http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ff0713s.pdf

Gosh   –    So much material     –     I found this PDF report on educause.edu.

It is titled:  How the Brain Pays Attention

It was created by:  The McGovern Institute for Brain Research

Here is an excerpt from the conclusion (I added color to some text for emphasis)

“In addition to medical applications, our understanding of the brain’s workings is also influencing our thinking about how we educate our children. For example, if brain functioning depends upon neurons that essentially sing to one another in different frequency ranges, then how might experience with music affect the brain’s ability to process information? We have begun new experiments at the McGovern Institute involving children and musical training that build on what we now know about the brain’s temporal synchrony. It may be that there’s a symphony inside our brains, and it will take a symphony to lead us to understanding it.”

Down here in the Berkeley of South Dakota, you’d think we’d have a well-oiled lefty machine.  And while our votes tend toward that southpaw direction (certainly in the Central Ward), we seem to be missing some pretty essential organization and communication machinery.

Case in point: the McGovern/Abourezk Town Hall at the Buffalo Run Winery last night.  I’d post a link to some announcement of the event, but unfortunately, my Googling on “town hall mcgovern abourezk vermillion” comes up with exactly squat.

The only reason it’s even on my radar to bitch about is that yesterday in the early afternoon hours, I was working on cleaning out plots in the community garden, and one of our generous volunteers relayed the information to a couple I was working with–a couple that’s, generally speaking, much more in the loop than I am.

They hadn’t heard about it previously either, and commented that it was on the same night as our Farmers Market Harvest Dinner–an unfortunate scheduling overlap considering that many of our vendors and customers might have been interested in the winery event as well.

The reponse was that this Town Hall had been set up far in advance of the Harvest Dinner (indicating that perhaps we were at fault for the scheduling conflict?).  Well, that may be the case, except it’s awfully hard to schedule around an event no one knows about.

While our Harvest Dinner was scheduled pretty late (a couple of weeks ago), I’m thinking we did a pretty decent job of advertising in a mostly paperless, inexpensive, and earth-friendly fashion–through our blog, Facebook, our e-mail list and those of other organizations who helped out, a few phone calls, and handing out invites at the market itself.

Our turnout was great, our vendors who came to sell made money, and the food was fabulous.  We ended up having to set up a couple more tables to accommodate all the folks who showed up to share and eat great local food with their friends and neighbors.

It turned out there were at least one or two folks at the dinner who scuttled out around sevenish to drink local wine and talk politics, but the vast majority knew nothing about the important doings across town.

I had my son with me and was consigned to clean-up duty at the Extension Hall, so wasn’t able to make the Town Hall.  My partner, who served as County Dem Chair for years (years ago) stayed and helped too.

He was interested in the event (which he heard about from me yesterday afternoon), but figured since he wasn’t invited, he’d help where help was needed.  Was this an invitation-only event?  Or was this just lousy communication?

If the Democratic Party wants to be active and strong, it behooves the leaders to get the word out about these types of events well in advance, to avoid scheduling conflicts and to create buzz that brings others into the loop.

This isn’t just sour grapes over my not having been invited; this is my complete bewilderment that virtually no one I know (good Dems, almost all) knew anything about this event until the day it was happening.  With all the free and effective tools we have available for communicating with a wide swath of people, what gives?

When the Dems hold a stealth event at the winery for “those-in-the-know,” they perpetuate the common stereotype of an elitist party that’s out of touch (and communication) with not only the mainstream, but with their own members.

Looks like Mike Capuano picked up a big endorsement for his scrappy underdog campaign for US Senate – Rep. Jim McGovern, who represents a sizable slice of Massachusetts from Worcester down to Wrentham and Fall River.  According to a campaign press release, besides McGovern,

…He was also endorsed by Worcester County Sheriff Guy Glodis, State Senator Richard Moore, State Rep. Jennifer M. Callahan, State Rep. Jim O’Day, State Rep. Geraldo Alicea and State Rep. Robert Spellane.

“As our next U.S. Senator, Mike Capuano will continue to effectively serve all Massachusetts residents and fight for the progressive ideals we share,” stated Congressman McGovern. “I have been proud to call Congressman Capuano a friend and colleague. Mike has worked closely with me and other members of the Massachusetts delegation on so many important issues, including a public option in health care reform and opposing the Iraq War.”

This is a major endorsement, since McGovern and Glodis are real heavy hitters in the mid-section of the state, where Capuano probably doesn’t have a lot of name recognition.  If these folks campaign –hard– with him, Capuano has a real shot of wresting mid-Massachusetts into his column.

Ik had dit boek al een tijdje op de plank liggen maar to nog toe geen tijd gehad om het te lezen.

Verloren Ambachten, zo zou je de titel moeten vertalen. Helaas is dit boek niet naar het Nederlands vertaald. Ook zijn sommige ambachten erg Engels, in Nederland worden bijvoorbeeld geen stenen omwallingen gemaakt.

He boek behandelt ongeveer 100 “verloren ambachten”, of op zijn minst ambachten in de gevarenzone van verdwijning. De meeste ambachten zijn vervangen door machines, goedkope olie en kunststof. Ook zijn er nogal wat ambachten in de verdrukking gekomen door industriële landbouw methodes. De ambachten die voorkomen in het boek zijn onder andere melken, lepels snijden, hakhout, kuipen maken, manden weven en smeden.

Elk ambacht wordt in ongeveer 3 pagina’s behandeld en wordt ondersteund door nieuw en antiek fotomateriaal. Je kunt met de kennis uit dit boek geen ambacht leren, maar dat is ook niet het doel van dit boek. Het doel is mensen kennis te laten maken met ambachten die in vergetelheid dreigen te raken, en dat doel wordt op een goede manier behaald.

Natuurlijk kun je een ambacht als smeden niet in een paar pagina’s omschrijven, daarom wordt er bij elk ambacht verwezen naar een aantal websites. Gebruikelijk wordt er ook verwezen naar een “worshipful company” van het een of ander. Deze zijn vergelijkbaar met de Nederlandse gildes. Bijvoorbeeld de “worshipful company of farriers” het gilde van hoefsmeden dat al bestaat sinds 1356. In Groot Brittannië bestaan nog veel van de middeleeuwse gildes, in Nederland zijn er nog bijna geen gildes meer, een van de oudste en laatste is het Smedengilde St. Eloy in Utrecht (1304).

Hier is de link naar amazon, en hier die naar bol,

With the threat of global warming staring us in the face, we try to find something to point the finger at. First, it was the big trucks, that as children we would pump our arms at hoping they would honk for us. Those were the days, when driving in a convertible on the highway, big rig trucks would emit a cloud of black smoke to billow in your face. Second, we blamed the landfills for secreting too much methane; with that a billion dollar industry of regulators and environmental enforcement agencies were born. Currently, we blame the very cars that we drove to the landfill while enjoying our gas-scented evocative childhood pleasures. Finally, a select few, but prominent, people are pointing the finger to the meat and dairy industry.

Cows and other ruminants are the top two or three leading contributors of greenhouse gasses, a study put out by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization stated. Cows do not produce the same volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as SUVs, such as, CO2; however, they produce gasses that have at least 21 times the warming potential—methane and nitrous oxide. When a cow eats, the food is ingested through the mouth and lead to the largest of its four stomachs, where bacteria are introduced and the food starts to break down. Then the food returns to the mouth as cud, where the cow chews it further. Here in lies the problem, when the cow is chewing the food, it is belching and releasing methane into the air. It is estimated that a single cow can belch out anywhere from 25-130 gallons of methane daily. To try and combat the cud problem, scientists in Australia, Britain and New Zealand are attempting to create a bovine Alka-Selzter, in tandem with creating new strands of grass that are more energy efficient hence creating less methane during digestion. The problem of digestion does not stop there, once the food digest the cow defecates leaving behind a completely new producer of methane and nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide has 296 times the warming potential that carbon dioxide has, to combat the creation of this VOC the gasses from manure storage containers are lit, converting the NO2 into the less harmful CO2. Now, multiply that by the 1.5 billion cattle in the world’s meat and dairy system and you have a problem bigger than any SUV on the market could produce.

Since 1967 the auto industry has made significant changes to car engines and exhaust systems. Driving down any highway in America 1967 and before and it would be gilded with black smoke, the smell of gasoline would permeate through anything within 500 feet of a gas station because of not having protective rubber stops to contain the fumes being emitted while pumping gas. In 2002, a regular combustion engine car would emit 1.4 pounds of CO2 each year, that is a momentous difference from the 14.6 pounds being emitted in 1967. In an attempt to fight against vehicular VOCs, Toyota invented the gas-electric hybrid. Hybrid cars first became available to the public in the late 1990s, this was a huge strive for cleaner air and better fuel efficiency. Many people bought hybrid cars, but their popularity never grew to epic proportions because humans are creatures of speed and hybrid cars could not deliver. In 2008, the hydrogen car will be on limited release in Los Angeles. This car run strictly on hydrogen and electricity and has no VOC emissions, just pure water. This is a magnificent improvement and it will drastically reduce the amount of CO2 emissions, but it will not be enough until regulations are made for other aspects of life.

The ubiquity of beef in American culture is equally as prevalent as baseball or apple pie. Americans eat, according to the 2000 census, nearly 100 pounds of beef each year. Americans are also among the leaders in obesity, heart disease and colorectal cancer, all of which are linked to excessive red-meat intake. Therefore, with the obvious health implications and the risk of melting the polar ice caps, Americans still support the meat and dairy industry. This is because the implications of peoples’ actions are kept out of mainstream politics because the agricultural industry has too much money they can hold over the government’s head. In the late 1970s, Sen. George McGovern suggested that American’s cut down on fatty meats and dairy intake for health reasons. The American meat and dairy industry took this as a personal assault on their business, so they took action and voted McGovern out of office a few years later. In September of 2007, former senator John Edwards suggested that Americans trade in their SUVs to benefit the environment, also stating that cows generate more greenhouse gasses than SUVs. When TV talk-show host Bill Maher asked, “you want to take a shot at meat?” Edwards dodged the question as not to damage his chances of becoming president.

Humans are the only species that drink milk beyond infancy. As babies, we drink milk for nourishment and to help us grow. Cows milk is very high in saturated fat and protein, within a year a cow will become four times its birth size thanks to the milk of its mother. Americans drink excessive amounts of milk and then wonder why as a nation they are so morbidly obese compared to the rest of the world. The bad news of drinking milk does not stop there, all the chemicals and growth hormones that are put into the cows feed gets filtered through their bodies and eventually ends up in their milk supply and then to the consumers. We feed our children milk, which is like feeding them liquid steroids; girls are developing breast sooner and that are much larger than previously recorded, boys are much taller, developing facial hair earlier and their voices are deeper. Not only do the hormones, chemicals, and antibiotics get into the milk—it gets into the meat also. Therefore, humans are eating twice the amount of growth hormones than if they were to eat meat alone. Ingesting these antibiotics causes our immune systems to become weaker and begin to attack themselves, thus causing allergies, such as, the ever-present peanut allergy that is plaguing today’s youth in record numbers. The consumption of beef will cause massive damages to the environment and the world’s population by 2050, as the demand for meat and dairy increases exponentially.

This problem stares us in the face every time we open the fridge or sit down to dinner, cows and their byproducts are omnipresent in society today. Unless politicians and reputable environmental agencies start to speak on this issue more frequently, the problem will persist indefinitely. One way to combat the issue indirectly would be to take McGovern’s stance and link red meat and dairy products to a well-known health risk. This will help cut down the demand for meats and dairy, assuming there is not a counter campaign by government agencies or politicians in an effort to boost their own reputation. In such an event, it would not be in the best interest of the environment to stop pushing the issue. More legislation has to be made for cows, other ruminants, and their manures, regulating their emissions. Global warming will still endure, even with the advent of new fuel-efficient and low emissions cars, the reduction in the supply of meat and dairy will greatly reduce the risk of global warming for the time being.

Card check is still alive, you know, and its chances got stronger with the addition of Al Franken to the U.S. Senate. Card check is the union plan to revitalize the movement by corrupting the process through which workers unionize.

The Service Employees International Union, a strong supporter of the so-called Employee Free Choice Act, would appear to be having second thoughts on a key provision of the bill — allowing workers to join a union solely on the basis of signing a petition.

Under current law, workers make their wishes known in a vote after at least 30% of the workers sign a card saying they support the union. The private ballot that follows the card check process presents a roadblock for organizers, as it makes it hard to intimidate workers. The unions want to have workers sign cards indicating their preference with no private ballot to follow.

Los Angeles Times writer Paul Pringle reports that the SEIU is challenging a rival union’s attempt to represent nearly 100,000 SEIU members. SEIU officials don’t believe the petitions are an accurate representation of what its members want. They want the federal government to throw out petitions signed by those members, which would block an organizing election.

How would the unions ever expect Congress to approve such an obvious plan for intimidation… something so contrary to the notion of free choice and fair elections?

The SEIU’s argument for federal intervention is particularly ironic. It maintains that the nearly 100,000 California members who signed cards indicating their wish to be represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers may have been subject to intimidation by NUHW organizers. This is the same reasoning used by opponents of the Employee Free Choice Act. They contend that elections by secret ballot are necessary because workers can be pressured by union activists into signing authorization cards.

Because their partners, the Democrats, are in full control of the federal government. And these aren’t your father’s Democrats, either – these are the new breed – radical descendants of the Communist era, driven underground by the McCarthy crowd and reemerging now at the top of the hill.

The irony isn’t lost on NUHW Vice President John Borsos, who told Pringle, “The SEIU is advocating free choice for every employee in the United States, unless you’re an SEIU member.”

Now we know how the SEIU really views “Card Check.” It’s a way to fix elections, they’re conceding… something they like when the tool is in their possession, yet they cry foul when it’s used by a competitor! There’s research to support this assertion, too. When elections are held under the current system, the union often gets fewer votes in private than it collects during the card check process.

The number of cards signed often overstates worker support for a union. Studies have found than many workers who sign cards in front of their co-workers and union representatives end up voting against organizing once in the privacy of the voting booth.

The goal of the unions? Undermine the right of workers to free choice by creating a system open to intimidation – one of the standby tactics in the history of the union organizing process. While this measure has been stalled in Congress for representing a level of evil that even many Democrats are unable to support it, the Employees Free Choice Act just got a boost with the victory of Al Franken in the Minnesota Senate election. Says Al on his campaign website.

Not only will I vote for the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), I’ll proudly co-sponsor it. This bill would make it easier for employees who want to organize to do so without harassment or intimidation, and would reform a labor relations system currently dominated by corporate interests.

You can understand why unions are nervous. Polls indicate Americans have little interest in unions – which makes sense after what the labor did to the auto industry.

Among private sector employees, just 11% belong to a union… Even among those who are worried about losing their jobs in the near future, only nine percent (9%) would like to join a union. All together, 24% of workers either belong to a union or would like to do so.

Odd that it’s an old liberal like George McGovern, along with, of course, the SEIU, who is providing the voice of reason.

I am sad to say it runs counter to ideals that were once at the core of the labor movement. Instead of providing a voice for the unheard, EFCA risks silencing those who would speak.”

June 28, 2008, is a day the Dillon family will never forget.

It was on that day that David Dillon, a son, brother and father, died after being hit by a car during a bicycle ride one mile west of Eudora.

“But this day, June 28, 2009, is a day of remembrance, honor and life celebration for Lt. Dave Dillon,” his brother Douglas said Sunday.

Dillon, a 44-year-old lieutenant for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, now has a bench outside the Douglas County Jail, a place where he spent the last 10 years of his law enforcement career.

“I think it’s appropriate out here, what he’s brought to this facility out here and this agency.” said Sheriff Ken McGovern. “He opened this place. He helped bring it up. It was nice to do it out here.”

Hundreds of friends and family members gathered Sunday afternoon to see the unveiling of Dillon’s memorial bench, which noted his 26 years of service in the department. Both his brothers, Douglas and Jeffrey, his mother, Joyce, McGovern and former Lawrence Mayor Sue Hack spoke at the ceremony.

“A year ago today changed our lives,” said Jeffrey Dillon. “I’ve been all emotions across the board but I have to bring myself back to David. That’s what we’re here today to do.”

Hack, who taught David and brother Douglas in seventh grade, announced the forming of the David K. Dillon Foundation, which will provide resources for bicycle safety and law enforcement leadership training.

“These were two of the many passions of David’s life,” Hack said. “I think (this) will be a continuing tribute to what he gave back to his family, to his co-workers and to this wonderful community that we love so much.”

McGovern says Dillon had an indescribable impact on the jail and the sheriff’s office.

“You can’t explain all that he’s done,” he said. “We’re trying to explain to folks that come in and out of here … what he’s done for this place and what they need to live up to.”

Contributions to the David K. Dillon Foundation can be sent to 633 Arrowhead Drive, Lawrence, KS 66049.

LINK/PICS

In President Obama’s historic speech in Cairo last week, he laid the groundwork for significantly changing the US’s interactions with the Muslim world, shifting to a relationship based on mutual respect and cooperation. He also clearly stated, “Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan.”

But when exactly will our troops come home? He said, “We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as they possibly can.” This hardly sounds like a specific benchmark for ending the war. Paired with a recent statement from the Army Chief of Staff that we’ll have boots on the ground for “a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan,” it sounds like a commitment to open-ended occupation. What we need is an exit strategy.
The House and the Senate each voted to pass more than $90 billion in funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the bulk of the money going to military operations. Many members of Congress have been reluctant to take a strong stand against the occupation, with only 60 representatives and 3 senators voting against the funding. But because of your grassroots efforts, we now have 84 representatives cosponsoring Rep. McGovern’s bill requiring an exit strategy by the end of the year. Can we get to 100? 150? Click here to write your representative to support a clear exit strategy for Afghanistan.

President Obama’s praiseworthy speech included some admirable points about nonmilitary aid and his desire to see US troops come home. We need to see that rhetoric matched with clear action. Congress will soon start examining President Obama’s military budget for Fiscal Year 2010. This is an important opportunity to raise concerns about the occupation of Afghanistan and push for a better policy. The ratcheting up support for McGovern’s bill, we put pressure on the congressional leadership to allow a vote. And this could open the way for other challenges to the war in Afghanistan. Take action today to make that happen.

Because thousands of you have been consistently raising your voices, we are starting to see cracks in Congress’ support for the war in Afghanistan. With increasing Afghan, Pakistani, and US casualties, and a growing humanitarian crisis, we must remain vigilant in our work to pressure our government for a more humane, effective and pragmatic solution.