Saturday, December 10, 2016

Christmas Letter, December 2016


Wishing you a Happy Holiday Season, of course…

I hope your year has been full of people responding to you with “of course.” The world needs more people saying “…of course”. Whether it is “of course you are welcome here” or “of course I’ll help”. Even “yes” isn’t as good as “of course”. “Yes” means it could have been “no” – of course means there was never any question.

The Oxford English Dictionary indicates that the phrase “of course” first appeared in the mid-1500s and was used to mean "belonging to the ordinary procedure; customary; natural." The use of "of course" within the phrase "as a matter of course" appeared in the 1700s and had the same meaning. The use of "of course" as a standalone phrase emerged in the 1800s when the definition, "customary; natural," was modified slightly to become, "naturally; obviously."

I have been reflecting on how blessed we are with so many friends, family, co-workers, and even strangers who respond to our spoken and unspoken requests with “of course.” When Erik (now 22), landed an internship with Strategy& (division of PriceWaterhouseCoopers) this past summer in San Francisco, it was the Bratt family who said, “Of course, he’ll live with us.” The summer was wonderful. Erik is now mid-senior year at Swarthmore College and has accepted a position upon graduation with Boston Consulting Group and will be living in Philadelphia.

Grant headed for an internship at the University of South Dakota in June and the Jorgensen family said, “Of course, Grant can stay in our home.” And when Grant decided to head for New Orleans to attend Tulane University, friends in that area all responded with, of course, we are just a phone call away if he needs anything. Grant approached first semester freshman year with his own “of course” attitude and made his way into a biochemistry lab. This research and community of researchers has become a focus of Grant’s freshman year.

Mark rarely is met with “of course” in his quest for innovative and additional aquatic programming for inner-city youth. But, he continues to fight back with “of course we’ll use the pool, have programming on weekends, and welcome all ages.” Mark ignores obstacles and is now running more programming and positively impacting more lives than ever.

At work, I have had an exciting year of expanding services with the focus that treating hearing loss can improve health outcomes. I am so thankful for a group of colleagues around me who respond to these ideas with, “Of course we’ll figure out how to make this work, and find the resources, time, and expertise to do all of this.” And, of course, I enjoyed telling Main Stage stories for The Moth in New York and Pittsburgh this year.

We hope you hear “of course” throughout 2017, and we hope you’ll think of responding with this phrase so people know there was never any doubt that you would help them, cheer them on, include them…and, of course, we wish you and yours health and happiness in 2017!

Catherine Palmer and Mark Rauterkus
108 South 12th Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Friday, December 09, 2016

Fwd: Let there be light

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Subject: Let there be light
From: "John Hemington"

As the effort to brand independent Internet news sources as Russian pawns, it's a good time to examine some of those behind this attempt to stifle media which fails to toe the establishment line to see just where these claims originate.  It is also important to understand that much of the information coming from the mainstream media – particularly The New York Times and The Washington Post are simply transcriptions of administration and CIA press leaks which are in and of themselves nothing more than official government propaganda.  Americans saw this in spades during the endless presidential campaign, but it is an endless processus of fake and false news emanating from these "reliable" sources which should most concern the American citizen.  The attached articles address both of these issues.

John

Links



Saturday, December 03, 2016

Fwd: Tired of swimming slow?

Podcasts and coaching knowledge.... Listen and learn every week, if not every day.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "RITTER Sports Performance" <connect@rittersp.com>
Date: Dec 3, 2016 9:06 AM
Subject: Tired of swimming slow?
To: <mark@rauterkus.com>
Cc:

Trying to improve your swim times and get faster isn't as easy or linear as you'd hope.

You may get stuck doing the same type of workouts over and over expecting a different result. (Wait isn't that the definition of insanity?)

Or maybe you have a pretty decent swim program to follow with variety in your workouts but you rarely go "race pace" on a regular basis. Can you really expect to get better race times if you never actual practice being your fastest?

Swimming more laps or even swimming more laps in a "hard" way that causes you to want to vomit or curl up in the fetal position doesn't automatically mean you'll race faster.

When you work really hard but see little results for your effort it can be mentally draining. I don't think there's a more frustrating part of swimming, whether you're a swimmer or a coach, as when you work hard but don't get faster.

Isn't swimming supposed to be one of the more "honest" sports? In that if you work hard you'll get rewarded with faster times?

Let me break it to you if you don't already know - just because you train hard in the pool doesn't mean it always leads to getting faster. Don't equate being really tired to getting better. It's just not that simplistic.

-Chris

PS - If you want some ideas on how to actually train so you can really improve your race times check out this episode of our podcast. It's one of the most popular to date.



Unsubscribe | 601 S Kings Dr, Suite DD, Charlotte, North Carolina 28204

Fwd: Join us tomorrow for Education on Air

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Google for Education" <googleforedu@google.com>
Date: Dec 2, 2016 12:56 PM
Subject: Join us tomorrow for Education on Air
To: <mark@rauterkus.com>
Cc:

To view this email as a web page, click here

Spear
It's almost time for
Education on Air

Education on Air is going to be one of Google's biggest events of the year—for educators, by educators. And we hope you'll be one of them. View the event page to check out the 100+ PD sessions you can attend throughout the day.

You'll discover new ways to engage your students, from the comfort of your home.

Register now and join us tomorrow, December 3rd.

 
© 2015 Google Inc. 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043.

Email Preferences: We sent you this email because you have indicated that you are willing to receive emails regarding upcoming Google events and product promotions. If you do not wish to receive such emails in the future you can opt-out by clicking the unsubscribe link below.

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, click on the following link: Unsubscribe

Fwd: Blacklist goes on

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "John Hemington" <jehemington@verizon.net>
Date: Dec 2, 2016 10:38 PM
Subject: Blacklist goes on
To: "John Hemington" <jehemington@verizon.net>
Cc:

On and on it goes . . .

 

 

U.S. Journalists and Professors Appearing on RT America Get Blacklisted

 

By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: December 2, 2016

 

Some independent journalists and university professors in the United States who have appeared on RT television to criticize either runaway corruption on Wall Street or in Washington, have landed on two newly created blacklists.  RT is a Russian state-financed news network formerly known as Russia Today. Its English-language RT America unit broadcasts from Washington, D.C.

 

A shadowy group called PropOrNot, that has not disclosed either its funders or its principals, has created a blacklist of 200 independent media web sites that it is calling tools of Russia. On the list are some of the most popular and widely read alternative media outlets like Naked Capitalism, Truthout and Truthdig, which regularly carry articles by some of the most knowledgeable and informed voices in America.  Another popular site, CounterPunch, was originally on the list but has now been removed following what PropOrNot calls a "constructive conversation."  Reporter Craig Timberg of the Washington Post has come under withering criticism for amplifying the McCarthyite blacklist in a Thanksgiving Day article.

 

Equally disturbing, 200 university and college professors have been placed on a new Professor Watchlist being operated by Turning Point USA, a right-wing nonprofit run by 23-year old Charlie Kirk who spoke this year at the Republican National Convention. Kirk has raised well over $1 million from conservatives to spread the "free markets/small government" mantra at high school and university campuses (never mind that Wall Street's "free markets" are just as corrupt today as they were heading into the 2008 epic financial crash).

 

In 2012, Kirk wrote an opinion piece for Breitbart News suggesting that Paul Krugman's ideas should be replaced in high school classrooms by those of the Cato Institute – a nonprofit secretly owned in part by the Koch brothers for decades.  (Such ideas will land one on the fast-track to big money from the right wing in America.)  Steve Bannon, the former Executive Chairman of Breitbart News Network and anti-liberal propaganda filmmaker extraordinaire, has been named by Donald Trump as his Senior Counselor and Chief Strategist in the White House.

 

Yves Smith, the founder and widely respected writer at Naked Capitalism has appeared on RT television on several occasions. In the interview featured in the link below from 2010, she was afforded the time to make her brilliantly cogent points on the systemic corruption on Wall Street that has yet to be remedied despite the greatest financial crash since the Great Depression.  In 2011, Smith alerted her readers that she was going to be appearing on RT America, noting that she "seemed to be banned from US TV channels, but the flip side is this was a much more substantive conversation than you'd find on the usual suspects here."  Indeed, RT America has allowed independent journalists and professors adequate time to make detailed arguments against establishment group-think in America, something that is regularly lacking on corporate-controlled news media in the U.S.

 

NYU Professor Mark Crispin Miller Is Interviewed on RT Television

 

Another independent journalist landing on PropOrNot's blacklist is Paul Craig Roberts, the former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy under President Ronald Reagan, a former Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal and a former columnist at BusinessWeek.  In this segment on RT television, Roberts states that the "political system in the United States is as corrupt as it is integrant."  In another appearance on RT, Roberts spoke favorably of Senator Bernie Sanders, stating that "he has independence" and that the special interest groups "don't like candidates who think for themselves."

 

The long-tenured and widely respected Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University, Mark Crispin Miller, has landed on the Professor Watchlist. In this RT interview, Miller called U.S. media a "disgrace," adding that the quality of journalistic material is "embarrassingly low."  Miller went on to characterize U.S. media as a "cartel," stating that "we have a system that's owned and dominated by a handful of huge corporations."

 

The above comments made by Smith, Roberts and Miller on RT television are completely factual and are views shared by tens of millions of fellow Americans.  Rather than attempting to censor their well-founded arguments that America is dangerously headed in the wrong direction, perhaps we should get to work on the critical problems they are attempting to bring to the fore.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqD-0t0LYb8

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBy4w8Mc3Zk

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvHVDes3lR8&feature=youtu.be&t=4m7s

 

John

 

 

Friday, December 02, 2016

Fwd: [DW] Reimagining cities from the internet up

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Steven Clift" <clift@e-democracy.org>
Date: Dec 2, 2016 4:43 PM
Subject: [DW] Reimagining cities from the internet up
To: "newswire" <newswire@groups.dowire.org>, "locals@forums.e-democracy.org" <locals@forums.e-democracy.org>, "brigade" <brigade@codeforamerica.org>
Cc:

Democracies Online
Photo of Steven Clift
Reimagining cities from the internet up
by Steven Clift
in Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire

From: Sidewalk Labs Weekly <newsletter@sidewalklabs.com>
Date: Fri, Dec 2, 2016 at 10:04 AM
Subject: Reimagining cities from the internet up
To: clift@e-democracy.org
 
 
View this email in your browser
<http://us11.campaign-archive1.com​/​?u​=ad7705a9c71977b2579cd5cc3​&amp​;id​=f679243c64​&amp​;e​=53339db671>
2 Dec 2016
 
At the launch of Sidewalk Labs, a little over a year ago, Larry Page wrote
<http://sidewalklabs.us11.list-manage.com​/track​/click​?u​=ad7705a9c71977b2579cd5cc3​&amp​;id​=aa2134613a​&amp​;e​=53339db671>
that it was critical "to start from first principles and get a big-picture
view of the many factors that affect city life." So our team of urbanists
and technologists conducted a detailed thought experiment that focused on
the question: What would a city look like if you started from scratch in
the internet era — if you built a city "from the internet up?" In a Sidewalk
Talk post
<http://sidewalklabs.us11.list-manage2.com​/track​/click​?u​=ad7705a9c71977b2579cd5cc3​&amp​;id​=b7350c3812​&amp​;e​=53339db671>
CEO Dan Doctoroff explains what we've learned from this process, and how we
hope to accelerate urban innovation. Related coverage:
 
- Sidewalk Labs is eyeing a contest to build its own internet city (The
Verge
<http://sidewalklabs.us11.list-manage1.com​/track​/click​?u​=ad7705a9c71977b2579cd5cc3​&amp​;id​=de061dac54​&amp​;e​=53339db671>
)
- Sidewalk Labs Spinoff Could Be Coming to Your City (Next City
<http://sidewalklabs.us11.list-manage1.com​/track​/click​?u​=ad7705a9c71977b2579cd5cc3​&amp​;id​=80cee2cc62​&amp​;e​=53339db671>
)
- Sidewalk Labs lays out plan for urban development in 2017 (FastCo News
<http://sidewalklabs.us11.list-manage1.com​/track​/click​?u​=ad7705a9c71977b2579cd5cc3​&amp​;id​=1c673ef533​&amp​;e​=53339db671>
)
- Sidewalk Labs Might Hold a Contest to Make One City the Most Advanced
in the World (Inc
<http://sidewalklabs.us11.list-manage.com​/track​/click​?u​=ad7705a9c71977b2579cd5cc3​&amp​;id​=2911ecb41b​&amp​;e​=53339db671>
)
 
(Image: Sidewalk Labs)
What we're thinking
 
*ICYMI:* Speaking of first principles and urbanism, Sidewalk Chief Policy
Officer Rit Aggarwala had a must-read two-part post
<http://sidewalklabs.us11.list-manage.com​/track​/click​?u​=ad7705a9c71977b2579cd5cc3​&amp​;id​=7e26ec9399​&amp​;e​=53339db671>
on that topic earlier this year. Before we can predict how technology might
shape cities, we have to identify the essential efficiencies — and costs —
of urban environments.
Rest of post…

Humans Today


Thursday, December 01, 2016

School To Career info

Fwd: [DW] Would you be willing to create an online townhall for your city? Bring Americans together local-up?



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Steven Clift

Democracies Online
Photo of Steven Clift
Would you be willing to create an online townhall for your city? Bring Americans together local-up?
by Steven Clift
in Newswire - Steven Clift's Democracies Online Newswire

Hey everyone, I've had over a dozen awesome offers to volunteer in
local cities across the US from Jackson, Mississippi to Wichita,
Kansas to Bemidji, Minnesota to Queens, New York.
 
I am excited about the opportunity to help these volunteers and bring
in the support needed for us to take on even more cities. Volunteer
now to lead your town: clift@e-democracy.org (put Facebook Group -
Your City in subject please.)
 
Here is my rough plan:
 
1. Set up a form where people can volunteer for their city OR tell
us about an existing city-wide/county-wide Facebook Group where an
online civic public square(*) is already thriving.
 
2. Connect all the volunteers and "coaches" from existing similar
Facebook Groups in a private peer-to-peer support Facebook Group
 
3. Find volunteers who can help raise resources to support the
training and support for these volunteers for at least a year and
ideally fund inclusive outreach resources across many cities
 
4. Draft up a research component with interested researchers so
lesson sharing can be a core outcome of this networked approach
 
Next week in DC, I've thrown together a gathering (see below) to
generate input, ideas, and passionate volunteers who can help. I'll be
honest and note that my ability focus on this popular idea will be
extremely limited if it does not catch the eye of possible funders or
donors. But for now I can volunteer an hour a day on number 1 and 2
until we get at least a few Facebook Groups established. Perhaps
you've been looking for a project where you can help and make a big
difference around the country. If yes, please volunteer to help
co-lead this or to offer a specific role your are good at!!!
 
* You'd be surprised what might already be out there for your
community *above* the neighborhood level in terms of civic online
groups. Start searching Facebook Groups
https://www.facebook.com​/directory​/groups​/ for your local city/county
names and you'll find groups that aren't just online garage sale/
Check out places like Hunting Beach, CA -
https://www.facebook.com​/groups​/HBcommunityforum​/ or Brooklyn Park, MN
https://www.facebook.com​/groups​/BrooklynCenterFriends​/ where
ironically they each have competing local -city-wide- forums with
thousands of members with different approaches. If you don't have a
Facebook Groups where "of course" the mayor and city council members
are members and mix it up from time to time with people in a
citizen-first community life forum, then you are a candidate for a new
Facebook Group. If people with local power only lurk in an existing
online space, then we might be able to work with the leaders of that
space to bring out that crucial participation element to increase the
community agenda-setting and dialogue in the group.
 
Thanks,
Steven Clift
 
Local-up? Digital Bridges for American Communities Brown Bag
https://www.facebook.com​/events​/1681899672124715​/
 
Tuesday, December 6 at 12 PM - 2 PM EST
Lake Research Partners, 1101 17th St, NW Suite 301, Washington, DC
 
Details
Join us for a informal brown bag lunch discussion about online
opportunities to connect Americans local-up across partisan divides
one community at a time.
 
This discussion hosted by Steven Clift, a founder of E-Democracy.org
and their local online town hall model since 1994, will delve directly
into how Facebook Groups might be used to launch city-by-city online
public spaces for participation in local community and civic life.
 
After the dramatic election was over, a dozen volunteers from Jackson,
Mississippi and Witchita, Kansas to Bemidi, Minnesota and Queens, New
York City stepped forward to answer Steve's call to reconnect people
with digital civility across the partisan divide starting with their
own town. (While neighborhood-level group abound on Facebook,
city-wide spaces connecting people to public issues in local
government are quite rare.)
 
This embroynic effort has the opportunity to spread to cities across
the nation as we recruit more passionate digital convenors and work to
train, coach, and support them with peer to networking and possible
research with lessons sharing about what works. First up is support
the first batch of communities and then spread the idea.
 
This session will be a opportunity to bring your ideas, networks, and
resources to the table. If you believe that the solutions to America's
political divides start at home and won't be solved easily top-down,
this gathering is for you.
 
If you want to volunteer to start one for your city, email:
clift@e-democracy.org - Put "City Facebook Group - Your City" in the
subject line. (Or if you already have something that fits the bill,
let us know as well so we can tap their lessons too.) FYI -
E-Democracy's model and lessons we will adapt to Facebook Groups:
http://e-democracy.org/if
 
 
Special thanks to Alan Rosenblatt, Board Member of E-Democracy for
securing our meeting local at Lake Research Partners.
 
Two other related gatherings convened by Steven Clift are happening on Dec 6:
 
9:30 AM - Digitally Networking Democracy Builders Globally? A Conversation
https://www.facebook.com​/events​/1825880037625153​/
 
5:00 PM - DC OpenGov Civic Tech Facebook Group Happy Hour
https://www.facebook.com​/events​/1194660773961648​/
 
Steven Clift - Executive Director, E-Democracy.org
clift@e-democracy.org - +1 612 234 7072
@democracy - http://linkedin.com/in/netclift
http://1radionews.com - My radio app
Rest of post…

Did not vote would have crushed Clinton and Trump. Too bad we don't have "none of the above."

The election results show who won among those who voted. But, those who did not vote crushed all the candidates who got votes.
I long for the day when "NONE OF THE ABOVE" goes onto the ballots. 

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Fwd: fake news and the resurgence of McCarthyism

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "John Hemington"

On November 24th The Washington Post published a scurrilous article attempting to blacklist over 200 alternative media sites across the political spectrum as being "Russian controlled" or "useful idiots" for Russia in publishing "fake news" that is pro-Russian and anti-American.  Further stating that these sites were largely responsible for the election of Donald Trump as president and should be investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by the Justice Department as foreign agents.  It would be one thing if any evidence supporting these claims was presented – none was.  Not only was no evidence presented but of the two so-called sources for this blacklisting one was a long-time hard-right cold war neoconservative think tank and the other was entirely anonymous as to who it was or what methods were used to make the determination.  That these essentially useless sources were used as the basis for an article to attack alternative media outlets is the worst possible sort of journalism – that it was done by The Washington Post is unforgiveable.

Interestingly enough an analysis of the media outlets listed by the anonymous "evaluator" seems to indicate that these outlets were chosen solely on the basis that they criticised Hillary Clinton, the mainstream media and elitist institutions or that revealed information that the elites hoped to keep secret.  The "Russians did it gambit" appears to be a ploy reprising the McCarthy "Red scare" blacklisting in the 1950s.  One of the screeds presented by the anonymous PropOrNot.com urged people to only use certain establishment news sources stating:

"We call on the American public to:  Obtain news from actual reporters, who report to an editor and are professionally accountable for mistakes.  We suggest NPR, the BBC, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, BuzzfeedVICE, etc, and especially your local papers and local TV news channels.  Support them by subscribing, if you can!"

This is a very dangerous precedent for one of the nation's papers of record to promulgate the rantings of an unknown anonymous source attempting to discredit over 200 perfectly valid alternative news sources by asserting that they are pro-Russian and anti-American.  I find it particularly distressing because a number of the listed sources are ones I personally know to be of excellent quality in their reporting, the only apparent connection being a willingness to level criticism at Hillary Clinton and the New Democrat establishment (as well as the Republican establishment).  None of them, as far as I can tell are in any way shape or form pro-Russian or anti-American.  They are, on the other hand, proponents of getting out news which is generally shielded from the public by the mainstream media sources listed in the paragraph above.

Attached are six articles from a variety of sources, including those on the "list", discussing this attack on journalistic integrity and freedom of the press.  I urge you to take the time to read at least some of these to get a full understanding of just how threatening this is – particularly with the advent of a President Trump on the horizon.  The very last thing we should want are constraints on a free press whether that comes from the mainstream media or from the government.  And keep in mind, some of the media outlets on the "list" were progressive, some were conservative and some were libertarian.  This is an equal opportunity assault on dissent in America.

John

Links: