a curious Yankee in Europe's court

Umpteen million stories on news sites online today about the, possibly, make-or-break debate last night in Ohio between Hillary and Obama. My favorite for concise but comprehensive summary of what happened, and what it means is online at The Guardian (“Clinton lays into Obama during TV debate” by Suzanne Goldenberg, Feb 27, 2008).

The article’s sub-head and teaser:

Clinton goes on the debate offensive

In an Ohio debate considered crucial to her chances of staying in the race for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton attacked Barack Obama’s healthcare policy and campaign tactics

Posted with the story is a 3 1/2 minute video of some of the tense action of the debate.

Well, we’re all entitled to our own opinions, as they say. The title of this post expresses one of mine. And it’s one, I’m happy to say, that’s shared, more or less, by thousands of people around the world.

To accommodate all this interest, Terra Madre (Mother Earth) has just launched its new website (www.terramadre.info). It’s available at present in English and Italian, with six more languages coming soon, according to the organization (German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian).

Just to fill you in, if you don’t already know, Terra Madre is a project of Slow Food. Slow Food is based in Italy and was founded in 1989 by Carlo Petrini.

Terra Madre describes itself as “The Food Communities Network.” That network now is comprised of 250 universities and research centers, and 450 individual academics throughout the world, according to the website.

Here’s an excerpt from the introduction section:

The Terra Madre network, which integrates new members every day, is made up of all those who wish to act to preserve, encourage, and support sustainable food production methods. These methods are based on attention to territory and those distinctive qualities that have permitted the land to retain its fertility over centuries of use. This vision is in direct opposition to pursuing a globalized marketplace, with the ongoing, systematic goal of increasing profit and productivity. Such methods have substantial externalities for which we, the guardians and inhabitants of this planet, pay the price. And the damage begins with small producers, lacking the means to create markets even within their own regions, who become crushed by subsidy systems that render their working conditions unfair.

Day after day, the Terra Madre family grows, strengthens, organizes, and defends local cultures and products, and makes real the Slow Food concept of Good, Clean, and Fair quality. Good refers to the quality of food products and of their taste; Clean, to a production process that respects the natural environment ; and Fair, in which there is dignity and appropriate economic return for the people who produce, including respect from those who consume.

Terra Madre offers a free newsletter. You may subscribe here if you’re interested in knowing more (email: NewsletterTM@slowfood.com).

Exploring the new website, I drifted into the Multimedia section and found this 2006 video (below). Parodying the film series Star Wars, the video (Store Wars) is a funny, informative presentation of just why an organization such as Terra Madre is so important.

Yesterday, the ways and means President Vladimir Putin uses to govern Russia was the subject of a New York Times article (“Putin’s Iron Grip on Russia Suffocates Opponents” by Clifford J. Levy, Feb 24, 2008). The piece, including quotes from several Russians interviewed, offers a glimpse into Russia’s inner world these days.

Equally or, perhaps, of even greater interest is that the NY Times editors decided to translate their article into Russian and post it, according to the Times, on Russia’s most popular blogging website, www.livejournal.ru. The Times editors also solicited comments about the article from the blog platform’s Russian readers.

So what happened?

Today, a follow-up article ran in the NY Times, analyzing the Russian public’s response (“An Article Brings Sharp Responses From Russians” by Clifford J. Levy, Feb 25, 2008). The talkback was sizable, spirited and varied. By the end of yesterday, almost 3,000 comments had been logged in, the Times editors reported:

“The Moscow bureau of The Times reviewed the comments in Russian and translated scores that were representative of the strains of opinion on the site. The translations in English were then posted in the comments section that accompanied the article on www.nytimes.com.”

The primary motivation behind the Times editors asking translators to do all this back and forth translating between English and Russian, they said, was “to give readers a better feel for Russian opinion.”

UPDATE: Questo post in italiano

Megan and her Webkinz “Henry”

Being classically blonde, with a perfect figure and limitless wardrobe just isn’t enough anymore, apparently, if you’re a doll (literally speaking).

According to an article in yesterday’s Washington Post, the affections of little girls are turning more and more these days to some virtual pets (with stuffed, plush real life doppelgangers) by the name of Webkinz (“A Virtual Popularity Contest – In the Online Playground, Barbie’s Doing the Chasing” by Annys Shin, Feb 19, 2008).

Last year the sales of Barbie doll products fell 15 percent, the article states, and the competition from Webkinz had something to do with that. The stuffed animals are marketed with their own digital “Webkinz World” where their owners can go online and play games, pretend shop and spend, and interact in cyberspace with friends.

What does this have to do with Barbie? Excerpt from the article:

“When you’re spending a lot of time [on Webkinz], you’re not spending four hours on Barbie dolls,” said Gerrick Johnson, a toy industry analyst with BMO Capital Markets.

As it happens this week we have house guests and one of them is Megan, an eight-year-old girl. When I mentioned the WaPo article and Webkinz to her parents during breakfast today, Megan’s face lit up as if it were the sun itself.

“Do you want to see Henry?” she squealed, and off she dashed to the bedroom, to return with one of the plush ones (see photo above).

Later I decided to do a little market research of my own so I asked Megan a few questions, the first one being if she had a Barbie doll.

“I have lots of Barbies but I never play with them,” she said, hugging “Henry” the Webkinz.

“Why?”

“She’s boring.”

Uh oh.

To read an article with more information about Webkinz and other virtual worlds now online for children , see a 2007 article from the New York Daily News here (“Webkinz: Big money lessons for little kids” by Elizabeth Lazarowitz).

Lawrence Lessig is, without a shadow of doubt, one of the good guys when it comes to fighting to preserve the democratic process in the U.S.

As to bio, currently he is a professor at Stanford Law School. Previously he was a professor at Harvard Law School. He is the creator of Creative Commons. Scientific American named him as one of America’s top 50 visionaries. He also has written four books, and he is a columnist for Wired magazine. So when he speaks, a lot of people listen.

Recently, he spoke via a video on Youtube (below) on why he is supporting the Democratic Party Presidential candidate Barack Obama. The talk is titled “20 minutes or so about why I am 4Barack.”

An Australian website, EngageMedia.org describes itself as a “video sharing site distributing works about social justice and environmental issues.”

The website’s geographical focus is South East Asia, Australia and the Pacific, according to the website. It offers online space for documentaries and artistic and experimental works that “challenge the dominance of the mainstream media.”

Most prominent on the website are the many serious documentary videos exploring serious issues. The three very short pieces I chose to post below, however, are representative of the animation and artistic videos featured on EngageMedia.

The first, “Why Democracy is Better?,” is bitingly funny. The second, “Artex and the swamp of sorrow-neverending sadness,” employs the simplest of elements, but delivers its message with a heartbreaking punch. And the third, “A Life in the Day of a Cycle Courier,” is a ingenious combination of realism and fantasy that highlights a complex challenge in life.

“Why Democracy is Better” by sarah jane woulahan (last modified 2007-08-23): short animation compares and contrasts autocracy, monarchy and democracy. Created by Mat Blackwell.

“Artex and the swamp of sorrow-neverending sadness” by SquatSpace (last modified 2008-02-14): winner of SF06, it retell the story of the dying horse of the neverending story.

“A Life in the Day of a Cycle Courier” by Robbie McEwan (last modified 2007-09-25): Sarah is a Cycle Courier chasing the money, but can she put a price on her freedom?

No way! says U.S. Congressman Edward Markey. This week he proposed new legislation to bar exactly this from happening in the U.S., according to an AP story on the Wired website (“Bill Bars Web Traffic Discrimination” AP, Feb 13, 2008).

Markey is trying to head off a coalition of major telephone and cable companies, including AT&T and Qwest, who reportedly want to be able to charge whatever the market will bear, in effect, for Internet access.

From the AP article:

Markey, who introduced similar legislation in 2006, said the bill doesn’t regulate the Internet, only makes sure the rules of online engagement are fair. His spokeswoman said he wanted to defuse critics’ arguments that the bill amounts to regulation, which she called inaccurate.

“It does, however, suggest that the principles which have guided the Internet’s development and expansion are highly worthy of retention, and it seeks to enshrine such principles in the law as guide stars for U.S. broadband policy,” Markey said of The Internet Freedom Preservation Act.

The hot issue at the heart of Rep. Markey’s legislative fight is what is known as “Net Neutrality.” Its supporters have their own website, SAVETHEINTERNET.com. Members include Google, most prominently, plus hundreds of websites, small businesses, educators, and public interest groups such as the ACLU, Consumers Union, MoveOn.org, and Common Cause (see list here).

For anyone wanting to learn the basics of this battle, the website offers a Net Neutrality 101 page.

As it turned out the beagle (a hound by any other name) Uno won (“Beagle wins Westminster dog show” The Kansas City Star online, Feb 12, 2008). Snoopy would be proud. It’s the first time a hound has taken the top prize at Westminster in 100 years of competing, according to the newspaper.

I have three dogs and, like most “dog people,” I never tire of watching dogs in videos (movies, photos, on the street, on the sofa, wherever). So, here’s a little bit of this year’s Westminster action (courtesy of Reuters video):

Finally, this rather timely question may be making its way to center stage. At least it will if ScienceDebate2008 happens on April 18, as proposed. The debate, to be held in Philadelphia, is the idea of a citizens’ initiative group led by science writer Chris Mooney.

Here’s a excerpt from the group’s press release about the invitation it just sent out to Democratic and Republican Party candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee and John McCain:

“This is about the future of America,” said Shawn Lawrence Otto, one of the debate organizers. “Most of the major policy challenges the next president will face, from climate chance to jobs and economic competitiveness to healthcare to the health of the oceans, center on science and technology. Where is the next transistor economy going to come from? Is there going to be action to address climate change? Do we need a Marshall plan for science in America? What about peak oil? Why are our school children falling behind other countries in math and science, and what should be done about it? We are trying to elevate these important policy issues in the national dialogue. We want voters to have a chance to assess candidates’ in terms of their visionary leadership on these big issues and others like them. It’s not a science quiz, it’s about policy. We’re talking about the health of your family, the health of the economy, and the health of the planet. What are the solutions? We hope the candidates for president will want to explore these issues more thoroughly with the American people.”

Created in 2007, the ScienceDebate2008 initiative has some big name endorsements and partnerships. They include 97 major universities and other organizations, “dozens of Nobel laureates,” and several highranking past and present government officials, according to the press release. Intel chief Craig Barrett has also signed on in support, they say.

The list of co-sponsors of the debate include the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

Organizers of the debate are asking those who want to see this debate happen to help out by calling the various candidates’ campaigns, and by writing letters to the editors of local newspapers.

You can follow the action of how it’s all turning out on The Intersection where Mooney blogs.

Writing today in The New York Times about Microsoft’s proposed takeover of Yahoo, tech reporter Matt Richtel explains that “zero dollar” is the insider’s phrase for the burgeoning trend of software wants to be free (“Facing Free Software, Microsoft Looks to Yahoo” Feb 9, 2008).

“A growing number of consumers are paying just that — nothing. This is the Internet’s latest phase: people using freely distributed applications, from e-mail and word processing programs to spreadsheets, games and financial management tools. They run on distant, massive and shared data centers, and users of the services pay with their attention to ads, not cash,”Richtel writes.

How much this free software preference is motivating Microsoft in its yearning for Yahoo is the subject of Richtel’s article. He quotes various technology experts and corporate spokespeople on the subject. A conversation he recounts with a college student whose software of choice is the free stuff is particularly interesting.

Financial Times also has a brief article today discussing this aspect of Microsoft’s interest in Yahoo here (“Microsoft’s motivation” Feb 9, 2008, subscriber only).