Psychologists call this practice pre-commitment The 20th century taught us that repressed desires are the source of human unhappiness. Now, with more possibilities for pleasure and fewer rules and constraints than ever before, the happy few will be those able to exercise self-control. So, for most of us, modern daily life is an on-going test of self-control Our modern lives are an orgy of abandon, Akst says, a thoughtless pursuit of immediate gratification, despite our desire to do better. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. Eliot S'io credesse che mia risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mondo, Questa fiamma staria senza piu scosse. Ma perciocche giammai di questo fondo Non torno vivo alcun, s'i'odo il vero, Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo. Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table; Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells: Streets that follow like a tedious argument Of insidious intent To lead you to an overwhelming question Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?' Let us go and make our visit. AutoPlay=1 Aprender a tejer- El punto musgo o punto bobo PratiksEspana. Un secolo che vide anche la nascita dell'Index Librorum Prohibitorum, l'indice dei libri proibiti nel quale finirono Dante, Machiavelli, Ariosto ma anche. Punto vendita Studenti; Business; Carte regalo. Incontri Proibiti (From 'Incontri Proibiti') Piero Piccioni. Incontri Proibiti. 2:38 € 0,99 2. Feel free to ask for your 6 hours test account for mag250/254, smarttv, vlc, enigma2 and other avialable devices You may contact us instantly in chatbox. Sep 30, 2010. Di Solange Manfredi. Al Qaeda, sventati piani attacchi in Francia, Germania e Gb. Niger: Francia attende richieste di al-Qaeda su ostaggi. Afghanistan/ Inglese rapita, i talebani vogliono 'Lady Al Qaida'. Islamabad: ucciso il capo di al Qaida in Afghanistan e Pakistan. Donne kamikaze, Europa a rischio ”Al. Durante la mia adolescenza, mentre assistevo a un corso di da’wah della durata di un mese, uno dei nostri professori, il dottor Mahmood Ghazi, di Islamabad, in. In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes, The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening, Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains, Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys, Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap, And seeing that it was a soft October night, Curled once about the house, and fell asleep. And indeed there will be time For the yellow smoke that slides along the street, Rubbing its back upon the window-panes; There will be time, there will be time To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet; There will be time to murder and create, And time for all the works and days of hands That lift and drop a question on your plate; Time for you and time for me, And time yet for a hundred indecisions, And for a hundred visions and revisions, Before the taking of a toast and tea. In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. And indeed there will be time To wonder, 'Do I dare?' And, 'Do I dare?' Time to turn back and descend the stair, With a bald spot in the middle of my hair— [They will say: 'How his hair is growing thin!' ] My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin— [They will say: 'But how his arms and legs are thin!' ] Do I dare Disturb the universe? In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. For I have known them all already, known them all— Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons; I know the voices dying with a dying fall Beneath the music from a farther room. So how should I presume? And I have known the eyes already, known them all— The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase, And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall, Then how should I begin To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways? And how should I presume? And I have known the arms already, known them all— Arms that are braceleted and white and bare [But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!] Is it perfume from a dress That makes me so digress? Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl. And should I then presume? And how should I begin?..... Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? I should have been a pair of ragged claws Scuttling across the floors of silent seas...... And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! Smoothed by long fingers, Asleep tired or it malingers, Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me. Should I, after tea and cakes and ices, Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis? But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed, Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter, I am no prophet—and here's no great matter; I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, And in short, I was afraid. And would it have been worth it, after all, After the cups, the marmalade, the tea, Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me, Would it have been worth while, To have bitten off the matter with a smile, To have squeezed the universe into a ball To roll it toward some overwhelming question, To say: 'I am Lazarus, come from the dead, Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all'— If one, settling a pillow by her head, Should say: 'That is not what I meant at all. That is not it, at all.' And would it have been worth it, after all, Would it have been worth while, After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets, After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor— And this, and so much more?— It is impossible to say just what I mean! But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen: Would it have been worth while If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl, And turning toward the window, should say: 'That is not it at all, That is not what I meant, at all.' I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Deferential, glad to be of use, Politic, cautious, and meticulous; Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; At times, indeed, almost ridiculous— Almost, at times, the Fool. I grow old I grow old I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach? I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach. I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me. I have seen them riding seaward on the waves Combing the white hair of the waves blown back When the wind blows the water white and black. We have lingered in the chambers of the sea By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown Till human voices wake us, and we drown. Pubblicato in,,,,,,. The author of a new book on the subject tells us what inspired his involvement in the Occupy movement and how a leaderless revolution could work The Leaderless Revolution explains why our government institutions are inadequate to the task of solving major problems and offers a set of steps we can take to create lasting and workable solutions ourselves. In taking these steps, we can not only reclaim the control we have lost, but also a sense of meaning and community so elusive in the current circumstance. In a day and age when things feel bleak and beyond our control, this powerful and personal book will revive one's sense of hope that a better, more just and equitable order lies within our reach-if only we are willing to grasp it. There are few books that attempt to interpret the world and how it is run. The Leaderless Revolution offers a refreshing and potent contrast to the Panglossian optimism of Tom Friedman's The World is Flat but, like that book, it offers a way of understanding the world of the 21st century that is both clear and easily comprehensible. Carne Ross takes different angles on contemporary issues - economics, politics, the state of democracy, the environment and terrorism - wrapping them into a unified explanation of how money and power function to control the lives of the earth's inhabitants, such that they feel powerless to affect their collective future. It seems that mankind has settled upon liberal democracy as the ideal form of government. Its triumph with the collapse of communism signalled the end of ideological struggle and thus of history. The Leaderless Revolution will show however that even in democracies, many if not most of the population feel that they are excluded from any agency over the issues that most trouble them, while governments appear less and less able to influence the global problems that threaten our peace and comforts. Mining the rich but little-examined histories of both cosmopolitanism and anarchism, The Leaderless Revolution shows how both ideas, in combination, are relevant and necessary for the problems of today. Not only an antidote to our global crises; Carne Ross offers, moreover, a route to fulfillment and self-realisation. Was posted in Huffington Post today, headed by (which can also be viewed ). Occupy Wall Street and a New Politics for a Disorderly World Carne Ross| February 7, 2012 As Kuhn’s theory might suggest, the rank contradictions of the current political-economic paradigm—gross inequality and massive environmental destruction—are so great that a new paradigm should emerge: a system of thought and method of political action that can address these ills, and indeed offer a better method of organizing and understanding human society. As a diplomat in the British foreign service, I served deep inside one bastion of conventional politics—the world of international diplomacy. I helped propagate “top-down,” government-dominated politics across the world, including in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. I resigned because my government ignored available alternatives to violence and dissembled before the Iraq invasion (I had been Britain’s Iraq expert at the UN Security Council). This breach triggered a deeper questioning of the way things are done. I concluded that top-down management was not working and that conventional political models, including representative democracy, were producing not stability but its opposite, an increasingly fractured society at home and around the globe and a perilously vulnerable environment. In my former career, I saw how governments attempt to enforce order on a world that resists their methods. But complex systems, such as a world of billions of dynamic connections, cannot be frozen as if on a chessboard, intelligible and susceptible to step-by-step command and control. Indeed, governments by their own admission are less and less able to control the massive, heterogeneous forces now making our world: dramatic economic transformation, mass migration and climatic change. Worse, and this helps explain the failure, these attempts exclude the people most affected—ordinary people. Chris Floyd Thursday, February 10, 2011 “The American power structure has been set reeling by something that is simply outside the boundaries of their mental universe: a non-violent, non-sectarian, non-ideological, leaderless revolution by ordinary people.” For a few days, the imperial gang thought they had turned the tide — and their stenographers in the mainstream media followed suit. The protests in Egypt were running out of gas, we were told; now the power players were coming to the fore, in Washington and Cairo, to take charge of the situation and move things along — slowly, moderately — down a path of gradual reform and stability. Newspapers ran pictures of the “nearly empty” Tahrir Square, sometimes in tandem with pictures of last week’s massive crowds. We saw shots of Egyptians “getting back to normal life” — going to the bank, shopping for shoes, crossing the street in suit, tie and briefcase on the way to the office. Attention was turned to the “moderate” figure who had taken the reins in Cairo,. He was strongly backed by the Obama Administration as just the kind of steady, moderate hand we needed to make judicious concessions to the opposition without allowing the country to slip beyond the control of Washington’s foreign policy agenda. The general line among the imperial courtiers and their media sycophants was that the uprising had reached its peak and was now receding. It was all a lie, part of the remarkably witless self-delusion that has afflicted the Washington-Cairo power structure from the beginning of the uprising: the illusion that they are still in control of events,, recalibrate a bit there, and still end up with the same system of elite domination and corruption basically in place. But what we did see on Tuesday? The false reality painted for us by our betters simply melted away, and Cairo saw perhaps the largest protest yet, as hundreds of thousands of people filled Tahrir Square — including multitudes who were joining the uprising for the first time. Thousands more were gathering in front of the Parliament building in what the Guardian rightly called “a second front” of the uprising. And the Cairo crowds were joined by thousands massing in Alexandria, Suez and other cities across the nation. This was the answer of the Egyptian people to the limp package of worthless, stalling “concessions” cobbled together by the Nobel Peace Laureate in Washington and his proxy torturer in Egypt. The reply to the regime was simple, powerful, concise: “We want our freedom. You must go.” And oh, how that stung Washington’s new lordling! Suleiman immediately r we have heard from America’s henchmen since time out of mind. A gorgeously written book, in parts staggeringly superficial, yet championing a truth that might transform the world. In lazer sharp prose, Ross illuminates the importance and relevance to our current world of several ancient truths: *Actions speak louder than worlds. *The individual does have the power to effect meaningful change. *Participatory democracy can be strangely beautiful to experience, and giving regular folk the agency to take political decisions can be a highly effective way to solve local problems. Ross aruges that if we are to make the world a better place, we as individuals need to physically engage with problems, as opposed to merely supporting good causes by donations and signing e-petitions. Despite the books stellar qualities, Im only awarding 4 stars, as I fear theres a chance the work will have a net negative effect. So obviously sincere, this book may bewitch good natured people into effectively joining with free marketeers in their battle to minimize the benevolent (and tax raising) power of the state. Similar to Le Carre who also served as a diplomat, Ross openly admits he's still traumatized by the harmful actions he participated in and witnessed on behalf of the state. There's two token sentences saying many of those in public service are good people, but over half the book is relating stories showing the corruption and impotence of politicians, civil servants, journalists, NGOs, multilaterals and most of all the state. Ross even goes as far as to invent a half baked theory suggesting that even with the best of intentions its often impossible for the state and the current system of internal diplomacy to produce good outcomes, due to various supposed inherent contradictions. My own experience is that the folk involved in public service are, on average, far more generous, honorable and honest than most in the private sector where Ive spent most of my career. Ross's own NGO, Independent Diplomat, has a great track record and he obviously has outstanding operational skills. But when it comes to offering an overall explanation of how the world works, a graduate student with good instincts good do far better. A few examples of the authors specific mistakes. Early on Ross suggests that free market dogma is beginning to be used to offer moral justification for the suffering of others. In fact its been like this right from the start. When Smith laid the ground work for our modern conception of capitalism, he was practicing moral science. All the decent morality was lost under the baleful influence of Ricardo and others as they refined Smiths theories in raw free market dogma. So much so that as early as the 1840s, the free market rag 'the Economist' opposed intervening to help the millions starving to death in the Irish potato famine, on the moral grounds that we'd be 'interfering with the laws of nature.' Later on in the book Ross unequivocally states that opening ones countries to the imports of another is a good thing. Im not sure displaced workers thrown onto the scrapheap would agree. To support his extraordinary claim he cites that contemptible mouthpiece of the superclass, 'the Economist'. Overall Ross gives the impression that in the last few years its only in a handful of cases that authorities have undertook effective efforts against poverty and mass violence. In fact there have been thousands of such cases, often involving the state, NGOs, mulitarals and local communities working in partnership. The excellent, freely available '2011 World Development Report' is a good source to find out whats been going on. A better solution to the worlds problems is not to weaken the state in favour of anarchism as Ross wants, but to do the opposite, while also ensuring individual agency is protected and encouraged. A far, far superior new book on this is 'The Courageous State' by Richard Murphy. In the 1950s and 60s, States in the developed and much of the developing world were successful not only in paying back the massive war debts, but also in reducing inequality and keeping unemployment very low (nicely under 1 million in Britain). They were guided by the principles of Lord Keynes, a man who wanted an active state but also recognized the value of decentralization and engagement. Having said all that, I still recommend this book; I've never read a stronger case for the importance of personal engagement and the value of agency for all. Pubblicato in,,,,,,,,,,,,. Economy - right now - is not primed for a recession in the sense that before you fall into recession, there’s usually a lot of excess, which means if you have a shock, businesses respond quickly by slashing inventories and cutting workforce and investment. Right now they’re running so lean that there’s NOT that scope to cut. Michelle Meyer, senior economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Many economic sectors don’t have much more room to fall. A significant factor behind recessions are shifts in demand for major, long-lasting purchases, such as automobiles, furniture and household appliances. In the last recession, sales of those durable goods fell 13 percent, and consumption of nondurable goods — food and clothing, for example — fell less than 4 percent.. In the corporate sector, meanwhile, executives say they’re deeply worried by the turmoil in the financial markets. But businesses have adjusted in the past few years in ways that make them less likely to undertake the kind of mass layoffs that were widespread in 2008 and 2009.. “Since the onset of the recession, companies have been focused on improving their balance sheets, deleveraging, and increasing productivity,” said Tom McGee, managing partner of Deloitte Growth Enterprise Services, which surveys chief executives of mid-size companies nationwide to gauge the outlook. “We’re not seeing signs that there are mass workforce reductions on the way.”. Moreover, the corporate sector’s financial situation is by many measures stronger than it was before the last recession, meaning companies are less likely to be forced to cut workers to stave off bankruptcy. Non-financial U.S. Businesses have $15 trillion in cash or investments that could easily be converted to cash on their books, up from $13.7 trillion in 2007.. “The economy is not primed for a recession in the sense that before you fall into recession, there’s usually a lot of excess, which means if you have a shock, businesses respond quickly by slashing inventories and cutting workforce and investment,” said Michelle Meyer, a senior economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “But they’re running so lean right now that there’s not that scope to cut.” Pubblicato in,,,,,,,,,,,,,. Economy is surviving only because of over-stimulation. We're living on fumes in this country, and the pursuit of happiness has come to an end for millions of families! But, the market is on Viagra, shored up by QE2, to buy hundreds of billions of dollars in U.S. Treasury Bonds. As QE2, and the economy falters, the discussion turns to the possibility of QE3. A tremendous number of band-aids have been administered to keep the U.S. Economy from hemorrhaging; to prevent not only a domestic collapse, but a global one. Each attempt to divert a financial disaster has had varying levels of success; many failing to achieve their intended goals. Why have we needed so much stimulus? To understand the economic dilemma this nation faces -- and what we have to overcome -- we must first understand how we got here. Without going back too many years, most of our current economic morass was set in motion 30 years ago and has been compounded over the years by inept political leaders. Americans are paying the price for overspending, underfunding, over regulating, under regulating, misplaced assistance, disproportionate taxation, misuse of funds, ill-conceived campaign financing, and political deceit. But most Americans are unaware of the number and scope of the stimulus programs, or what affect they've had on the the recovery that we're so desperate for. We've faced a myriad of issues -- the S&L crisis, bubble, two housing bubbles, a banking crisis, corporate bankruptcies, an unemployment crisis, an acceleration and increase in severity of natural disasters (global warming crisis), scams and Ponzi schemes, and costly wars. Each has caused considerable economic damage, all requiring some form of stimulus to avoid a complete financial meltdown. When we mention stimulus two programs immediately come to mind, (Toxic Asset Relief Program) and the. Both are assessed with varying levels of equivocacy. But there are far more stimulus programs than these two -- some familiar, some hidden, some secret and potentially criminal. Together they amount to trillions of dollars. Republicans raged over the auto bailouts from TARP funds yet elicited not a whimper over the criminal AIG $64 billion that benefitted Goldman Sachs and 8 other banks. Goldman alone received $12.9 billion from taxpayers through TARP. The problem is, money for TARP was diverted from its intended purpose, used, instead, to save the banks sorry asses, AIG, and GMAC. The Fed then secretly purchased the $1.3 trillion of the banks' toxic assets, which TARP was created for. They're still holding those toxic securities because the banks cannot afford to repurchase them. ARRA has been praised by some and vilified by others depending on their desired outcome. Like it or hate it we need honest discourse about its effectiveness. An honest assessment would show that it clearly saved the economy from falling off the cliff and anyone who doesn't acknowledge that is either blind or lying. It saved jobs and prevented even greater unemployment. Without it unemployment would be over 12% -- killing any hope of recovery. Without it, states and municipalities would have already defaulted. But, it would also be honest to acknowledge that parts of the program failed -- some miserably. Some because they were misdirected, some misused, and some blocked by uncaring congressmen. But it is also obvious stimulus was needed because of an abject failure of the private sector forcing the need for government assistance. To be brutally honest, most of the crises we've experienced can be directly attributed to Republicans and their policies. Years of right-wing policies and deregulation have created this unprecedented need for economic bailouts and stimuli. Republican Phil Gramm, his right-wing colleagues, complicit Democrats, and Bill Clinton created in 1999, which we experienced nearly a decade later. Gramm and Republicans caused Enron and WorldCom in 2000. These legislative failures created the need for TARP. But there are many other programs that have helped mask an inevitable economic collapse. The Fed's covert loans, exposed by Bloomberg's lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act, and brought to the attention of the American people by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ron Paul, shows some despicable -- potentially criminal -- actions in the program including totaling more than $26 billion. The President's Housing Affordable Modification Program, designed, was pretty much a failure and has done little to stabilize the housing market. The FDIC's loss-share program is a fire-storm waiting to explode and the Treasury's $300 billion guarantee to Citibank is a hidden time-bomb that falsely supports over-priced Citi stock. There are subsidies to oil companies and agriculture corporations, and other equally destructive giveaways. But none of the stimulus programs have been more corrosive than of the 21st century -- the Bush tax cuts! Sold by Republicans as a way to stimulate the economy and create jobs, the only thing it has done is transfer $2.5 trillion dollars from hard-working middle-class Americans to some of the greediest Americans in history! They continue to push a failed deficit creating tax policy and corporate giveaways -- which are actually stimulus programs for the rich and corporations -- while threatening to cut programs for 98% of the nation's citizens; cuts that will cause greater unemployment, increase the strain on American families and an already stretched economy, and cause a depression-esque collapse. It's time the American people woke up and confronted Republican lawmakers holding them accountable for the pain they've inflicted on this country. There's not much time before our markets collapse, followed by the implosion of world economies; a gift from the right-wing corporatists. We can no longer afford the Republicans' failed policies. Because there's nothing left to resuscitate an already dead economy Author, 'Final Audit' - - The Hollow Economy. LEADERSHIP FOR THE NEW COMMONS The Challenge We live in a time of dramatic change—a hinge point in history—and there is a critical need for a new practice of the art of leadership. In a world characterized by increased complexity, diversity, and moral ambiguity, we drift into polarization. Narrow, single-issue politics and role-based morality feed growing dysfunction, injustice, environmental deterioration, and the loss of community. We need leaders who can see things whole, who are committed to the common good, and who have both the moral courage and the skill to work on behalf of a more compassionate, just, sustainable, and prosperous future. Such leaders have a keen sense of our interdependence, a deep sense of worthy purpose, and the capacity and commitment to enhance the quality of our collective life. A key competence of such leaders is th e ability to see how their own sector relates to other sectors of society and to the natural world that together make up “the new commons.” This new, complex commons requires integral leadership—the capacity to integrate a depth of inner spiritual and ethical awareness with thoughtful, skillful, and creative action in the outer world, particularly in the face of radical uncertainty. A hunger for this kind of leadership is showing up in every domain, and we are at a point where inadequately addressed and critical issues are starting to overtake our capacity to deal with them. There is a vital need for leaders who can recognize the interdependent features of emerging conditions, ask new questions, imagine alternative possibilities, and skillfully navigate within complex dynamics to enable organizations and the wider society to create more viable modes of working together on behalf of our common future. A Creative and Distinctive Response Leadership for the New Commons is a response to the call for informed, morally courageous, effective leadership that is a match for the economic, ecological, and cultural conditions in which we now find ourselves— leadership with new skills and new animating myths—new ways of seeing and working. Such leadership is characterized by three distinctive capacities: Consciousness: A compelling awareness of interdependence and connectivity that is grounded in an understanding of the ecology of the natural environment (the more-than-human world). This complex interdependence requires a re-alignment of our cultural, social, political, and economic arrangements toward the development of a more hopeful future for all. Conscience: A spiritual and ethical awareness and commitment that arises from this consciousness of the interdependence of all life, embracing both suffering and wonder—the Mystery we all share. Such awareness is informed by historic faith traditions and by contemporary, emergent spiritual insight. It provides orientation, purpose, meaning, and depth—and is manifest in hope, reverence, compassion, imagination, courage, moral-ethical accountability, and the capacity to hold steady and stay the course. Competence: The confidence and skill to recognize and respond to the toughest problems—those that fall in the space between known problems and unknown solutions. Such challenges require bold action. And this action must embody anticipatory learning, skillful innovation, new patterns of thought and behavior, profound collaboration, resistance to false solutions, and the creation of new realities (often involving conflict, loss, and grief) on behalf of a positive future for all. To these ends, Leadership for the New Commons recognizes “the commons” as a place, an aspiration, and a metaphor. “The commons” is the image that informs the “common good.” The commons (by whatever name) is the place where people gather and experience a shared life within a manageable frame: the crossroads of a village, the great plazas of European cities, a New England green, Main Street, the playground, the marketplace, or a cathedral, mosque, synagogue or temple. The commons is a place of celebration and memorial, commerce and communication, play and protest. Key elements that constitute the commons—water, food sources, air, government, language, a monetary system, ritual, art, etc. Are ideally accessible to all, and thus the notion of the commons presses toward inclusion. But the commons is always imperfectly practiced—slaves were sold on the commons, Quakers and Jesuits were hanged on Boston Common, and hundreds were killed in Tianamen Square. Thus the commons is both a reality and an aspiration. The commons, as metaphor, does what good metaphors do—it conveys complex but interdependent realities. T oday we are all swept up into “a new global commons.” H ow we are all going to dwell together within this new commons is an urgent question at this critical turning in our history. In this new commons, the environmental challenge in which we now find ourselves is not merely one issue among many. It is a key, orienting issue that touches and potentially reorders everything else. ABioregional Leadership Initiative of the Whidbey Institute Pubblicato in,,,,,,,,,,,. We see the future in terms of technology, but if you actually want to do a better job guessing what will happen, it’s better to look at social, cultural, and environmental inputs. When we think of 'The Future,' we have a tendency to think in terms of technologies. Whether it’s something as silly as a flying car or as banal as a new iteration of a mobile tablet, our images of what tomorrow will bring have a strong material bias. For everyday folks, this isn’t terribly surprising; our sense of what’s futuristic--whether via advertising or science fiction stories--zeroes in on stuff: robots, space ships, holograms, and so forth. But those of us who do futures work professionally have to live up to a higher standard. When we think about what impacts the spread of (say) self-driving cars or 3-D printers will have, we have to consider more than the technical details. We need to think about people: how we live, how we use (and make) our stuff, and how we’re changing. These dynamics won’t necessarily show up in the narrative, but you should always ask how your forecast would affect--and be affected by--them: No surprise here. The farther out we look, the more we have to take into account the increasingly challenging impacts on our environment. Heat waves and drought will drive migration; anything that puts out carbon will be subject to restrictions. Financial resources will be redirected to adaptation and recovery. We need to think about people: how we live, how we use (and make) our stuff, and how we’re changing. Throughout the developed world, populations are getting (on balance) older and often more diverse. In the U.S., the Baby Boom is starting to hit retirement age in a big way, even as ethnic diversity is accelerating. How will this change your market? What kinds of interface or language changes will you need to make? This is tricky, because a forecaster usually needs to avoid taking partisan positions in his or her work. But recognizing changing reactions to LGBT communities, for example, or the evolving role that religion plays in our lives is just being thorough. Another big one that’s too often missed: the transformation of the position of women in politics and economics. Recognizing changing reactions to LGBT communities or the evolving role that religion plays in our lives is just being thorough. Another “third rail” dynamic, this includes the impact of economic inequality (both across and within nations), the existence of marginalized (but not necessarily powerless) communities, even the change from a primarily rural to a primarily urban planet. Will the subject of your forecast change economic and political balances? Could it be used to hack the status quo, or make it stronger? This may be a surprise, but art--from movies to music to comic books-- is a rapidly changing measure of how people react to the world around them. How would your forecast be represented in artworks? How would your forecast change people’s relationships with the art they consume? These aren’t the only possible forecast dynamics, but they give you a sense of what futurists look for when thinking about the future: context, breadth, and a chance to make explicit our assumptions about how the world is changing. We all have implicit models of what the future (or futures) could look like, and any set of scenarios we create builds on these models. By making the assumptions explicit, we have the opportunity to challenge them, expand them, and ultimately to give greater nuance and meaning to the forecasts and scenarios we create for broader consumption. That’s the basic rule of practical futurism: Create your forecasts like the future matters. Selected by Foreign Policy magazine as one of their Top 100 Global Thinkers, Cascio specializes in the design and creation of plausible scenarios of the future. His work has appeared in publications such as the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times, and Foreign Policy. Cascio speaks about future possibilities around the world, and he has been featured in a variety of television programs on emerging issues. In 2009, Cascio published his first non-fiction book,, and is now at work on his second. Cascio is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the Institute for the Future. In 2003, he co-founded, the award-winning website dedicated to building a 'bright green' future. He now calls his online home., Hacking the Earth, Understanding the Consequence of Geoengineering (Collected Essays: Volume One) [Paperback]... Pubblicato in,,,,,,,,,. In your text you refer to the marketing cooperation between Google and Axel Springer. We were also happy with it. But some of our readers have now interpreted this to mean that Axel Springer is evidently schizophrenic. On the one hand, Axel Springer is part of a European antitrust action against Google, and is in dispute with them regarding the issue of enforcement of German ancillary copyright prohibiting the stealing of content; on the other hand, Axel Springer not only benefits from the traffic it receives via Google but from Google's algorithm for marketing the remaining space in its online advertising. You can call it schizophrenic – or liberal. Or, to use one of our Federal Chancellor's favorite phrases: there is no alternative. We know of no alternative which could offer even partially comparable technological prerequisites for the automated marketing of advertising. And we cannot afford to give up this source of revenue because we desperately need the money for technological investments in the future. Which is why other publishers are increasingly doing the same. We also know of no alternative search engine which could maintain or increase our online reach. A large proportion of high quality journalistic media receives its traffic primarily via Google. In other areas, especially of a non-journalistic nature, customers find their way to suppliers almost exclusively though Google. This means, in plain language, that we – and many others – are dependent on Google. At the moment Google has a 91.2 percent search-engine market share in Germany. In this case, the statement “if you don't like Google, you can remove yourself from their listings and go elsewhere” is about as realistic as recommending to an opponent of nuclear power that he just stop using electricity. He simply cannot do this in real life – unless he wants to join the Amish. Google's employees are always extremely friendly to us and to other publishing houses, but we are not communicating with each other on equal terms. How could we? Google doesn't need us. But we need Google. And we are also worlds apart economically. At fourteen billion dollars, Google's annual profit is about twenty times that of Axel Springer. The one generates more profit per quarter than the revenues of the other in a whole year. Our business relationship is that of the Goliath of Google to the David of Axel Springer. When Google changed an algorithm, one of our subsidiaries lost 70 percent of its traffic within a few days. The fact that this subsidiary is a competitor of Google’s is certainly a coincidence. We are afraid of Google. I must state this very clearly and frankly, because few of my colleagues dare do so publicly. And as the biggest among the small, perhaps it is also up to us to be the first to speak out in this debate. You wrote it yourself in your. London 21 Septembert 2017. J.JS Lee Autumn Winter 2017 presentation at London Fashion Week. Born in Seoul, Korea, Jackie Lee spent five years working as a Senior Pattern Cutter in Seoul and two years at KISA London as Master Pattern Cutter. She studied at Central Saint Martins (MA 2010 womenswear) as well as completing the PG Innovative Pattern Cutting course at Central Saint Martins in 2007 In March 2010, she launched her eponymous label, J. JS LEE featuring sleek androgynous tailored pieces. For her first collection after college, she received NEWGEN sponsorship for SS11 in the exhibition space alongside many established London labels. London 18 February 2017, Edeline Lee Autumn Winter presentation at Oxo Tower during London Fashion Week AW17.%0ACanadian-born, London-based EDELINE LEE graduated with a First from Central Saint Martins Womenswear and apprenticed in the studios of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano before working at Zac Posen in New York and as Head Designer for Rodnik in London. An unintentional soft launch led to a flurry of private orders and the birth of her eponymous collection in 2014. The designer has stated that she designs for the “Future Lady”: her work has been worn by stars like Alicia Vikander, Taylor Swift, Holland Roden and Solange Knowles. She has also received strong support from the women of the art world, who naturally gravitate towards her aesthetically sophisticated signature.%0A%0AEdeline Lee has been awarded support by the Centre for Fashion Enterprise and has been two times Finalist for the Samsung Fashion%26 Design Fund. Her work was recently exhibited by the curators of the Fashion Space Gallery to represent the “Future of Fashion Presentation”. She is currently nominated for Breakthrough Womenswear Designer of the Year at the WGSN Fashion Futures Awards.%0A%0ASpring Summer 2016 was her debut season on the official London Fashion Week schedule of the British Fashion Council. All Edeline Lee pieces are made of the finest French and Italian cloths, by hand in England. London, 17th February 2017. Sadie Williams Autumn Winter 17 collection presentation at London Fashion Week. London-born designer Mercedes (Sadie) Williams creates modern textile driven fashion, juxtaposing modernity with craft. Her sensibility for combining a sporty tomboyish with grown-up femininity has been a signature since graduating with Distinction from the CSM MA Fashion course in 2013. She went on to become a Selfridges ‘Bright Young Thing’ and was included in ‘Designs of The Year Exhibition 2014’ at The Design Museum. Backstage photography during Oliver Spencer menswear catwalk at Londonb Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2017. The Oliver Spencer label was founded in 2002 the brand has grown and sells to over 151 stores worldwide and has 4 stand-alone stores. Spencer has developed a sophisticated and intelligent design approach and continues to design a complete, contemporary wardrobe for the modern, fashion-conscious man. He draws inspiration from the world of art and architecture and London’s ever-evolving subcultures. Photos Kash/ProPugliaPhoto •. PPQ La Fiesta Spring Summer 2017 presentation at St Bartholomew the Great in occasion of London Fashion Week SS17. PPQ London, 1992, Amy Molyneaux and Percy Parker launched fashion label PPQ creating the inimitable style that continues to set the beat for London’s fashion drum today. From the early days there were zeitgeist design moves. PPQ spearheaded the drainpipe jean revolution dressing the day’s music makers. The label’s signature smock dresses and modern mini cocktail gowns soon became fashion-insider staples. Fashion’s best kept secret inevitably rolled off tongues and on to London Fashion Week’s official schedule to continued success. Today, the design duo craft cutting-edge collections in strong shapes and bold prints incorporating elaborate fabrics in a spectrum of vivid colours. Loyal PPQ fans have included some of the hottest style icons and artists including Kirsten Dunst, Sienna Miller, Rihanna, Lily Allen, Naomie Harris, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Daisy Lowe, Alexa Chung and Pixie Lott. Marrying music with style, PPQ also run a record label, 1-2-3-4 Records, launching acts including Whitey, The Bishops, The White Sport, Trafalgar, Objects and Cosmetique. 1-2-3-4 Records hosts an annual festival in Shoreditch, London, which fast became a UK summer festival highlight. Birmingham City University Presentation at The Graduate Fashion Week, London 5th July 2016. Birmingham City University is one of Britain’s leading providers of talented professionals to the cultural and creative industries. The School of Fashion and Textiles offers a large portfolio of subjects which reflect the changing nature of the global design industry. The portfolio of courses include fashion design, textile design, and fashion business promotion. The School has an excellent record for graduate employability. The School of Fashion, Textiles and Three-Dimensional Design offers a large portfolio of subjects which reflect the changing nature of the global design industry. Fashion communication, costume design, fashion accessories, styling, and design management all represent recent directions in our growing portfolio of courses which include Fashion Design, and Fashion Retail Management. The School has an excellent record for graduate employability. Ravesbourne Show at London Graduate Fashion Week 2016. Sixteen fashion students from Ravensbourne showcased their collections on the catwalk during Graduate Fashion Week, the world's leading event celebrating the creativity of students and graduates within fashion. The students showcased collections that featured colour blocking, over-sized outerwear, creative draping, playful androgynous separates and tailoring that was commended by respected fashion commentators at the Old Truman Brewery in East London. HolyWeek and Religious Ritual in Apulia by Marco Minischetti / ProPugliaPhoto Whispers of prayers, tormented songs, incessant silence, slithering chains on the road in the night. You can hear all this. Torches, crosses, crowns of thorns, black veil, suffused lights which inhabit small churches in the town. You can see all this. Bows, obeisance, penitence, tears of pain, kisses to the Cross. Each one quietly pays homage and at the same time asks forgiveness. Virgin Maries raised up to the sky, carried on shoulders by elegant men accompanied by trails of grieved women. First death, after resurrection. This is a mystery which is renovated every year. We are in the week which comes first the Holy week. We are in Apulia. A journey backwards in time. An intimate journey through his religious rituals. All Rights Reserved © Marco Minischetti/ProPugliaPhoto •. THE INTERNATIONAL LONDON TATTOO CONVENTION 2015 Photographs by KASH Over 400 of the worlds finest, most famous, truly unique tattoo artists, including TV Stars such as Ami James (Miami Ink & NY Ink),Tim Hendricks (NY Ink) and Phil Kyle (London Ink), will be jetting in for the spectacular 11th London International Tattoo Convention, the finest tattoo show on the planet. When The London Tattoo Convention was first established a decade ago, it was estimated that one in eight of all British adults had been inked. In 2010 it was estimated this had increased to a fifth of all adults having at least one tattoo, and now it is estimated that at least a third of all British adults have gone under the needle. It comes as no surprise, therefore, to hear that attendance figures have risen from 3500 at the original venue, The Old Truman Brewery ten years ago, to well over 20,000 at the vast, picturesque setting of Tobacco Dock last year. ProPugliaPhoto workshop at BTK Summer Photography Program. Kash Gabriele Torsello Visiting Guest Photographer August 9th – 10th is an Italian freelance photojournalist and an independent publisher. He has been following the Kashmir conflict since 1994 and was abducted in Helmand Province, while documenting Afghanistan in 2006. Kash's work has been published internationally and held seminars and talks on Human Rights and Freedom of the Press. He his the author & publisher of The Heart of Kashmir and Afghanistan CameraOscura. He is the founder and director of the ProPugliaPhoto Agency located in the south of Italy. Course Coordinator James Higginson Summer workshop leader and coordinator-AVONBIEHL studio for photography and video. James Higginson, provocative, contemporary American artist/photographer/film maker, now working in Berlin, will coordinate and design a special Photography Program for the BTK Summer Session. Higginson has exhibited his artworks internationally and held seminar/workshop programs for the University of East London, HGB-Leipzig, FOTO K-Vienna, and Fatamongana-Copenhagen. Processione Santi Martiri, Otranto © Andrea Rollo. On July 28, 1480 a naval fleet of the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire from Vlora, strong 90 galleys, 40 galleons and other ships for a total of about 150 ships and 18,000 soldiers, appeared under the walls of Otranto. The city strenuously resisted the attacks, but its population of only 6,000 inhabitants could not long resist the bombing. In fact, on 29 July the garrison and all the inhabitants abandoned the town in the hands of the Turks, retiring in the citadel while the latter also began their raids in the farmhouses nearby. When Gedik Ahmet Pasha asked the defenders to surrender, they refused and in response the Turkish artillery shelling resumed. On August 11, after 15 days of siege, Gedik Ahmet Pasha ordered the final attack during which he managed to break through the defenses and conquer the castle. In the massacre that ensued, all the males of over fifteen years, were killed, while women and children were enslaved. According to some historical reconstructions, the dead were a total of 12,000 and 5,000 enslaved, including also the victims of the territories of the Salento peninsula around the city. The survivors and the clergy had taken refuge in the cathedral to pray with Archbishop Stephen Pendinelli. Gedik Ahmet Pasha ordered them to renounce their Christian faith, but by receiving a flat refusal, broke with his men in the cathedral and captured them. They were then all killed, while the church as a sign of defiance, was reduced to stables for the horses. Was particularly barbaric killing of the elderly Archbishop Stephen Pendinelli, which urged the survivors to turn to God at death. Indeed, it was slashed and hacked to pieces with their scimitars, while his severed head was impaled on a pike and carried through the streets of the city. The garrison commander Francis Largo instead was sawn alive. At the head of that Otrantini - August 12 were opposed to conversion to Islam - was also the old tailor Pezzulla Antonio, told The Primaldo. On August 14, Gedik Ahmet Pasha did tie the survivors and made them drag on the nearby hill of Minerva, where he beheaded at least 800, forcing the family to attend executions. The first to be beheaded was Antonio Primaldo. The tradition tells that his body, after being decapitated, he remained on his feet, despite the efforts of the executioners to bring it down, since when the last of the Otrantini was not martyred. During the massacre the chronicles tell that a turkish, this Bersabei, converted to see the way in which the Otrantini died for their faith and he suffered martyrdom, impaled by his own comrades in arms. Among the 813 Martyrs of Otranto, is remembered for his heroic death in witness to the faith, the figure of Macario Nachira caught monaco Basilian belonged to an ancient and noble family of Viggiano ( Uggiano the Church today ). After thirteen months Otranto was retaken by the. ROCK STYLE © MARCO MINISCHETTI Lights, sounds, cables, electric guitars, loudspeaker, alcool. Heavy metal world can be expressed also by this. Heavy metal (“metallo pesante”) is a music genre which derives from hard rock style. It is a music genre characterized from aggressive rhythms and strong sounds. They are obtained from the amplification and distortion of guitars, bass guitars and voices. It is a music genre which is not transmitted from radio or TV but it makes the most of his strength during live concerts. Indeed live performance creates a very strong relationship between the artist and the audience. Live concert becomes a collective ritual in which everybody look for a contact, physical too. It is often found. Nobody stays indifferent, no one can remain aloof. Everyone “spit out” energy in the air. Long hair, dark colors, gothic symbols, tattoo, leather jacket: all these are the distinguishing marks that characterize metal people. Everyone feels different with the same desire to stand out from the crowd. How a music genre could change people language? How could it change their appearance? How could it change their behavior? LE LUMINARIE DI SCORRA (LE) © ANDREA ROLLO The Feast of Santa Domenica is the patronal feast of the main town of Scorborough, a small town in the province of Lecce, which traditionally takes place July 5 to 7, but in recent years, because of his growing fame and notoriety and the huge influx of the public, it was necessary to prolong the festivities even the next few days, sometimes until 9 July. In recent years, mainly due to the devotion of the people Scorranese reserve to its patron and for the extraordinary decorations of lights that characterize this festival, Scorborough and the feast of Santa Domenica have become famous all over the world, earning the country the right to 'title of World Capital Of Illuminations. For some, the party made a Scorborough in honor of Santa Domenica is the largest of the entire globe. The feast of Santa Domenica, in addition to the extraordinary religious aspect, owes its fame mainly to large architectures of light that every year the teachers spotters (local dialect) scorranesi realize the feast, also driven by their great devotion to the their patron saint. Since time immemorial, in fact, Scorborough pua boast of being the homeland of the best teachers of lights in the world, exporting their luminous works abroad (Japan, Texas, United States, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Korea and many other ), creating large wooden structures covered with thousands of colorful bulbs, recreating famous landmarks like the Tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, the Tower Bridge in London and many others. The companies will 'exchange' lots to decorate every year, with a kind of rotation that allows them to compete in different spaces and then with different creations each year. Over time, technology has also invested in this sector and the incandescent light bulb today it has gone to LED technology which, thanks to the companies scorranesi, has reached levels previously only remotely conceivable. Thanks to sophisticated software and equipment specially designed, the switching of the lights are made of extraordinary effects and light, which in turn are accompanied by a musical backdrop enriched with fireworks. These systems also reach heights and sizes almost titanic, almost reaching even 36 meters high and 40 wide. Are reproduced cathedrals, castles, towers, monuments, made immense galleries and real tunnel, flat or 2:03 aisles, enhanced with additional details such as candlesticks, spheres, balconies and other 3D elements. For companies engaged in Scorborough, participation in this festival is a great opportunity to show what you are capable of, almost as a kind of 'window' in which to show the best achievements. LA PUGLIA © Marco Minischetti Puglia is a plurality of beauties. Passing through its territory is a journey which seduces everyone. Going down from north to south, at first your eyes rest upon its wild and uncontaminated beauty. A savage land which is embraced on the sides by the Adriatic sea. The Gargano of saltpan. The Gargano with its trabucchi, traditional fishing equipment. The Gargano of a green landscape which gets into your eyes. The Gargano of herds of sheep which occupy the street not allowing you to pass. The Gargano of countryside streets which seem alike. The Gargano of traffic signs which suddenly disappear and where getting lost smells like a journey. Walking towards the south you reach “terra di Bari”, a narrow place between Murge upland and the sea. It is a land full of magic architectural elements where the relationship among arts, history and tradition is strongly felt. Bari, the place of “sottan”, the town of “comari”, where aged women hang out on their porch. Bari is the town of orecchiette, handmade pasta produced in the alleys and Saint Nicola photos hung everywhere. In the alleys, “viuzze”, the smell of homemade tomato sauce invite you to stop, have conversation and delay your return. Travelling further south you reach the mystical Salento: a unique mix of tradition, folklore and landscape beauty. The land of “morso della taranta” (tarantula bite). The land of a sweet and sour scent of the countryside, of olive trees, of prickly pears and dry-stone walls. The place inhabited by women who fascinate. Women whose blood is alive and whose heart is crazy. The Salento of street artists. The land of a traditional dance: pizzica. The place of village festivals, tambourines, red wine and baroque art to discover. The Salento in which even the stones sweat poetry. Puglia enchants and drugs you into a dream. Puglia is where you can rent a car, travel along the coast and stop where you want. Wherever you are, you can look at the warm light of the sunset shining on an infinite sea.
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