The Chattering Classes

The chattering classes is a term often used in the media and by political commentators, particularly in the United Kingdom and Australia, to refer to a politically active, socially concerned and highly educated elite section of the middle class.

The term 'commentariat' is roughly synonymous with the 'chattering class', although it connotes more authoritarian manners.

* This group is assumed to have good connections with the politically powerful and the conclusion is made that its concerns can be quickly translated into political action. It is believed to have an influence on the political agenda out of proportion to its numbers.

* The term is often used in a derogatory sense, to suggest that those concerned have a soft-left agenda which is both unrealistic ('chattering' suggesting both a preoccupation with theory rather than practicality, and a lack of real experience of the problems under discussion) and unconcerned with the concerns and beliefs of the majority of ordinary, and hence by implication effectively disenfranchised, voters.

* The expression is first recorded by the OED in the writings of journalist Clive James in 1985."

Wired News: Negroponte: Laptop for Every Kid

"If tech luminary Nicholas Negroponte has his way, the pale light from rugged, hand-cranked $100 laptops will illuminate homes in villages and townships throughout the developing world, and give every child on the planet a computer of their own by 2010."

stephen's law:

when someone experiences something for the first time, they assume this is the first time this event has ever occurred.

Examples:

I get on a roller coaster. It's a thrill because it's a new experience and I subconciously consider the possibility that I am somehow in danger. To the guy running the roller coaster, it's not so thrilling because he's been working at the same damn amusement park for six years.

I'll post more examples when I think of them.

Some describe the current political circumstances in the United States as highly polarized. I would argue that we are living in highly unpolarized times, in fact. In a two party system, the most balanced circumstances that can arrive are those where the two parties appeal to half of the population. A fifty-fifty divide. While the distribution of powers among the three branches of federal government as well as on the state and local levels can result in various manifestations of this fifty-fifty distribution, the will of the people as a whole will reach a certain stasis. Contrast this with a ratio of 2-1. Let us imagine that 66% of the population support one party, while 33% support the other. This, in my opinion, would create the most polarized political environment. In the U.S., with roughly 300 million people, imagine 200 million members of one party and 100 million of the other. It seems to me, this would "cause to concentrate about two conflicting or contrasting positions" because the subsequent imbalance of political power would energize both parties to further entrench in their view.
While the U.S. today exhibits a viscious, unforgiving political environment, this is in fact a separate issue from "polarity." A political system can be at once viscious and balanced.

DCist:

"Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, took a rare swipe at the United States, saying he was puzzled why residents in the capital of the world's oldest democracy have no Congressional voting rights.

The Tibetan leader said it was 'quite strange' that people in Washington DC had no voting Representatives and no Senators, an issue that has dogged the United States for the last 200 years.

He said he wondered why a 'small pocket' of people living in the world's 'champion of democracy, liberty and freedom' lacked full voting rights and representation in Congress.

'Quite strange, quite strange,' he remarked, drawing further laughter."

Creating Transformations
WiMAX offers governments the opportunity to bring
broadband internet access cost-effectively to citizens and
business in the most remote areas where only a short time ago
it would not have been possible. WiMAX can impact the way
that businesses and government work, commerce is
conducted, and students learn.

A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age: Books:

"Just as information workers surpassed physical laborers in economic importance, Pink claims, the workplace terrain is changing yet again, and power will inevitably shift to people who possess strong right brain qualities. His advocacy of 'R-directed thinking' begins with a bit of neuroscience tourism to a brain lab that will be extremely familiar to those who read Steven Johnson's Mind Wide Open last year, but while Johnson was fascinated by the brain's internal processes, Pink is more concerned with how certain skill sets can be harnessed effectively in the dawning 'Conceptual Age.' The second half of the book details the six 'senses' Pink identifies as crucial to success in the new economy-design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning-while 'portfolio' sections offer practical (and sometimes whimsical) advice on how to cultivate these skills within oneself. Thought-provoking moments abound-from the results of an intensive drawing workshop to the claim that 'bad design' created the chaos of the 2000 presidential election-but the basic premise may still strike some as unproven. Furthermore, the warning that people who don't nurture their right brains 'may miss out, or worse, suffer' in the economy of tomorrow comes off as alarmist. But since Pink's last big idea (Free Agent Nation) has become a cornerstone of employee-management relations, expect just as much buzz around his latest theory."

FT.com: Persian chat:

"Today there are an estimated 75,000 Iranian blogs, and Farsi is the fourth most popular language in which to keep an online journal."

for those of you that know farsi:

Iranian blog

another Iranian blog

CNN.com - 'Can I quit now?' FEMA chief wrote as Katrina raged - Nov 3, 2005:

"'Can I quit now? Can I come home?' Brown wrote to Cindy Taylor, FEMA's deputy director of public affairs, the morning of the hurricane."

too bad we don't judge innocence or guilt based on whether or not the accused is smiling, then we wouldn't have to mess with all that evidence and testimony. it seems tom delay, scooter libby, and others have been instructed that above all else, if they smile they'll be fine.

American democracy is in the hands of hired guns:

"President George W. Bush famously brags that he does not need a poll to tell him how to think. And he does not. He has Karl Rove, a political savant who runs nightly surveys and deconstructs the results to find helpful issues and opinions. And then the president knows how to think."

Foreign Policy: Dangerously Unique :

"You are not normal. If you are reading these pages, you probably belong to the minority of the world's population that has a steady job, adequate access to social security, and enjoys substantial political freedoms. Moreover, you live on more than $2 a day, and, unlike 860 million others, you can read. The percentage of humanity that combines all of these attributes is minuscule."

memeorandum

And now for something completely different...

Information Society: The Next Steps - Special Report - Development Gateway:

"The Information Society has produced a tantalizing array of new information and communication technologies (ICT) that today have transformed the approach to global development. Access to these technologies is spreading rapidly. In 2005, the number of Internet users in developing countries will cross the 500 million mark, surpassing industrial nations for the first time. By some estimates, more than 75 percent of the world%u2019s population now lives within range of a mobile network. Yet the long-heralded promise of ICT remains out of reach for most of the developing world. For the information poor, economic and social gaps are in fact widening both within and between countries. "

"WorldChanging.com: works from a simple premise: that the tools, models and ideas for building a better future lie all around us. That plenty of people are working on tools for change, but the fields in which they work remain unconnected. That the motive, means and opportunity for profound positive change are already present. That another world is not just possible, it's here. We only need to put the pieces together."

west wing wisdom

it's kinda eery how the recent episode of the west wing mirrors the developments at the white house. what will mr. president do if one of his staff is endicted? mr. bush appears to have changed his position on the matter quite a bit.

http://www.pbs.org/kcet/globaltribe/voices/voi_kennedy.html

CommonCensus Map Project:

"The CommonCensus Map Project is redrawing the map of the United States based on your voting, to show how the country is organized culturally, as opposed to traditional political boundaries. It shows how the country is divided into 'spheres of influence' between different cities at the national, regional, and local levels."

This website offers information on the earthquake, personal accounts and all relief efforts to Pakistan by various organizations.

http://pakistan.wikicities.com/wiki/Earthquake_10-05

from joe trippi's blog (referring to an article on cnn.com)

JoeTrippi.com:
"At a press conference yesterday, Bush was asked about how the government is preparing for the avian flu. He thinks that this will be serious enough to possibly warrant military control of the situation:

“I’m concerned about what an avian flu outbreak could mean for the United States and the world,” he told reporters during a Rose Garden news conference on Tuesday.

“One option is the use of a military that’s able to plan and move,” he said. “So that’s why I put it on the table. I think it’s an important debate for Congress to have.”

While the press is focusing on the controversy of whether or not this could mean martial law, it’s important to realize that this by itself demonstrates the absolute seriousness of the consequences of an avian flu outbreak."