Link Loving 13.06.11

• Nice Italian video getting young people onto the streets.
• Two sides of a budget. Fascinating interviews.
• Dangerous illnesses like E.coli are animal-borne, not plant-borne. The plants are infected by animals or animal waste. Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.
• The rebranding of Peru’s president-elect, left-leaning populist Ollanta Humala, shows the wide spectrum of leftism in today’s Latin America and how the most radical fold is waning. Sara Miller Llana.
• Stiglitz on the future of the IMF.
• Art and climate education in China. Jamie Henn.
• Peter Diamond explains why he voluntarily decided to step down as one of Obama’s nominees to be one of seven governers of the Fed.
• An article for men by men on sexism in left/anarchist organising. Very good.

50 Years For Freedom

This works because;

• legacy – we are part of a larger story for standing up for what is right
• hope – the promise of tomorrow
• survival – one person’s bravery and struggle has an impact beyond their own experience
• story – drama, narrative, stimulating the senses

Well done Amnesty – here’s to the next 50.

Link Loving 12.06.11

• Red Tories, Blue Labour? What they mean is alienation. Adam Ramsay.
• A report card on China’s environmental record. Jonathan Watts.
• Practical tips on writing a book from 23 authors.
• Labour needs to bring its politics into international development. Jonathan Glennie.
• Five reasons why Europe is cracking up. José Ignacio Torreblanca.
• Great public speaking advice from James Altucher.
• How peer pressure creates social change. Bryan Farrell.
• I love this girl.

The Story Of The Dragon Hunter

“A so-called dragon hunter went to the mountains to trap a dragon. He searched the mountains and finally discovered the frozen body of a great dragon in a cave high up on one of the tallest peaks. The man brought the body to the city. He claimed he slew the dragon single-handed and exhibited it on the bank of the river. Hundreds of people came to see the dragon. The warmth of the city sun gradually warmed the dragon’s body, and began to sit, coming slowly out of its winter sleep. The people screamed and stampeded, and many were killed. The dragon hunter froze in fear, and the dragon ate him in a single gulp.

Your lower self is that dragon, a savage, bloody tyrant. It is not dead, merely frozen. Keep your dragon in the snow of self-discipline. Do not transport it to the sunshine of the city, Let that dragon of yours remain dormant. Should it be released, it will devour you.”

Rumi

Link Loving 11.06.11

• Spiders on drugs.
• Energy industry spends big money on ‘educating communities’ with ‘sensitive’ coal, gas and oil ‘exploration’ projects. Kevin Sieff.
• Russell Simmons: confessions of an entrepreneur.
• Want to grow? Then innovate.
• Andrew McAfee on how Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s told young female students they are to blame for the lack of women at the top as part of her commencement address at Barnard.
• Spend extra time with new volunteers. Abigail Collazo.
• Forever blowing bubbles? Housing’s role in the UK economy. Tony Dolphin and Matt Griffith.
• A place where political opponents come to discuss their differences in a friendly manner. If you are polite and thoughtful then you may stay and comment. The Green Benches.

How Does Change Happen?

How does change happen?
Policy, says the policy-maker.
Markets, says the business manager.
Mass mobilisation, says the organiser.
Dialogue, says the convenor.
Systems change, says the academic.
Imagination, says the artist.
Invention says the scientist.
Innovation, says the technologist.
Revolution, says the activist.
Networks, says the connector.
Inspiration, says the story-teller.
Love, says the mother.
Aspiration, says the father.
Laughter, says the child.
Possibility, says the youth.
Reflection, says the elder.

Jennifer Corriero

Link Loving 10.06.11

• Changing the world begins with making the right connections. Welcome to Network Roulette.
• India’s economic success is a lie – and built on taking land from the poor. Arundhati Roy.
• Apply this blog post to social movements and it is highly compelling. Seth Godin.
• How to ‘do’ visioning. Matthew Herbert.
• What’s it like to be an apprentice? Laura Smith.
• The city of Grand Rapids has broken the world’s record for longest continuous shot lip-synching video. More importantly, they did the whole project as a community as a response to a Newsweek article that listed Grand Rapids as a “dying city.” Shut up, Newsweek. Keep being awesome, Grand Rapids.
• God is not a Christian says Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
• How Walmart became a catalyst for change. Daniel Honan.
• How to get Washington’s attention. Robert Reich.

How To Handle Public Humiliation

Krystall Ball (yes, really – cruel parents) writes this smart piece in The Atlantic as Congressman Anthony Weiner goes through public humiliation following an awkward twitpic upload. Krystall know’s all about it – having gone through it herself while running for office in 2010 when photos of her having a good time in a Halloween costume surfaced online.

As the internet’s see-all-know-all culture pervades into political life these stories will become non-stories and we’ll all be able to get on with our lives. But until that time, I’m keeping my Facebook photos private and giggling at these.

Link Loving 09.06.11

• How Capitol Hill staffers deal with bosses who tweet. Scott Wong.
• Poets should concern themselves with what people are talking about. Robert Pinsky reads ‘The City’.
• One of my heroes – helping me through calculus one step at a time. Salman Khan.
• Penn Jillette. My new hero.
• An overlap equals a sociopath.
• Ads get smart. Scarily smart. Parag and Ayesha Khanna.
• The facts behind Oxfam’s major new campaign – GROW. Duncan Green.
• Solitaire Townsend imagines a future where Vodafone has become the first energy and communications technology company.
• David Mitchell likes the word ‘lol’. Seriously.
• Friends of the Earth Power Up Training.

Losers

There will always be someone better than you
Even if you’re the best
So let’s stop the competition now
Or we will both be losers

And I’m ashamed I ever tried to be higher than the rest
But brother I am not alone
We’ve all tried to be on top of the world somehow
‘Cause we have all been losers