How is the first picture of Earth from space the most powerful political picture ever published? Marking the 40th anniversary of the famous picture, a British newspaper, The Independent, remarked that the three astronauts of the Apollo 8 mission “went to the moon, but ended up discovering the Earth.” The British cosmologist, Sir Fred Hoyle, [...]
Posts from ‘August, 2009’
Constitutional Currecny
I have been reflecting on the Constitutional Currency project from the National Academy. This created a lot of discussion and debate within our group. Some of these discussions should be shared by others. There were a couple of themes within this project that really stood above the rest for me. First, was the issue of [...]
Make a Pledge to Be Here
Discussion happens here if we make it happen. We each need to find a way to step into the forum and make a pledge to be here. Kallan, an Academy participant this year writing as Federal Teacher, made a pledge to give Politicolor 20 minutes a month and asked alumni to do the same. A [...]
Civic “Bad Boys” and “Astro-turf”: This isn’t new.
Recently I have been reading a lot about disruptions at “town-hall” style meetings, non-factual twitter postings, and “astro-turf” movements. Most of the editorials and backlash from the polity has been decidedly negative, and decrying the imminent collapse of our democratic civilization. Let me start this blog-post with the simple and obvious, then hopefully give some [...]
Nature Guides Design
JanineBenyus is suggesting innovators rediscover nature as a source of innovation. This 20 minute TED talk focuses on the design advice present in nature provoking innovators to ask “how would nature solve this problem?” Benyus walks through tale after tale where nature provided solutions–building a quieter, faster and more efficient bullet train, stopping bacteria growth [...]
Your Face on the Next Ten Dollar Bill
One group accepted the challenge of creating constitutional currency this year. Matt, Stacy, Linda, Christina and Gerald focused on representing the primacy of the people in our constitutional system and borrowed a couple of ideas from Cicero to map out their scheme. From an image of the night sky on the back of their proposed [...]
2009 National Academy: Taking it Home
The “dance party” finally pulled the plug at nearly 1:00 the next morning. Others had already said their goodbyes in order to pack the last of their things or to sleep before an early morning departure. The National Academy had reach its final destination. The last day’s presentations included two Creedal Affirmations, Constitutional Currency, Light [...]
