Linda Nowakowski's Recent Discussions

Word Game 3

I am going to start this but not with a word. The first person to post gets to choose the starting word and then the game begins. The goal is to bring the string of words back to the first word on page 10.

Good playing!

Last comment added: Mon, 08 Sep 2008 10:00:49 PDT

Twitter Me to Safety

Over a coffee this morning while reviewing a PowerPoint with an uber smart fellow, Jon Husband, I had a Twitter revelation.

I'm no fan of Twitting (sic?) it seems ... it seems ... unnecessary.

But Jon's presentation referenced a use of Twitter for social activism, namely assuring the safety of activists in dangerous places.

The example was given of Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El Fattah, who has been detained many times and who uses Twitter to constantly let people know where he is, as a form of personal protection through publicity - if he stops twittering, his friends know that something's wrong.

With this example and being aware of the actions of the Junta in Burma, mobile Twittering takes on a greater importance.

[edited: to create italics]

Last comment added: Mon, 08 Sep 2008 03:47:28 PDT

Mindfulness

DISCLAIMER This is rambling. This is thinking. Call it (at this point) individual brainstorming. I have posted this here because I want to work with each of you and share these ideas to build an organized vision and maybe lead to an insight in a positive forward direction. I speak of Buddhism not being a Buddhist but admiring much of what I see. I am not an expert.

I believe deep in my heart that every person on the globe wants to move their life forward toward something better.

The problem is figuring out the direction. We wander. We look around us to see what others are doing and kind of figure the direction most people is going is the right direction.

Some of us travel that path and find that it really isn't going anywhere that we want to go and screw up enough courage to try to swim upstream.

I guess I feel like I have always been swimming upstream. I mean I gave my first doom and gloom speech on the environment to a large church group in 1966. (About the same time I was protesting the war in Vietnam.)

I got into this mode of thinking by the constant comments when I speak about Sufficiency Economy here in Thailand (remember, this is a philosophy developed by the King of Thailand) that I must be crazy. How could I get into the Sufficiency Economy thing when I am an American?

People in Thailand and much of the rest of the world, believe that the west (most visibly and audibly America) has the answers to happiness and well being. They don't have a clue. But why should I be surprised that Thais and Africans don't understand that the western goal of mindless consumerism and endless accumulation is not the answer when those who are living in the middle of that and know that it is not really the answer keep chasing it?

When I came to first learn about Buddhist Economics, it grabbed me. Most simply stated it is economics where ethics matter. Where people are central. Where having a job is more than making money; it is honing a skill and having pride in your work and knowing that you are contributing to society with your work. It is an economics where the focus is not on the accumulation of wealth but rather a measure of how you distribute your wealth.

One of the biggest problems with it is that it is still, in many ways, a regional, cultural concept that is fully shrouded in Buddhism. That is not to say that there is anything wrong with that. It is to say that it is my belief that as long as it wears that outer layer, not many people will look at the beauty inside it. I have more than once joked with Aj. Apichai that I thought I was called to take the Buddhism out of Buddhist Economics. I am just not sure how to do that so that it can speak to millions of people in the west who I believe are searching for the answers it points to.

The hub in Buddhist Economics is the Buddhist concept of relieving suffering. Relieving suffering for oneself and for all those around us. The goals of the Buddhist Philosophy are to examine (in your own life) the causes of suffering. The central cause of suffering is identified as attachment. Attachment to things and people and ideas - attachment to anything - limits our satisfaction.

Buddhism seems to be focused on awareness: self awareness, awareness of others and awareness of our actions and their effects....looking for causes.

Mindfulness.

It is a term that was focused into my vision last year when I went to the conference in Budapest. There was another conference participant, Joel Magnuson who is from Portland. He is an economist who teaches at Portland State University and Portland Community College. He has written a great textbook "Mindful Economics".

mindfulness
thinking about what you are doing
thinking about why you are doing it
thinking about what the effects of doing it are going to be

Mindfulness.... It makes me think of all the times I would get in hot water with my mother and would land up saying "... but I didn't think it would matter" or "I didn't think you would care" and she would come back with "That is precisely the point: you didn't think." She used that phrase often. I hope she knows that now I at least try to think.

Your turn...

Last comment added: Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:11:13 PDT

Life in Ubon - July/Aug 2008

My name is Ekkaluk Nopparat and my nick name is Eric. Now I study at Ubon Rajathanee University. I'm a second year student.

Mark has hired me as the first Ned photographer. I will be posting pictures about Ubon here.

This is my picture.

Today I would like to presenting the photo of Ubon Rajathanee University (UBU) and the Management Faculty.

The Ubon Rajathanee University is the place that I study at BBA program with Ms.Linda Nowakowski.

Next one is Management Faculty, I have to came every day.

Last comment added: Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:20:15 PDT

Kiva Team Invitation (beta)

Kiva (http://www.kiva.org/) is starting beta testing on a new feature on their site called Kiva Teams. Lenders are now allowed to be on teams together, and their total loans, from here forward) can be applied toward a team total...though the loan is still managed and owned by each lender. Social microcredit lending teams, kinda.

I spent some time (pro bono) a couple weeks ago with a Kiva staffer going over UI, strategy and other ideas for Kiva after which she insisted I be a captain of a beta Kiva Team.

Well, Kiva Teams is less than a week old, so just starting to get the ideas of what some benefits might be. One positive benefit may well be group members seeing others loans and joining one another on those loans.

I noticed both Don and Bob in the Kiva Team Ned group loaned to three of the women I'd already loaned to. I hope the ned.com Kiva Team is the first to loan $1,000,000 ... but as the groups start to grow in numbers, the race to be one of the top groups will become more and more competitive, and competition for good is a good thing.

Other benefits will emerge too.

If you would like to join the Ned Kiva Team, please just send me a private message with your email, and I'll send you an invitation to the private beta.

Last comment added: Sun, 07 Sep 2008 09:28:50 PDT

Designing a Research Proposal: Another Phase in Connectory Progress.

It is on assumption that the objectives of the WCP are clear to all or the majority of the project's fans and prospective participants that I wish to propound a proposal for a research proposal in this thread, and especially at this stage. In the thread, I also intend to appeal to your most creative thoughts and resourceful experiences in matters related to the conduct of social research: research proposal design, data collection methods, analysis, presentation, etc.

Being in the forefront in the queue of the active prospective participants, I have henceforth resolved, as a culmination of revived consultations with the WCP inventor and arch-proponent (David Bale), to initiate a research exercise within my locality to run concurrently with the other endeavours to resolve the undecided instrumental concerns of the overall project.

Among the principal issues that I am seeking your cooperation are:

Deciding how a meaningful research proposal should look like.
What should be the basis not only in relation to the research exercise but also to the overall project and how should this be spelt out in the statement?
What should the hypothesis entail?
What social variables are most important for measurement?
What are the objectives of the research exercise and how should they be outlined once enumerated?
What should be the limits of an exercise that is adequately productive to the primary objectives?
What resources could be used as review to determine how similar projects have fared in the past (in evaluation of their successes and failures and factors affecting this)?
Is there any need to identify a theoretical framework not only to guide the research exercise but also within which the connection viewed and its successes and failures evaluated?
What could be the best method/s for conducting the research exercise, i.e what is the best method for data collection, analysis and presentation? (Indeed, though not wanting to be prejudicial, in this respect I am for a survey; where a well sorted out questionnaire is randomly administered); and therefore it is very important that you help in determining what questions should be proffered to the respondents. I feel these should be simple and short and should possibly be a page or two at maximum.

Well, I am surely fully aware that answers to some of these questions really are within the bounds of the project group, but I have chosen to revisit them here for the purposes of clarity and awareness to some of us who might not have chanced to explore the entire group, like myself.

I wish also to encourage you towards volunteership in the compilation of the ultimate proposal in a manageable and printable form once the issues are resolved. Probably, we might also require to start up a workspace for this. And most importantly because I wish to print out the questionnaire directly from on-line since I might not afford enough time resource to sort it out from this end, and also due to technological challenges.;)

Note: 1. This proposal should not be perceived as professing an ultimate solution or even a determinate approach to the problem, rather it is a tentative suggestion which I have hoped will help the project gauge enthusiasm and measure various crucial prospects within my locality. Therefore, other prospective initiators are encouraged to devise divergent approaches but they are not discouraged from replication.

2. Please help me beat my self-appointed deadline of a longest time of roughly a month.

(I guess David you are at liberty to initiate any changes that you might deem relevant. You may also kindly do the editing for me as well as add necessary links. So everyone is encouraged to keep an open eye on probable changes with time.)

[Edited by group owner: David Bale on 10 Aug 2008 13:31 PDT: Edited in line with Richard's own invitation for me to make a few minor changes to add clarity to the text ]

Last comment added: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:18:37 PDT

Site Improvements

How can we improve ned?

Want to abolish all negative feedback? Make things more like Razoo?

Start your ideas here! Ideas that catch probably deserve their own discussions eventually.

This site does not have full time support personnel, but changes will be made as people agree on good ideas, and time permits. Larger features may require raising money and hiring programmers, but that's not out of the question!

Last comment added: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:39:28 PDT

Collaboration Cafe - how easy can we make it for youth demands' of worldwide changes

aftre the colaboration cafe tv show on bronx cable tv we were asked to put up a weblog that any colaboratin city could cut and paste theior own concerns searches from - so we've made a start at http://collaborationcafe.blogspo t.com

updates: Sarkozy demands Paris leading business school http://www.hec.fr/hec/eng/news/news-detail.php?cle=74916&num=1213 give students a choice of how to unlearn MBA .. survey debriefs on which other worldwide business schools are participating will appear here http://www.smbaworld.com/id42.ht ml

-surveys of how to collaborate round this in other cities follow here http://www.ned.com/group/network weavers/news/6/10/

2 rather extraordinary things happened while in London week of sept 11: we got a message that Yunus might want us to search London for the 1000 most collaborative and urgent world changers our http://peoplepower.jp nets can muster

whilst hosting a cafe in the Quakers House I was reminded by a participant what happened in 1931 when 1000 networkers met Gandhi

Footnote collaboration cafe process:

I have now hosted 50+ of these cafes http://worldcitizen.tv/_wsn/page 4.html mainly out of London. This year we are offering a fall festival of cafes on 3 consecutive days but we are also wanting to share what we openly learn with hosts/hubs in other cities if we can find any.

Typically a cafe: -takes one hour; is free but if we get full the most contextually passionate are served -in ideal form we spot someone famous is about to visit a city and we send out an invitation : we can't pay you but if you will meet 10 of us for a coffe we'll sarch all our networks for 10 people who most actively want to be your disciples

In effect collaboration cafes reduce 3-days Harrison Owen "open spaces" to one hour by making the invitation and search process as focused as we possibly can.

Last comment added: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:35:56 PDT

5 million green jobs

I hope its ok -for people at this thread - to assume that whatever usa party you come from, the goal starting 2009 of usa creating 5 million green jobs is one worth activating

so what ways forward for developing this do you suggest, or conversely what ways does your experience suggest should not be tried

Last comment added: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:14:48 PDT

TEN makes changemakers/ashoka finalists - we now need help driving votes!

Im happy to say that The Emancipation Network has made the finals of the recent Changemakers competition - Ending Global Slavery.

This now become a get out the vote campain and any help you can give us at driving votes on any social network you belong to.

The vote should be for "A Business Solution to Fighting Slavery"

The link is here http://www.changemakers.net/en-u s/competition/freedom

Here is the script for a vote button:

<a href="http://www.changemakers.net/competition/freedom" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.changemakers.net/file s/HU_button_vert.gif" width="100" height="160" border="0"></a

Ill be creating some emails and text as well

Thanks in advance for your help. If we win all of the $5000 will be used in the Destiny profram to buy sewing machines and pay wages to the survivors in the new center we have opened.

Last comment added: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:02:22 PDT

Grants, Awards & Contest Announcements

Hey nedsters - please use this thread to post announcements of opportunities that could be of interest to others here in the community.

Be sure to add this thread to your watchlist !

Last comment added: Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:51:43 PDT

Meet and Greet New NED Members - July-August 2008

Welcome to Ned. Please tell other members what you do, what your passion is, how you found Ned, and even what you like to do to make the world a better place (if you wish). Simply just introduce yourself and say howdy to other members as they do the same.

Ultimately whether you spend 15 minutes at Ned a month or 2-3 hours a day, each Ned member needs to find their own Ned Muse to let the Ned community become a meaningful part of their lives. Human beings connecting.

This is your community, your ideas, your time, your efforts, and your actions. This is a community of real people, using real names, working in the real world (well, and at Ned)...taking real actions to make the world a better place. Really.

We are fortunate enough to enjoy incredible members from many countries around the world, and we all work together in a community of mutual respect and humor with an eye towards doing real world things and making the world a better place. Have fun, and please if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask a question here, Nedsters tend to be a very friendly sort. Many of us have met face-to-face at various events around the world during the last three years.

Okay, introductions...I started the thread going...so having drawn the short straw, I'll go first.

I am Linda Nowakowski. I am an American ex-pat living in the Issan region of northeastern Thailand. I teach mainly Economics in the Faculty of Management Science at Ubon Ratchathani University. I am also a graduate student in the Integral Development Studies Program doing research in Heterodox Economics and the development of metrics for measuring development in non-monetary communities primarily focusing on children.

I love learning, discovering how people learn and helping other people learn. I knew I would be a teacher in the 3rd grade!

I believe that ethics is important. Maybe more important than anything else. It is the foundation of trust, society AND economics no matter what anyone tells you. :-)

Ugly things happening to children from bad teaching in Thailand to disenfranchised Karen refugee families to disease and starvation in Uganda to psychological abuse in the US to genocide in Darfur fire me to action.

Meeting people from this network face-to-face refreshes and enlivens me!

Your turn....

(EDIT grammar - shame on me!)

Last comment added: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:46:37 PDT

The Conference shapes up...

These are our submitted papers so far:

Adel Daoud (Sweden)

The Economic Ethic of Material Simplicity: Deflating Human Material Wants

Alex Kauffman (Thailand/US)

In Search of Alternative Food Systems for Healthy Thai Communities

Alex Mavro (Thailand/US)

CSR: The Road to the Sufficiency Economy

Georg Erber (Thailand/Germany)

The Principle of Greatest Happiness in Western Economic Thought and its Relation to Buddhist Economics

Hans Luther Followed up 24 Aug (Thailand/Germany)

Buddhist Economics & Niche Markets - Combining Two Concepts

Joel Magnuson - (USA)

Mindful Ecology and Economy: Integrating Buddhism and Institutionalism into the Community Corporation for Sustainability

Laszlo Zsolnai (Hungary)

Non-violence in Economic Activities

Marja-Leena Heikkilä-Horn (Thailand/Finland)

Pyidawtha – The New Burma U Nu’s Plan On A Welfare Burma

Mate Janos (Hungary)

On The Principles of Promotion of Buddhist Economics

Michel Bauwens (Thailand/Belgium)

From Pre-Modern Immaterial Economics To Trans-Modern Peer To Peer Economics.

Michel Plaisant- Zieneb Ouni, Nirundon Tapachai and Prosper Bernard (Canada)

Ethics for Buddhists and Christian managers: a first step

Mogden Buch-Hansen (Denmark)

The Challenge of Buddhist Economics to Contribute to Sustainable Development

Muhammad Ajmal (Pakistan)

Philosophical principles of Buddhist Economics and their application for Muslim Societies

Peter H. Calkins and Anh-Thu Ngo (Thailand/Canada)

Theravada Macroeconomics

Peter Daniels (Australia)

Climate change and Buddhist economic systems: A scientific, ethical response

Robert Biswas-Diener (USA/UK)

The “What, Why, and How” of Happiness Measurement in Buddhist Economics”

Ruaysoongnern (Thailand)

Development Situation and Constraints of Moral Organic Rice Network in Yasothon

Supawadee Khunthongjan (Thailand)

A Study of the Entrepreneurial Characteristics that Fortify Sufficiency Economy: Case Study of the Enterprises Participating in the Sufficiency Economy Contest Organized by the Office of the Royal Development Projects Board

Tim Kasser (USA)

How Materialistic Vs. Intrinsic Values Tie In With Economic Systems

Wanna Prayukvong (Thailand)

Buddhist Economics Approach to Institutional Entrepreneur: A Case of Business Firm from Thailand.

There will be a few more stragglers.

Plus the Keynote speaker will be Phra Payutto the author of Buddhist Economics: A Middle Way for the Marketplace.

We will be starting off everything with a convening of the Conquiry - a group being built to support educators and participatory development.

There will be a Discussion group led by Aj Sulak Sivaraksa on theory to support practice in Buddhist Economics, another on Practice to Guide the development of Theory, and yet a third on Buddhism in the business place in Thailand.

There will be field trips to The international Forest Monastery, Rachathani Asoke Community and the experimental sufficiency economy community on campus.

The final day we will be doing Asian launches for a new Journal, *Interconnections* and I think for Mark Albion's new book, *More than Money: Questions Every MBA Needs to Answer* and a workshop on Gross National Happiness.

I got an email today from a woman in Laos who has a documentary film that she made on Buddhist Economic Development in Tibet that she would like to air at some point.

All sounds very interesting and very exciting. And it is all keeping me way too busy.

I will be there plus we will have Aj. Apichai, Jeab, Nat, Bill and Boy. Does that make it a <Ned> gathering?

EDIT for links

Last comment added: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:53:53 PDT

Kenyan Elections

Kenyan elections were held on December 27. The elections saw many members of Parliament thrown out. The presidential election was extremely close with sitting president Mwai Kibaki claiming victory, amid reports of widespread election tampering, over challenger Ralia Odinga. The results have led to riots and widespread social disruption.

This thread is spot for discussing this emerging crisis in a country where many of us have friends.

Dozens burnt alive in church attack is an article in "The Nation" one of Kenya's leading independent newspapers. Press has been blocked at various times during this unfolding tragedy, blogs and online communities have been a source for information and perspective.

Right now I'm upset and jittery. There are some posts and sources I want to link to, but want to collect my thoughts. I would be very grateful to others who post here.

Edit: typos

Last comment added: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:12:58 PDT

The CocaLife Campaign

Hello everybody - I am new here - but have been advised that there are people here who would be able to act as critical friends for the ColaLife campaign: http://colalife.org

Our idea is: That Coca-Cola use their distribution channels (which are amazing in developing countries) to distribute rehydration salts. Maybe by dedicating one compartment in every 10 crates as 'the life saving' compartment?

We've made amazing progress since we set up a Facebook and have initial discussions with Coca-Cola: http://www.new.facebook.com/grou p.php?gid=18947780476

Our aims and objectives are here: http://www.colalife.org/aims/

All comments welcomed.

Simon

Last comment added: Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:31:30 PDT

Kampala Kids League

In a Front Porch discussion, Evvy Bryning said:

Just caught up with this. Fred, have you contacted the KKL (Kampala Kids League) yet. You should. They have been in operation since 2003 and now have over 14,000 Ugandan kids playing football. The man who founded it is Trevor Dudley and he could be a great help to you. Christina and I both know him personally and he does really good work and is very dedicated. Check out his website at http://kampalakidsleague.org/_/

I've left a message in that thread to say I've started a discussion about this here in the Kampala Junior Team group.

edited to add link

Last comment added: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:06:33 PDT

Buddhist Economics

I have written a lot that referred to Buddhist Economics but I have never really defined it because I had never really seen a good definition. I have kind of convinced Aj. Apichai that a good definition is needed - in English- so that we know when we read an economics paper if it is really Buddhist Economics.

I saw a paper that I wanted to read that was by a bloke (I can say that 'cause he is from Australia) that I met at the Conference last year in Budapest. His name is Peter Daniels and he is a <Ned> bloke too! The place I found it on the internet wanted me to pay an arm and a leg for the paper but I wrote to Peter and groveled and begged to see if he had an electronic copy he would share with me. He did and he sent it to me. I am not through the article yet but it is totally awesome.

I want to share a table in the paper:

Characteristic	Mainstream (neoclassical economics)	Buddhist economics
Main Actor	Individual as producer or consumer (rational economic man)	Individual on the path to enlightenment; (but inextricably tied to the social and natural environmental spheres)
Main motive for economic action	Material accumulation for satisfaction of endless wants for oneself or close social unit; typically solitary, asocial material gains	Provide and maintain basic material needs for higher order spiritual fulfillment; social need fulfillment; collective goals (personal happiness part of "other-regarding" goals)
Ultimate goal	Maximum individual profit or utility from income maximization, consumption capability and service from material accumulation (enhanced by relative reductions in resource use and costs)	Nirvana; liberation from material world attachment as the source of suffering (Samsara). In economic life, to maximize well-being with minimum levels of consumption.
Process of achieving ideal outcome	Free market mechanism, competition	Awareness, wisdom; Dharma teaching to adopt in all action
Ideal political system	Capitalist market economy	Uncertain; some compatibilities with social market models. Collective principles important; key behavioral and goal-setting role for informal institutions such as social norms, mores and habits.
View of nature,; material reality	Permanent; unlimited; subject to universal laws; collection of mainly free, productive resources; substitutable with human produced capital. Reduce exploitation usually has negative human welfare effects.	Illusory but important context (behavior in determines progress in next stage); universal natural order. Reverence for all life. Nonrenewable resource use as violence. Minimum exploitation/intervention brings greater happiness.
Explanation of the most important universal phenomena	Rationality	Rationality
Time-space relations	Euclidean; equilibrium forces	Impermanence; cyclical and recursive
Underlying ethical basis	Ignores analysis under claimed positive, value-free approach (legal resolution); in reality, market competition and acceptance of most means of profiting from exchange; maximum material accumulation = maximum happiness. Tolerance through pluralism and individual amorality	Strong ethical basis permeating all activity; morality based on the wisdom of the four Nobel truths
Desirable individual virtues	Self-interest, hard work, entrepreneurship; charity if successful	Compassion, kindness
Peace	Assumed unaffected by competitive interaction, loss and waste and conflict over scarce resources; enhanced by resulting wealth	A major goal based on compassion, empathy, trust, self-sufficiency; reverence for life above individual material fulfillment
Individual-society relations	Liberalism, freedom, individual competition	Freedom for enlightenment; collective concern; harmony; peace
Economic approach	neoclassical economics	Humanistic; shared features with institutional, post-Keynesian, ecological economics
System-wide measurement of 'economic' progress	GDP (per person)	Spiritual progress toward Nirvana; true happiness indicators; minimum natural environment demands; absence of poverty; low unemployment; high satisfaction with work; Gross National Happiness
Material consumption implications	Maximum material consumption based on constant marginal utility from total material consumption; higher levels always increase QOL and happiness	Moderation, basic consumption only; existence of optimal levels of consumption beyond which true welfare will fall; craving and attachment to wealth and material accumulation as major sources of suffering
Ideal determinant of the composition or structure of consumption or output	Consumer sovereignty	Societal assessment of karmic impact (on the three interconnected spheres (individual, society, nature)); avoid pleasure desire content (tanha); non-material pursuits important; low intervention
Logic for natural resource use	Cost minimization in relation to total output (that is, relative minimization only); marginal productivity or contribution to the value of output explains resource employment re other factor of production in short-trm but technology change and other measures for cost minimization in the long-term. Free market operation	Minimum intervention and non-violence; hence minimum impact and absolute use for source input and waste sink functions
Labor	To the producer, a factor of production employed and paid according to its marginal product; producer will accept monopsonistic advantages that drive down the cost of labor; labor treated as another factor of production (regardless of psychic or social impacts) in order to remain competitive and maximizing profit; to the worker, the opposite of leisure; a necessary evil for earning income for consumption; would prefer income with no work	Work as an end in itself and source of benefits to the supplier; a cooperative, creative process
Technology; appropriate technoeconomic paradigm	Capital-intensive; complex	Intermediate technology; self-sufficiency; simplicity; green techno-economic paradigm (pervasive socio-economic and related material and energy-saving technologies) -- high communication and service provision and low environmental inputs

sources: Adapted and extended from Alexandrin (1993), Mendis (1994), Payutto (1993, 1994), Schumacher (1973) and Zazek (1993, 2003).
(Source of the above: Daniels, Peter. 2005. Economic systems and the Buddhist world view: the 21st century nexus. The Journal of Socio-Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 245-268, March.)

EDIT: added the missing rows.

Last comment added: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:56:12 PDT

[Ned] Contribute to and Help Win Seven's VINE Competition

Seven Fund has a really interesting challenge that I think the ned.com community should tackle: there's alot of interest and experience here - and during our time at O.net for those of us there - that can be pulled together into a great package.

Here's the challenge:

The SEVEN Fund is putting out a challenge, a question to be answered by anyone and everyone. Recognizing that traditional financial ratios and assessment metrics are not sufficient for identifying promising emerging market firms, we therefore pose the following question:

What indicators can outside investors measure to help them predict the potential success of emerging market SMEs?

In building our index, we could have taken several approaches. We could engage top academics – economists and business strategists – working in developing markets, or we could ask investment bankers and venture capitalists already investing in these markets; we could go straight to entrepreneurs themselves. We believe, however, that stimulating a dialogue among all these groups – and anyone else who is inspired to participate - will generate the most powerful insights. We especially welcome contributions from non-traditional participants in these discussions.

So let's discuss here how we might approach this, and who will be responsible for shepherding us through the process?

Learn more about the challenge here. Deadline for first round, "Initial Submission," is November 15.

Last comment added: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 05:18:14 PDT

So You Think You're Connected?

I have a friend who lives 2 minute's walk away from me, close to the center of the village. He's lived here for at least 10 years. The Development Trust I work for has had a permanent presence here (an office and a cafe) for over 7 years, situated at the upper end of the High Street and opposite the Village Hall and Community Center. Until I started working there just over a year ago he had never heard of the Trust or the Cafe - the question is, why not? Two reasons - Firstly he doesn't need to walk that far (not far at all!) to do his shopping, or to visit friends ( by his own admission he is socially isolated, having been restricted by the demands of bringing up his severely autistic son who needs at least 2 carers with him wherever he goes, and not being a "native"); Secondly, the Trust has failed to make it's presence and the opportunities it offers known to him.

So how connected are we in this interconnected age? Are we becoming complacent and too dependent on telephones (my friend has 3), mass media (he has 2 TVs), the Internet (he has broadband) ? Are we losing our will and ability to interact with and within our own communities? Are we failing to develop our communication technologies to meet our community needs, or are we forgetting how to build and maintain social bonds by more traditional means ? I suspect both.

Then I look around at reports from struggling groups and communities in Africa and elsewhere and there too I see huge holes in the communication infrastructures - the girls at Project Mae Usu have no contact with their families; communities devastated by AIDS struggle to circulate vital health information; desperate people miss out on Aid because they didn't find out about it in time; local groups such as Kayiwa Fred and his Football Club make valuable connections across the Globe but struggle to get information about meetings and events to their members.

I wonder if we are connected in ways we do not realise - circumstances and environments differ hugely, but our basic human needs are the same. We would all benefit from better communication with our immediate neighbours - that's what makes a community a Community, and more than just the place where fate decrees you must live.

Edited to remove back ticks from failed links (please be patient!)

Please see the sample workspace I created, `QuarryVillages`_ , any suggestions on improving the format etc would be appreciated

Last comment added: Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:36:53 PDT

Whirlwind

I am off on a whirlwind trip to Bangkok. I have to go into the office this morning to grade the huge stack of homework books on my desk. Then this afternoon I will head to the train station to take an overnight train (12 hours almost) to Bangkok. I will get in just in time to visit a friend and take a shower before I have to go to a 3 hour seminar on teaching and assessing Business English.

I will have a few hours to spend with Jeab (that's her in the picture!) and then onto a bus for the overnight trip home. (The train and plane were full) Monday I have 3 hours of lecture...yuck.

Sometimes all of my life feels like it is caught up in a whirlwind that I can't get out of! But, so far I am not dizzy.

Last comment added: Sun, 03 Aug 2008 06:13:51 PDT

Book recommendations?

I am about to go on a spending spree and inject my $300 tax rebate on books.

I would really appreciate your suggestions.

The Corporate Sufi: Azim Jamal ($12)
Sayings of the Buddha: William Wray ($8.25 + $3.99)
Progress and Poverty - edited and abridged for modern readers by Bob Drake: Henry George ($12.95)
Justice and the Social Contract: Essays on Rawlsian Political Philosophy: Samuel Freeman ($58.80 computer searchable)
A theory of Justice: Original Edition: John Rawls ($22.95)
AS and A Level Sociology Through Diagrams: Tony Lawson ($7.74 + $3.99)
Economics and Reality (Economics As Social Theory): Tony Lawson ($56.50)
Islam and Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism: Timur Kuran ($23.95)
Economics in Christian Perspective: Theory, Policy and Life Choices: Victor V. Claar ($14.96)
Creating the Commonwealth: The Economic Culture of Puritan New England (Hardcover): Stephen Innes ($25)
With All Your Possessions: Jewish Ethics and Economic Life (Hardcover): Meir Tamari ($35. + $3.99)
Teaching the Ethical Foundations of Economics: Martin Calkins (34.95)
Economic Parables: The Monetary Teachings of Jesus Christ: David Cowan ($10.19)
On Ethics and Economics: Amartya Sen ($26.96)
Challenge of Humanistic Economics: Mark A. Lutz ($4.95)
The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers: Robert L. Heilbroner ($12.24)
Humanist Manifesto 2000: A Call for New Planetary Humanism: Paul Kurtz ($10.20)

Total = ..... $389.55

That pretty much eats up that $300 check from George and provides an addition REAL economics stimulus.

WISH LIST:

Handbook of Social Choice and Welfare Volume 1 (Handbooks in Economics) by Kenneth J. Arrow, A.K. Sen, and K. Suzumura ($140.00)

A History of Indian Economic Thought: Ajit K Dasgupta ($170)

EDIT: formatting. I am an idiot.

EDIT: Adding books

Last comment added: Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:11:21 PDT

Beyond Angel Funding

Great information and ideas beyond traditional angel funding for new startup biz models.

http://www.socialedge.org/discus sions/funding/new-model-for-ange l-investment

Last comment added: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:48:14 PDT

Men in Skirts: Cultural Appropriation?

I've got The Sartorialist in my feed reader. Mostly I just look at the pictures and don't read the comments, but they were talking about men in skirts so I went to see what they were saying. One issue that came up was inappropriate cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation is a sticky issue. Here's Naropa's common sense Cultural Appropriation Statement. I say common sense because the university is open to discussion on the matter. What else is there to do? It seems to me very hard to draw the boundaries.

I've had a Utilikilt for several years. I wear it, but am not really enamored of it because it seems too heavy. I want a lighter weight skirt;-) Looking for the URL for the company the top searches for Utilikilts are rants against them. This surprises me because when I wear mine hardly anyone seems to notice. And I really don't see how they are an insult to Scottish and Irish people. Heavens knows men all over have been wearing skirts for a long time. But some Scots do find them insulting, so it's worth taking that into consideration.

Gender transgression is a similar sticky subject which comes up in the men in skirts discussion. My blue denim Utilikilt is so clunky looking, I really don't think gender transgression is much of an issue. Wearing my sarong reveals a bit more of that. I've only worn it out and about town once and that was because I wanted to go out at the last minute and couldn't find any clean pants. While sarongs of some sort are worn by men in very many cultures, this garment also seems to step into the troubled areas of inappropriate cultural appropriation.

Men in skirts! Next I suppose women will be wearing pants--oh never mind.

Any thoughts on cultural appropriation or men in skirts?

Last comment added: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:44:35 PDT

Developing Learning

Everywhere you go in the world, people always complain about the current condition of the schools.

I think that we have to ask some of the basic questions that go in to designing a curriculum and then evaluate what is currently happening and what changes need to be made to get us where we want to go.

What is the function of education in today's world?

I would argue that the main function of education should be to teach people to learn. Things change so quickly in this world that you must know how to learn on your own in order to survive for your life time.

a Reading

b Math - numbers - without a calculator

c How to ask questions

d How to find answers

e How to solve problems using a and b above

Thailand is pretty high on the development scale - #74 at last report. They have good education numbers: Adult literacy at 92.6% and Combined gross enrollment ratio for primary, secondary and tertiary schools at 74% (East Asia averages 90.4% and 69% while sub-Saharan Africa is at average 60.5% and 50%). Don't even begin to think that those numbers reflect the current student's ability to be productive in a modern world.

My faculty has hundreds of computers, almost all connected to the internet. Every desk in the faculty office has a computer on it. To the best of my knowledge, there is no one I have met trained in Thailand who knows how to use (for example) MS Office beyond using it as a type writer. No one had any idea how to use a mailing list. This in an office that has 16 people half of whom have Master's degrees and over 10% of whom are working on PhDs. They do know how to use all of the bells and whistles on Power Point but they can't any of them make a presentation that is helpful in terms of clarifying a talk.

My students can calculate math given an equation but they have no idea how to use math to figure out ANYTHING.

Thai kindergarten students learn how to add long columns of numbers with carrying and subtract with borrowing but can't figure out what the aggregate demand is given how much of the product each buyer wants.

Someone reported recently that the average Thai reads 1 line of written material a day. And that was probably in a cartoon book.

I suspect that a major part of the problem is the class size. The smallest class size I have seen in a public school is 40. It is not possible in classes that size to give students any kind of personal attention. You do not encourage students to ask questions in classes of that size. You structure things so that answers are right or wrong and don't require long to mark.

How can we get around this?

Last comment added: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:57:53 PDT

Digital Money

Dear NEDsters

I am wondering who among you has thought about Digital Money as a solution to the problems that 'casino capitalism' has created?

I am looking for Ebay / PayPal dreamers and doers to make it happen the sustainable way - especially after I read the entry in Wikipedia. I imagine that these entrepreneurs who operate 'within the system' don't know how they could use their power to make a huge difference 'from without'.

Any suggestions?

Yours gratefully in advance,

Sabine

PS. In the UK, I started an on-line petition as a 'political tool' appealing to officials to prove Yunus wrong: that institutions can deliver what they are set up to deliver.

Would you click through to http://www.gopetition.co.uk/peti tions/stop-the-cash-crumble-to-e qualize-the-credit-crunch.html?

Last comment added: Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:35:49 PDT

http://www.10000women.org

This is one of the cooler things Ive seen in a while

What is 10,000 WomenSM?

Expanding the entrepreneurial talent and managerial pool in developing and emerging economies – especially among women – is one of the most important means to reducing inequality and ensuring more shared economic growth.

Launched by Goldman Sachs, 10,000 Women is a global initiative that will:

Increase the number of underserved women receiving a business and management education

Improve the quality and capacity of business and management education around the world

10,000 Women has six components:

10,000 Women Over Five Years Will Receive a Business and Management Education: Over the next five years, Goldman Sachs will support partnerships with universities and development organizations that will lead to 10,000 women receiving a business and management education. The initial partnerships will fund business and management education certificates in countries around the world. These innovative certificate programs are pragmatic, flexible and shorter term and will help open doors for thousands of women whose financial and practical circumstances prevent them from ever receiving a traditional business education. These programs will provide women with the opportunity to develop specific skills, such as drafting a business plan, accounting, public speaking, marketing, management and accessing capital. There will also be a select number of MBA and BA scholarships funded.

Build Quality and Capacity Through Global Business Sister School Partnerships: To strengthen the quality and capacity of business schools in developing nations, Goldman Sachs will support new partnerships between business schools and universities in the United States and Europe and business schools in developing and emerging economies. Through these partnerships, the schools will collaborate to train professors, exchange faculty, develop curriculum and create local case study material.

Establish Mentoring and Post-Graduation Support for Women Entrepreneurs: In addition to funding tuition for business and management education, 10,000 Women will seek to establish mentoring and networking channels for women and to encourage career development opportunities that will extend the benefits of the program beyond the classroom, leveraging the overall impact of their educational experience.

Work with Leading Research and Women's Development Organizations: Many outstanding organizations are working on the ground to give girls, young women and potential entrepreneurs a sense of their future potential. 10,000 Women will work with these organizations to better understand the local challenges these girls and women must overcome so more of them can ultimately realize their potential through access to greater economic opportunity.

Develop Partnerships in the United States to Help Disadvantaged Women: As part of 10,000 Women, Goldman Sachs will establish parallel programs and partnerships to provide more business and management education for disadvantaged women in the United States.

Commit $100 Million in Addition to the Time and Dedication of Goldman Sachs People: Goldman Sachs will commit $100 million over the next five years to 10,000 Women. In addition, the people of Goldman Sachs will contribute their time and expertise through classroom instruction and mentoring.

John Berger http://www.madebysurvivors.com/

Last comment added: Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:39:17 PDT

there must be 20 ways to citizens can create more jobs

can you think of any?

eg 1 green jobs national goal to create 100000 green jobs in next 5 years prposal of how http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y ewyIARIaIM&eurl=http://www.b rixtonhive.com/

youth response http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e 9VAoTZxvT0&eurl=http://www.b rixtonhive.com/

Last comment added: Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:32:33 PDT

Development, globalization, culture and well-being

Development is a concern to each of us here, of that I am sure

Globalization is something that is happening, promoted by those in the developed world particularly the Big Three: The IMF, WTO and the World Bank. Maybe it is is self propelling by now.

Culture is (in many places) becoming an artifact to be found at the feet of globalization as the world becomes homogenized.

Well-being --- maybe the one thing that all of us are seeking but haven't a clue as to how to identify it or certainly can't agree on what it is.

The one thing that all of these have in common is economics, like it or not.

Let the discussion begin.

Last comment added: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:50:43 PDT

Other ways to do "Business as Usual"

I would like to build in this thread, links to different views on business / economics / capitalism / management....etc.

If you find a video, podcast, article, website, book ...anything really, that helps us to see how to manage business and life in a more humane, environmental, equitable, caring way, post it here. Please post efficiently and don't post 999 links to essentially the same material.

Last comment added: Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:52:34 PDT

Slavery By Another Name

A few years ago I was hosting some nieces and nephews from out of town. For an excursion we visited the Warhol. One of the touring shows at the museum then was Without Sanctuary which was composed of post card photographs of lynchings. I had read about the exhibit, even seen a few pictures in print. But I was unprepared for my reaction to seeing the exhibit. I started to look and got so queasy and light headed I thought I would pass out. I left to another room which had blown up newspaper clippings from the era. The Pittsburgh Courier was a prominent national black newspaper and had lead a decades-long campaign against lynching, so clippings from The Courier were prominent. There were also tables with notebooks for people to write their reactions. Reading a few entries, clearly school groups had come through, the rest of my party found me sitting there with my eyes red from crying.

In this week's Newsweek the section alerting readers about Newsweek.com content has a shocking photo taken in the 1930's of a man tied in fetal position around a pick axe. Here's a link to an interview with Douglas A. Blackmon author of a new book Slavery By Another Name. I recommend both sites. The Newsweek interview has an accompanying gallery which begins with the shocking photo with commentary narrated by Blackmon. The slideshow is important. I mentioned my reaction to the lynching photos, to say why I watched this one with trepidation. This presentation is not a jumble of gruesome torture pictures. (Note that the picture of the man tied around a pick axe is unforgettable.) Rather the images document the reality of they system of slavery he describes in his book and the efforts of people trying to do something about it.

Blackmon is The Wall Street Journal Bureau Chief in Atlanta. From his biography at his book site:

In 2000, the National Association of Black Journalists recognized Blackmon’s stories revealing the secret role of J.P. Morgan & Co. during the 1960s in funneling funds between a wealthy northern white supremacist and segregationists fighting the Civil Rights Movement in the South. A year later, he revealed in the Journal how U.S. Steel Corp. relied on forced black laborers in Alabama coal mines in the early 20th century, an article which led to his first book, Slavery By Another Name, which broadly examines how a form of neoslavery thrived in the U.S. long after legal abolition.

In the same edition of Newsweek is an essasy by conservative legal affairs writer Stuart Taylor The Truth About Torture promoting the view that President Bush "ought to pardon any official from cabinet secretary on down who might plausibly face prosecution for interrogation methods approved by administration lawyers."

Taylor suggests that what the country need most is some accounting about what went on, and then, perhaps, apologies. I'm not sure about the argument. But it's discouraging to think that there will be no public conversations about our descent towards torture and reversion to the powers that be and their "dark side" habits. It seems to me that no accounting, contrary to Taylor's plan to protect those who pay him in his role as "opinion leader," will simply foster the view that torture under our flag is no account. Forgetting first doesn't lead to forgiving later.

Last comment added: Sat, 19 Jul 2008 03:11:14 PDT

ATOP: Atlanta Taskforce On Play

Update: February 9, 2008

ATOP, the Atlanta Taskforce on Play, is in full swing. We've gone through the application for the KaBOOM! Playful City USA designation, making the video grant application, and the launching of the official ATOP campaign. All successful. Now, it's time to actually make the dream happen.

The Dream? Making sure there is a beautiful playspace near every child in Atlanta by the end of 2010.

PLAY WORKSPACE

Earlier when this discussion was called "Playful City: ATLANTA : Healthy City:

ATLANTA IS A PLAYFUL CITY!!

Original discussion

Atlanta, Georgia is the proud recipient of an inaugural Playful City USA designation from KaBOOM! , the national playground organization. (This is embargoed until October 30, 2007 when KaBOOM! is making the big national announcement.)

(Atlanta kids weigh in on play. Playground design by Lilah K.)

I am very excited to be working with the City of Atlanta to start the Atlanta Taskforce on Play. The original idea came from my ever-playful friends at KaBOOM! with their Playful Cities USA designation campaign. Now that we have won the designation for our city, the REAL work begins!

(Here's the banner for the upcoming website that is springing from the work on this project:)

The Atlanta Taskforce on Play will be a public/private partnership. I'm working with Atlanta's Parks and Park Design Departments to set this up (with the help of the Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs and the Mayor). Atlanta is really coming on strong, working hard to increase the amount of greenspace and playgrounds available to its citizens. Putting out an organized campaign drawing attention to the importance of play in a child's life can only help things along.

I am thrilled that this is one of the two initial undertakings of my new endeavor, Making Cool Stuff Happen. The other is the treehouse project for Camp Twin Lakes. More on that in another discussion.

Join in. All ideas, suggestions, comments welcome!

Last comment added: Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:13:15 PDT

Depression

Depression is a confusing condition for doctors as well as people who suffer with it and their families. There are still arguments that rage over whether it is a disease or a disorder. There are still people who believe that people who are suffering with depression are just sad, or lazy or emotionally, psychologically weak.

I struggle with all of those things but I just don't care what it is called. I know it is real. I know it is devastating. I know that it strains and even destroys families and friendships. Been there and done that. I am also pretty much convinced that unless you have suffered with this condition yourself, you will never really be convinced that it is real.

I have been an over-achiever and a work-aholic all of my life. I no longer make either of those confessions with any pride. I have no scientific evidence to back me up but I believe that they are (at least in my case) coping mechanisms or maybe better, coping avoidance mechanisms.

I was first diagnosed with clinical depression some 12 years ago when I was still married and living a "normal" family life. At that time, I was working full time, doing about 40 hours a week of volunteer work, and still running a household, doing hobbies like gardening and embroidery and lots of reading as well as making all of or my own clothes and doing lots of entertaining.

Then one day I found myself sitting in the center of the floor in the bathroom unable to clean it. I was paralyzed. At that point I sought medical/psychiatric help. I then went through the anti-depressant drug therapy and psychiatric counseling routine.

I know that the drugs helped. To a point. I hated being on them. I couldn't think clearly. arggghhh.... I don't even want to think about those times.

I was on drugs for about 2 years. I finally went to my psychologist and told him that there had to be another way. I had read all of the statistics that once you were diagnosed with depression the chances of recurrence increased and the period of time between episodes decreased. I told him that I needed something other than drugs to cope. I needed to know how to recognize the early symptoms and have some coping mechanisms in place so that I could actively help myself not to get in the hole. He smiled and took on the challenge. Within a couple of months I was off of drugs and feeling better than I had in years. I was strong again and was able to endure the agony of a divorce, the failure of a business and a move to Thailand.

I will be the last person to tell you that the last 10 years have been depression free. I have had episodes but I really do recognize the symptoms and have been able to deal with it all amazingly well.

The reason this is coming out here now is that I am in the middle of the biggest battle I have faced in that time and I am trying to negotiate my way through it. One of the biggest problems I face is that I am isolated here. This is term break through the end of the month and almost all of the 9,000 students on campus and most of the faculty members are gone. I have virtually no one to interact with and everyday is filled with frustration as I deal with the typical daily problems I face here - no transportation, the library is closed, the internet goes down, no one understands my English and my Thai is not sophisticated enough to communicate what I want to communicate.

Last night I found myself sitting staring out the dark window into the night and trying to pull my thoughts out of a downward spiral and I couldn't find a single good thing that happened yesterday to grab on to...I have things to do and I can not do them.

I am writing this not because I want any sympathy. I am writing it for much more selfish reasons. I need to focus on something and feel like I have accomplished some small thing.

Please, if you have someone in your life who is suffering like this, don't minimize it. Hold on to them and help them focus on the little good things in their life that they just can't see at the moment. It's not going to bring world peace or end world poverty or feed children who are starving but then again....if they come out of it stronger than they were before, maybe it will help all of those things.

Last comment added: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:16:56 PDT

Good to be here

My latest news is about the AHE conference where I met Linda, who told me about Ned:

http://shirad.livejournal.com/38 4392.html

Last comment added: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 07:21:11 PDT

Joy

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French joie, from Latin gaudia, plural of gaudium, from gaudēre to rejoice; probably akin to Greek gēthein to rejoice

Date: 13th century

1 a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety

2: a state of happiness or felicity : bliss

3: a source or cause of delight

Function: verb

Date: 14th century

intransitive verb

: to experience great pleasure or delight : rejoice

transitive verb

1 archaic : gladden

2 archaic : enjoy

Last comment added: Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:15:34 PDT