That's Capital

Read Middle-East historian Fouad Ajami and political columnist Thomas L. Friedman in the NYTimes. Also read Israeli historian Michael Oren in the WSJ. Then listen to Onpoint Radio's show with Palestinian analysts talking about the Hamas takeover of Gaza. In the two NYTimes' columns, there is scathing indictment of Palestinian leadership. For both Ajami and Friedman, the practical usage of masks by military on both sides symbolizes the rot at the core of the problem. Men enhanced with their power, or lack of it - the two working together becoming vicious catharsis - especially as guns flood the region. And... Read more →

A few days ago, the NYTimes' business section published a story with a headline "Online Sales Lose Steam." The basic thrust was that there was an ongoing sales decline "in major sectors like books, tickets and office supplies," as well as "diverse categories like health and beauty products, computer peripherals and pet supplies." What the headline doesn't feature is the other side of the story: the huge online growth numbers of previous years, apparently 25 percent. Such numbers are difficult to sustain over time, especially with offline competition, forced to acknowledge the web as serious competition, finally responding pro-actively. The... Read more →

Today Josh Porter of Bokardo brought us to an interesting group called Design Can Change. The basic premise is that designers should be leveraged around social action as much as around tools and systems. Back in September, we had written about such needs, our focus on redesigning political interaction. This organization's mission focuses less around "politics" to something a bit broader, the environment. That said, it's great to hear some people are actually putting good ideas into action. Obviously, as the European "Greens" manifested, environmental issues are intrinsically political. But it is much easier to build a broad based coalition... Read more →

The shaky notes started sounding with the beginning of the end. Lousy sentence. But matched in spades by the lousy finale to an often brilliant television show, The Sopranos. Sunday night was the last we supposedly will see of big Tony Soprano. Based on its creator's attitude toward the last episode/s and the audience... and its producing partner's attitude, HBO, good f''n riddance. Like that funkily pungent theatrical expression, it went off like a wet fart. Starting with a cheap joke of a collage that featured various HBO stars syncopating tears of admiration, we spent the next hour being jerked... Read more →