San Juan Fernandez Island Needs Help · 10 days ago by Julie
Here is a letter I got from a friend. Please help if you can:
As many of you know, I have had the privilege and honor of working in the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile for the past 10 years on a variety of conservation and community-based education programs. It is difficult for me to write this, but the islands were hit very hard by the tsunami that developed following the massive earthquake that struck Chile yesterday. There is very little news from the islands, but the little that we have heard is that the entire coastal zone of the town on Robinson Crusoe has been destroyed. At least 5 people have been confirmed dead and 11 are missing. My very close friend and colleague, Erin Hagen, is currently on Robinson. We have heard that she is okay, but she briefly described in her message that many people were swept out to sea. Sadly, this suggests that the losses in the community will continue to rise. There is absolutely no news from the small fishing village out on Selkirk, but I fear that the situation out there may well be desperate given that the little village would have been exposed to a direct hit from the tsunami.
The community, in which I have many close friends, is going to need considerable help and support. We have set up a charitable fund through our Oikonos website to accept donations for the community. 100% of all donations will go directly to benefit the Juan Fernandez community.
Please feel free to forward this message on to anyone who you think might be interested in helping.
And please light a candle and send your thoughts to the Juan Fernandez community.
In peace, love and friendship,
Trotsky · 16 days ago by Julie
We have been listening to Barbara Kingsolver’s The Lacuna on tape.
Leon Trotsky appears, kindly and avuncular. Since then, his name has been coming up all over the place. You can read his charming and bloody autobiography here.
Arthur Ransome, author of the very nice Swallows and Amazons, married Trotsky’s secretary (eventually).
We’ve been listening to iTunesU and found a Christopher Hitchins discussion on Trotsky.
And, finally, his name has been linked with koalas.
Albinos and Redheads · 18 days ago by Julie
The art of Andrés Carretero
Responsibility · 35 days ago by Julie
William Kentridge’s I am not me, the horse is not mine.
Send a nurse to Haiti.
The role of collaboration in Vichy France.
What happens to whistle blowers, anyway?
It’s all pretty elementary.
Paelography · 38 days ago by Julie
Scottish Secretary Hand
Sütterlin, German handwriting
English handwriting
And the British National Archives
Public Acts · 45 days ago by Julie
Matt comes via Tycho
And La Traviata via John
And Do Re Mi
Here’s a tango
And here’s a freeze
Or the 2010 no pants subway ride
Ask vs Guess Culture, etc. · 51 days ago by Julie
We were talking about ask vs. guess culture, which we got to through Naus.
Perhaps related to that is the idea of what to do with what you know. I tend to think as a teacher. I want to lay things out as clearly as possible and let people come to their own conclusions. The advantage for me is that I’m working for insight and clarity, but the advantage in the outside world is less clear. People have their own agendas. Most people have thick filters up and don’t hear what is said. They hear what their filter allows through. Just because something is presented truthfully, doesn’t mean it will be heard as neutral, far from it. After that, it’s anyone’s guess what happens to the information.
Bob (not his real name) tends to think as a kindly uncle. He wants a good outcome. What he says about a situation is whatever he deems will lead to that good outcome. The advantage for him is that he’s working to make things better, but the advantage in the outside world is less clear. Nobody can manipulate everybody at once, though over time, it’s fairly easy for a skilled person to learn how to manipulate someone close to them. If the attempts at a good outcome fail, then not only does Bob not have the outcome he wanted, but he also has to work on a different spin.
Perhaps there is some synthesis of these two approaches that would work better than either alone. Perhaps the solution lies in first, sticking to the truth, but second, presenting it with the outcome in mind. How this is to be learned is another question.
Communication is Important · 64 days ago by Julie
Sometime, it’s difficult to figure out what the other person is trying to say, though.
Lies and Destruction · 68 days ago by Julie
People might lie because
1. They’re mischevous and think it’s interesting.
2. They’re protecting themselves from the consequences of their actions.
3. They’re protecting somebody else.
4. They’re hoping to re-write reality to illustrate a cherished belief.
5. They’re hoping for power, financial gain, or social status.
I suspect that most lies include most of these elements.
However, the motivation going in is usually not the consequence that comes out.
If the lie is found out, one unwanted consequence is loss of face, both in the eyes of others and, more importantly, to one’s own well-being. Other consequences to social and relationship glue are obvious.
If the lie is not found out, there are unwanted consequences as well. Most liars aren’t fully able to “cover.” The people around them puzzle over discrepancies and either try to re-shape their own instinctive responses to things in order to accommodate this new “information,” or have to live with an unexplained sense of wrongness. The larger the lie, the more work people have to do in order to reconcile their perception with what the liar presents as true. In that case, if the lie is ever found out, the consequences to the liar are even less healthy.
Halleluia · 72 days ago by Julie
Handel’s Halleluia Chorus