Come Together Right Now

Since I have been reading a lot recently about the Bush administration's isolationism, I am probably more sensitive to and interested in certain news the past few days.  Obama has supported and other leaders have agreed for a permanent shift of international economic discussions from G7 to G20.  In addition, Obama garnered support from other nations to confront Iran on its secret nuclear plant filled with Pakistani centrifuges and located near Yum in a highly protected area.  Here are two instances, thus, where Obama shows his global view  in contrast to the last administration's blinkered view of the world where our nation's perspective was the only important factor. 

The shift to G20 only reflects the reality of the world.  The 19 nation member plus the EU reportedly represent 90% of the world's GDP.  It includes the new rising economies and according to the NYT:  

The member countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the United States. The European Union is also a member, represented by the rotating council presidency and the European Central Bank.

It makes sense to have this group meet rather than the traditional big industrial countries of the G7, United States, Britain, France, Canada, Italy, Germany and Japan.  We need to adjust to the reality that growth of economies throughout the world affects us all.

The second event reflects Obama's desire to approach problems with multiple allies rather than the show Bush put on to justify the desire to invade Iraq. Obama is trying to enlist a number of countries including Russia  and China to put pressure on Iran to come clean about its nuclear capabilities and comply with international nuclear proliferation treaties. Hopefully the international community will respond and not be affected by its experience regarding Iraq.

Full Sail Ahead?

My oldest sister, a pioneering soul who got me started on Facebook, goes sailing every September on the Lewis R. French, "America's Oldest Windjammer". I am thinking about joining her next September. As part of the trip, the guests have to help with furling and unfurling the sails, working the ropes, etc. I worry about the lack of strength in my hands due to arthritis. But my sister has plenty of experience taking care of me on the water. When I was 5 and she was 18, I believe, she drove me across a lake during a storm by stowing me under the deck. I actually remember the feeling of safety which may explain why I sometimes crawl under my desk when events at work get too overwhelming!

Here are some photos of the schooner from its website. Tell me if you think I can hack this type of sailing.

A Brave New Film Distribution Model

I met Robert Greenwald, filmmaker, at a pilates studio several years back. Well, "met" is not exactly right. He was working out next to me with his trainer, who told my trainer and me to shut up because we were talking too much and disturbing his session. He was having back problems and trying to strengthen his core which apparently must be done in silence according to his trainer, who displayed the worst of certain eastern European stereotypic behavior. Robert, for his part, did not say anything so I do not know if he agreed (I like to think not but I understand noise can be annoying). In any event my trainer and I complied with his trainer's request-cum-command.

I have watched Outfoxed and parts of his WalMart film on DVD (until my DVD copy stopped playing which actually as I think about it may have been the player rather than the DVD--I should try again) with great admiration and interest. Robert may be further out there politically than I am but his documentaries are much more watchable for me than say Michael Moore's. Now Robert is making his films through his company Brave New Films and distributing them over the internet for free. I am not clear how he supports this endeavor, which includes paid staff but is classified as a 501(c) organization. He asks for donations and sells DVDs (which he also characterizes as a donation) but if you want to watch his latest film, Rethinking Afghanistan, you can see it entirely for free by linking from his website to Youtube.

I spent some time yesterday discussing film finance with two of my colleagues. I do not understand it well but enjoy learning about how we project revenues and how we finance films, although as my colleague said, these days you should have a big box of tissues handy when you discuss film finances. The home video market has gone to the dogs (no offense to the pups) and apparently the first affected were the direct to video movies which explains why no one in this country could feasibly distribute that new Darwin movie, a perfect candidate in years past for direct to video. So how in this marketplace does Robert Greenwald find the money to make and distribute his political films, particularly when he encourages people to share them and watch them for free? Is a mystery. But I am glad he does.

Listing Toward Bethlehem

I have written before about my love of books and libraries. One of my favorite libraries is in Delmar in the little town of Bethlehem. But this post is not about libraries.

In addition to reading books, I get a particular kick out of keeping a list of the books I have read. It probably all started when I was a nerdy child in elementary school spending my free time at lunch hour in the school library instead of playing games on the playground or in the auditorium if the weather was inclement. Our school library was not all that fancy. My favorite books were short, green bound biographies of famous people that I would whip through quickly. Then I could record them on the List of Books I Read which was some contest run by the diocese of Albany. For 25 books read you got a silver paper medal and for 40 a gold paper medal. I won the contest every year. I still shiver with pleasure from the thought of reading and listing all those books.

When my son was in elementary school, Pizza Hut sponsored a Books for Pizza contest where you earned a pizza for so many books read. And to think I was satisfied with paper medals! My son loved pizza so he met the target the one year the contest was held. Somehow, though, as life went on, his love of movies overtook his love of pizza and he has gone on to spend his spare time watching flicks rather than reading. So pizza did not even work all that well in his case.

For me the list itself is rewarding. For a few years, I kept on Myspace a list of books read and then transferred it to FB until I discovered that FB has an application that allows you to list and write reviews of books you have read. Oh boy! I can list books that I have started reading and check them off when I am finished. Today, for example, I am close to finishing Post American World so I expect to be on the FB application tonight listing and reviewing. I can almost taste it now.

What does this interest in listing books mean? I do not know. It is not a compulsion, just a pleasure. I do not like making lists of most other things. So maybe it is just the life long remnants of a wonderful childhood experience for a nerdy little girl who was always better at the books than the games. Nerd power!

Obsession Redux

Recently I wrote about a local college professor who was held in contempt for violating a restraining order. She had continued to contact a local TV weatherman by email after being ordered not to have any more contact. Tonight Jeff Gottlieb in the LA Times reveals a bit more about the emails and behavior that led to the restraining order. Our professor was not just writing about onshore and offshore flows. Here's what he says:

In his declaration to the court, Coleman said he began receiving e-mails and handwritten letters from Renfrew in early 2007 that "used religious invective and expressed intimate feelings that she had toward me."

He said it appeared from the "obsessive tone" of the correspondence that Renfrew "was not a stable person." Although he asked her to stop, she continued communicating with him.

Coleman said that Renfrew, who holds a doctorate from UCLA, referred to restaurants he frequents near his office and in Toluca Lake, where he is honorary mayor. He said she also showed up at a personal appearance he made at Knott's Berry Farm.

Coleman said that even after NBC security spoke with Harbor College officials in fall 2007, Renfrew failed to stop contacting him, and he found that her "continuing incoherent messages were highly disturbing."

According to the court file, she invited him for an "intimate" Thanksgiving dinner and for Christmas, telling him he could camp in her backyard.

In one letter, she wrote, "We never have to get married or even be friends unless you want to." In another she said, "I don't want to love someone who doesn't love me, so I'm not afraid if you don't."

Another time she sent him 10 pages from her journal she was writing at 3 a.m. "I felt God was inspiring me to write to you," she said.

OK. I agree. This was NOT about the weather.

Men are from the West, Women are from China

I am reading Post American World by Fareed Zakaria and just encountered his idea that the Chinese, who are steeped in Confucianism rather than Abrahamic monotheism, value relationships more than abstract concepts like the law.  They are also more situationally ethical rather than adherent to dictates of contracts, another abstraction.  I have noticed in my dealings with the law in China that they do not hold contracts as sancosanct as we Westerners do.  They also do not follow stare decisis--precedent from other courts so you may go through the Western analysis of what the cases have held and it is still a crap shoot how your case will come out.

All of these observations bring to mind Carol Gilligan's A Different Voice, which I mentioned in yesterday's post.  That book viewed women as being more guided in their ethical decisions by interpersonal relationships than abstract concepts like justice. Sound familiar?  Perhaps it would be better to send women to do business with the Chinese.

For Everything A Time and a Season

No, this entry is not about football although it is clearly the season.

I have been reflecting about how timing of ideas is so important to their acceptance.  There are many examples of this proposition in history and a few in my own life.  One new historical example I recently learned was that the Chinese traveled the seas in a much bigger flotilla in the 15th century than those in Europe.  One of their explorers, Zheng He,  predated Christopher Columbus and had significantly larger and more ships than the ones who stumbled upon the New World.   However, the rulers of China put the kibosh on exploratory seafaring after expeditions all throughout southeast Asia and eventually closed down China to the outside, leaving it to catch up later with the West who went through extensive agricultural and industrial development in the 16th-19th centuries.

I also look back on two ideas I had in my 20s that others had as well  with far greater recognition.  I wrote my senior thesis in college based on the idea that  women would more likely to be motivated by social relationships rather than traditional achievement arenas.  I did not find support for that idea but I did my study using Smith and Amherst students who are probably not representative.  Carol Gilligan, of course, put forth a similar thesis and found support for it in A Different Voice, published in 1982.   Although Gilligan examined moral reasoning rather than achievement some of the research used tools similar to achievement motivation research.  

The other idea I had is quite a bit less lofty but would have been lucrative if only I had been the one to capitalize on it.  I found a note I made at least 25 years ago, maybe 30, to put together a picture book of cats with captions of their saying funny things.  Of course we now have LOLcats and "I can has cheezburger.com" which yielded its creator reportedly at least $2 million when it was acquired in 2007 by investors and yielded a book deal with three books out there already.  Ugh.  If only my timing had been better.