site, I learned that not all states are created equal when it comes to blogging.
In the state of Kentucky, rather than viewing new media and in particulary, blogging, as something to be embraced for communication purposes, Gov. Ernie Fletcher (a Republican), who didn’t like being skewered by Democratic blogger, Mark Nickolas, banned access to blogs for 34,000 state workers. Knowing a thing or two about the productivity of state workers, particularly their ability to get things done, I doubt that Fletcher’s decision made a dent at all in Kentucky's public productivity.
While we hear a lot about how tech savvy the millennials are, many 20-somethings that I’ve encountered don’t seem particularly adept at utilizing any of the available technology for much of anything, except navel gazing. Granted, there are a few members of the younger set that understand the implications of what’s available and know how to use it to get out their message. But sadly, these people seem to be in the minority. It appears that it is the "boomers," that seem to be most adept at utilizing the newer tools of communication to maximum benefit.
It's interesting, in light of the content of Pink's book, which details the shift from left brain, to right brain skills and the transfer, so to speak, of the "keys to the kingdom," at least when it comes to information and communication that there is such a paucity of new media activity on the public side of things. If Pink is right (and he makes a very provocative case in the book) in his detailing of the move to the conceptual age, as he calls it, a world of "high concept and high touch," then this lack of participation by those in the public sphere is telling.
Regardless of what forms of new media, social networking and virtual reality are made available, thanks to burgeoning technology, knowing the fundamentals of communication are still essential, in my opinion, if you want to be able to say anything that others might be able to relate to and gravitate towards. Otherwise, it’s the equivalent of one hand clapping.
Back in 2003, when I took the plunge and launched my first blog, it was a common occurrence to tell someone you were blogging and get the usual, “you’re doing what?” response and the inevitable weird look when you tried to explain the concept. While millions have crossed over to media’s New Jerusalem, amazingly, there are still many that still have no sense of what blogging is about and how it might be utilized as a communications tool. I won’t even start with social networking sites like MySpace, or the metaverse.
Nowhere is this more glaringly obvious than in the parallel universe, better known as the world of government. Apparently, people who populate this world are not fans of the cutting edge, or anything that smacks of the 21st century. In fact, many in government seem better suited for the 19th century, when the horse and buggy ruled the road and quill pens and ink wells were tools of the communicator’s trade.
For the past year, I’ve been immersed in a quasi-governmental world. Opportunities have presented themselves to talk about writing and I’ve shared with a handful of people that I have a blog (in fact, I have two). Yet, I have yet to meet anyone else in this world who has one of their own, or even knows what the hell I’m talking about, most of the time.
As I’ve written before and I’ve shared with others who wanted advice about becoming a writer, having a blog is a wonderful forum for perfecting your craft. If you care about blogging and want people to take your online writing seriously, you have to make time for it. You also should strive to put up as much meaningful content as possible. While it can be taxing at times, particularly when your life reaches a fevered pace (a pace that I’ve been friends with for the past two months), your blog should have enough importance and you should respect your regular and semi-regular readers enough, to regularly update your blog, at least your primary site for your thoughts and ideas.
There are a variety of bloggers out there, including authors and columnists, who find blogging to be an additional outlet for them, beyond the traditional channels of publishing, to share their thoughts and opinions.
One of my favorite books of late has been A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule The Future, by Daniel Pink. Pink maintains a blog, utilizing new content that ties in well to the themes that he wrote about in the book. Between his publishing, public talks and article writing, Pink finds time to regularly post at his blog. Most of his posts are pithy and to the point, while bringing to his reader’s attention, trends, products and other ideas geared towards the themes in his latest book and this seems to work well for him.
I was curious to see if there were places where I could get a sense of who might be blogging from the public sector. Are there people in government, either state, or federal that have embraced the blog?
I found a website, which compiled blogs by government. How did I find it? I Googled this highly intuitive phrase—“government blogs.” I was sorely disappointed that my very own state of Maine did not show one active blog by a government agency on the list. Neither did fellow New England states, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or Rhode Island. Vermont appeared to be an active link, but when I clicked on it, the link was in fact dead. Only Connecticut made the cut, with State Senator, Bill Finch putting “The Constitution State” on the blogging map, with his own blog. Finch, to his credit, has been blogging since April of 2005. I must tell you, this impressed me.
A group of Americorps workers based in New Orleans, going by the name of The Lost Tribe of Green 5, have their own blog. All seven members of the team take turns blogging about their experiences with Americorps and I found the blog to be both informative and worth some time given to reading member’s posts.
Utah came away as our governmental blog champion, with four sites listed. The Senate Site: Unofficial Voice of the Utah Senate Majority, was created by the Utah Senate GOP membership as a one-year pilot in 2005, attempting to “add something meaningful to the way people understand and participate in the policy-making process.” Apparently it’s been a success, as the GOP site is still blogging away, two years later.
What I liked when I read about the blog, was the spirit of bipartisanship and openness they were looking to create with the blog, giving their friends and foes across the aisle the chance to blog, as well as opening it up to guest bloggers from the public.
From the very same Utah Senate site, I learned that not all states are created equal when it comes to blogging.
In the state of Kentucky, rather than viewing new media and in particulary, blogging, as something to be embraced for communication purposes, Gov. Ernie Fletcher (a Republican), who didn’t like being skewered by Democratic blogger, Mark Nickolas, banned access to blogs for 34,000 state workers. Knowing a thing or two about the productivity of state workers, particularly their ability to get things done, I doubt that Fletcher’s decision made a dent at all in Kentucky's public productivity.
While we hear a lot about how tech savvy the millennials are, many 20-somethings that I’ve encountered don’t seem particularly adept at utilizing any of the available technology for much of anything, except navel gazing. Granted, there are a few members of the younger set that understand the implications of what’s available and know how to use it to get out their message. But sadly, these people seem to be in the minority. It appears that it is the "boomers," that seem to be most adept at utilizing the newer tools of communication to maximum benefit.
It's interesting, in light of the content of Pink's book, which details the shift from left brain, to right brain skills and the transfer, so to speak, of the "keys to the kingdom," at least when it comes to information and communication that there is such a paucity of new media activity on the public side of things. If Pink is right (and he makes a very provocative case in the book) in his detailing of the move to the conceptual age, as he calls it, a world of "high concept and high touch," then this lack of participation by those in the public sphere is telling.
Regardless of what forms of new media, social networking and virtual reality are made available, thanks to burgeoning technology, knowing the fundamentals of communication are still essential, in my opinion, if you want to be able to say anything that others might be able to relate to and gravitate towards. Otherwise, it’s the equivalent of one hand clapping.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Random notes and items worth noting (maybe)
New job for Bush's “poodle”
Lest you shed a tear that Tony Blair has been booted from 10 Downing Street, the former British Prime Minister didn’t even need to worry about updating his resume. Hours after standing down as PM, he was appointed special representative for the peace-brokering quartet of the US, European Union, UN and Russia. His apparent qualilfications—being George Bush’s “poodle” since 2001.
Essayist Tom Fenton writes, “When it comes to dealing with the Arab-Israeli problem, the Bush administration is living in another world. It blithely ignores the realities of the Middle East and seems to make policy in a vacuum. It looks clueless.
Take the decision to back Tony Blair as the new envoy of the international “quartet” on the Middle East, with the mission to strengthen the Palestinian Authority. It makes sense for the United States, the United Nations, Europe and Russia to have a high profile representative, but the outgoing British prime minister has the wrong profile. His enthusiastic participation in the invasion of Iraq and unquestioning backing of President Bush’s failed Middle East policy have stripped him of credibility with the Arab public.”
You think? Just politics as usual on the global stage.
Hated by the world
It’s amazing how quickly some people piss away the goodwill of others. Take George Bush. After the events of September 11, 2001, most of the world was united in sympathy for the U.S., although a new book, by Andrew Kohut and Bruce Stokes show that resentment towards America was simmering just below the surface.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project is the largest ever series of multinational surveys focusing on worldwide issues. Begun in June 2001 with a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, the intent was to conduct an international survey on globalization and democratization. However, the events of September 11th changed the focus of the report. The shift became, how is America is perceived abroad and global attitudes toward the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
The project revealed that just one year later, in December, 2002, the image of the U.S. was slipping, although goodwill remained strong towards our country. By June of 2003, with the U.S. firmly entrenched in a global “war on terrah,” the U.S. image was in the toilet. So much for “winning hearts and minds," eh?”
Who needs this life when you can have Second Life?
I’ve been hearing a lot about Second Life, the 3-D virtual world developed by Linden Research. The downloadable program allows users, referred to as “residents, to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items (virtual property) and services from one another.
While still in its infancy, Second Life has been showing up frequently in mainstream news stories in USA Today, BusinessWeek, as well as a feature last week on NPR.
I had my first guided tour last night, courtesy of good friend Jonathan Braden, designer and member of the RiverVision Press ancillary family. Sitting on his deck, nursing a couple of Gritty Summer Ales, fireflies flitting around us, it provided an interesting juxtaposition between the real world and the virtual frontier. More to come on that front.
Hotter than a _________ (you fill in the blank)
Even here in the northernmost reaches of New England, we have weather that visitors from southern climes would consider hot—usually, these doggish days occur in late July, or August—not the end of June. Makes one consider mixing a G & T, Wisdom Weasel-style.
Busier week than normal; hope to be back with an extended post over the weekend.
Lest you shed a tear that Tony Blair has been booted from 10 Downing Street, the former British Prime Minister didn’t even need to worry about updating his resume. Hours after standing down as PM, he was appointed special representative for the peace-brokering quartet of the US, European Union, UN and Russia. His apparent qualilfications—being George Bush’s “poodle” since 2001.
Essayist Tom Fenton writes, “When it comes to dealing with the Arab-Israeli problem, the Bush administration is living in another world. It blithely ignores the realities of the Middle East and seems to make policy in a vacuum. It looks clueless.
Take the decision to back Tony Blair as the new envoy of the international “quartet” on the Middle East, with the mission to strengthen the Palestinian Authority. It makes sense for the United States, the United Nations, Europe and Russia to have a high profile representative, but the outgoing British prime minister has the wrong profile. His enthusiastic participation in the invasion of Iraq and unquestioning backing of President Bush’s failed Middle East policy have stripped him of credibility with the Arab public.”
You think? Just politics as usual on the global stage.
Hated by the world
It’s amazing how quickly some people piss away the goodwill of others. Take George Bush. After the events of September 11, 2001, most of the world was united in sympathy for the U.S., although a new book, by Andrew Kohut and Bruce Stokes show that resentment towards America was simmering just below the surface.
The Pew Global Attitudes Project is the largest ever series of multinational surveys focusing on worldwide issues. Begun in June 2001 with a grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts, the intent was to conduct an international survey on globalization and democratization. However, the events of September 11th changed the focus of the report. The shift became, how is America is perceived abroad and global attitudes toward the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
The project revealed that just one year later, in December, 2002, the image of the U.S. was slipping, although goodwill remained strong towards our country. By June of 2003, with the U.S. firmly entrenched in a global “war on terrah,” the U.S. image was in the toilet. So much for “winning hearts and minds," eh?”
Who needs this life when you can have Second Life?
I’ve been hearing a lot about Second Life, the 3-D virtual world developed by Linden Research. The downloadable program allows users, referred to as “residents, to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items (virtual property) and services from one another.
While still in its infancy, Second Life has been showing up frequently in mainstream news stories in USA Today, BusinessWeek, as well as a feature last week on NPR.
I had my first guided tour last night, courtesy of good friend Jonathan Braden, designer and member of the RiverVision Press ancillary family. Sitting on his deck, nursing a couple of Gritty Summer Ales, fireflies flitting around us, it provided an interesting juxtaposition between the real world and the virtual frontier. More to come on that front.
Hotter than a _________ (you fill in the blank)
Even here in the northernmost reaches of New England, we have weather that visitors from southern climes would consider hot—usually, these doggish days occur in late July, or August—not the end of June. Makes one consider mixing a G & T, Wisdom Weasel-style.
Busier week than normal; hope to be back with an extended post over the weekend.
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