It wasn’t a stellar interview. Michael Posner appeared on the Colbert Report last week and, as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, he might have been better prepared for Colbert’s first question. Colbert’s question: What do these three things (democracy, human rights and labor) have to do with one another? Posner’s [...]
Posts under ‘GREEN/Nature’
A Theory of American Identity: Or the Radical American Exceptionalism: Or Why Baseball is Better than Soccer?
An abstract submitted for you consideration. Your questions and assistance in refining the ideas presented here would be greatly appreciated. Over the last year I have been contemplating the notion of American identity, and what that means. As I contemplated the bounds of this notion, I began formulating a rather extreme form of American exceptionalism. [...]
See Like Cicero
After last year’s National Academy, we shared Cicero’s View from 100,000 Miles. He will make his more formal appearance at this year’s National Academy in the morning. Found this video on the Hayden Planetarium’s site and it provides all the perspective to think like Cicero. To think big… and small!
Big Feet
One of the commitments of the Politicolor community is making complex ideas accessible. This rendition of carbon footprints attempts to do just that. If the U.S. doesn’t take the lead, who else can fill those shoes?
Seeing America
The second week at Montpelier concluded Friday with this question… What do you SEE when you say AMERICA? As the American public celebrates independence through fireworks, BBQ and pool parties, the 80 teachers who studied constitutional citizenship at Madison’s Montpelier know we must keep the future as well as the past in our mind’s eye. [...]
The Essential Declaration
I was a little late discovering this project but it’s perfect for alumni of either NEH institute. Slate is asking the public to express the most essential idea of the Declaration of Independence on Twitter. Can you boil it down to 124 characters or less? Post your ideas as comments here and we’ll tweet them [...]
The Size of the Spill
When an infographic is done well, it helps you make sense of what can be an overwhelming torrent of information. I’ve heard the Deepwater Horizon spill referred to as a spill as large as “an Exxon Valdez a day.” While the data is incomplete in this 50+ day saga, this infographic from Fast Company helps [...]
Knowing Political Knowledge
In The Politics, Aristotle suggests political knowledge is sovereign knowledge: In all the branches of knowledge and in every kind of craft the end in view is some good. In the most sovereign of these, the capacity for [leadership in] political matters, the end in view is the greatest good and the good which is [...]
Cicero’s View from 100,000 Miles
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, [...]
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 [...]
stepwinder
