Passing Comments

That’s how Larry Brilliant describes himself in The Daily Telegraph video interview below. Why? Brilliant is the guy given the task of deciding how to spend the approximately $1.9 billion (”around one percent of the company’s equity plus one percent of annual profits… as well as employee time”) that Google’s founders are donating to philanthropy, according to the British newspaper.

A related article is here (”Larry Brilliant, of Google.org: Internet ‘is pandemic early warning system’” by Roger Highfield, Science Editor, Telegraph.co.uk, Jan 30, 2008).

According to a Google press release (2006), Brilliant holds a Masters in Public Health (MPH) and an MD. , and he is founder and director of The Seva Foundation. He also is a Policy Advisory Council Member at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, and a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of Kleiner-Perkin’s Pandemic and Bio-Defense Fund.

In both the article and the video, Brilliant discusses in detail some of the philanthropic projects Google.org is now funding.

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

Actually, the title of this new book is Aristotle and an Aardvark Go to Washington: Understanding Political Doublespeak Through Philosophy and Jokes is Political Doublespeak Made Easy. But the authors also know how to make their readers (and listeners) laugh. The writers are Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein. And, as at least one out of every two reviewers say of the book, it’s certainly timely.

In the video below from Dow Jones’ MarketWatch (www.marketwatch.com), the two Harvard grads in philosophy talk about the practice of political doublespeak and offer some examples of the age old practice from the leading candidates in the present U.S. presidential race. Hillary, Obama and Romney all come under some critical assessment, with the Romney punchline being especially funny.

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).

East is meeting West, contrary to the old saying, in the world of language. China is pushing hard to get its people to learn to speak English. It’s all part of the country’s big push to get ready for the 2008 Olympic Games coming to Beijing this year in August.

In this Reuters video (“English fever hits China” Jan 16, 2008), reporter Kitty Bu talks to one 72-year-old student, and also visits a classroom and interviews a teacher.

As it appears that the Democratic Party could be headed for its first brokered convention since 1952 (see here), news headlines about the key role of the party’s Super Delegates are mushrooming. Why? It could be they, rather than primary voters, who decide whether Obama or Hillary becomes the party’s nominee.

One of the best articles I spotted this morning about this is Primary Colors Revealed: Delegate Soup and American Politics by Rob Creekmore (Feb 4, 2008) on themsj.com. It’s a concise description of what Super Delegates are, how they came to be, and how they can disenfranchise voters.

The article begins with a punch to the solar plexus:

“Barack Obama. Winner of 34 primary delegates to Hillary’s 21. Champion of 63 caucus delegates over Hillary’s 47. Still losing to Hillary. So what’s behind the fuzzy math that the Associated Press is using to claim that Hillary is in the lead? They’re called Super Delegates, they’re not bound by primary or caucus elections, and they will account for a full 20% of the vote at the upcoming DNC convention.”

For a statement today by Barack Obama himself on the Super Delegate issue, go to The Huffington Post here.

Was the winner Obama or Hillary?

From what I’ve read in my morning’s online swim through the flood of news reports, the consensus is that it’s a split decision.

The facts

Hillary won the big states of New York and California, plus six others. Obama won 13 states, possibly 14 (New Mexico is still counting votes — Obama’s ahead slightly). Latest detailed update here on Bloomberg.com. State by state statistics in The Los Angeles Times here (click on name of state for dropdown table).

Some perspective

From some who are watching closely, Obama had the bigger night. (full disclosure: I voted for Obama) In fact, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of DailyKos, titled one of his posts “Huge Night For Obama.”

“She [Hillary] didn’t exceed expectations anywhere. She lost states she led big in just a few weeks ago. She’s hurting for money. The calendar up ahead is tailor made for Obama. The momentum is there,” Moulitas wrote.

An example of Obama’s big mo, as it’s called, can be seen in the California results, even though he lost the state. Only two to three weeks ago, some polls reportedly had Hillary up by more than twenty points there. But by Super Tuesday, after only a brief time of campaigning in the state, Obama cut that lead to nine points (with 92% of the vote counted), see The Los Angeles Times page here.

Up next

Over the next few months, 26 more primaries and caucuses are scheduled. Puerto Rico, scheduled for Saturday, June 7, is the last. See The New York Times page here for complete schedule.

Coming soon: within the next three weeks (Washington, Louisiana, Nebraska, Virginia, Maryland,the District of Columbia, Wisconsin and Hawaii); then in early March, there are four more (Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont); and on April 11, another big state with lots of delegates (Pennsylvania). For more details, see a Boston Globe article here.

Predictions are that Obama will do well in these upcoming weeks. Bloomberg.com has a statement from the Clinton camp:

“Clinton’s chief strategist, Mark Penn, acknowledged that his candidate may be at a disadvantage in the next contests. ‘We’re coming on to some states that are more favorable to Obama,’ he said, adding that Clinton would likely fare better in the Ohio and Texas primaries on March 4.”

The final decision

Most political experts I read are predicting that the Obama and Hillary battle won’t end until the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado at the end of August. The decision will then come through what is called a brokered convention — and there hasn’t been one of those for the Democrats, according to the Wikipedia article, since 1952.

As Obama keeps saying, he’s the candidate of change. Seems like he’s started already.

UPDATE: It seems Barack Obama won a clear delegate victory over rival Hillary Clinton after all in yesterday’s Super Tuesday contest. According to a new post “Obama Claims Delegate Lead” on the Politico.com website, “The Obama camp now projects topping Clinton by 13 delegates, 847 to 834.”

Top fave search engine Google is hoping to block a marriage between its ailing competitor Yahoo and software giant Microsoft, according to a video report (below) from Reuters yesterday.

“Google has offered and Yahoo is now considering a business alliance,” Bobbi Rebell reports in the video.

Microsoft’s unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo a few days ago is getting front row and center treatment from many news organizations, if you’ve noticed. And the analysis and conversation from business and technology experts and others about the proposed deal is becoming a virtual blizzard.

From today’s stories on the matter, here are links to features at the The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post about some of the complexities and pros and cons of it all.

Starting off my day, as I usually do, with a quick visit to news.google.com to see the latest headlines, today I clicked on a video from Russia Today about Super Tuesday. The video (below) recaps what’s happening in the race for the White House. It includes short commentary from some U.S. political reporters, some campaign footage, candidate info and general trivia about the election.

Russia Today, if you don’t know about it, is a Russian news channel in English (also online). It offers round-the-clock coverage by a team of 700 — Russian and foreign journalists and support staff — on what’s happening in Russia and across the globe, according to the website. The channel has been broadcasting since 2005, it reports, and is run by the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti.

The news channel also has its own YouTube page here.

A gazillion and climbing, roughly speaking. But if you insist on actual facts and stuff and the latest informed commentary, check out this essay by Sarah Boxer on The New York Review of Books website.

Boxer, an author and New York Times reporter and critic, draws info from ten books recently published on blogs. In addition to an overview of all things bloggy, as she puts it, her review is full of interesting color bits. At times she snapshots the big picture and then entertainingly tacks on a gold nugget of a detail, as in the following:

(The largest number of blog posts, some 37 percent, are now in Japanese, according to a recent Washington Post article by Blaine Harden, and most of these are polite and self-effacing—”karaoke for shy people.” Thirty-six percent of posts are in English, and most of them are the opposite of polite and self-effacing.)

Hint: don’t miss the essay’s final two paragraphs, summing up blogs — she nails it.