7 Systemic Problems that are Killing America

 

This country is full of idiots, socialists, and rednecks. At least that’s what partisans will have you believe.

As long as you’re railing against the people you hate, you can’t see the reality behind the rhetoric. These problems go beyond Liberal or Conservative, Republican or Democrat. They’re serious enough to contribute to internal collapse. We dug up 7 systemic problems that have nothing to do with political parties, yet are still killing America.

TV Economics 101: Why you can't watch every show online for free

CraigAtSyfy at 11:30 AM May 4, 2010

Craig Enger is general manager and senior vice president of SyFy digital. He twitters from SyFy.

I get asked a lot why Syfy doesn't make our shows available online internationally, and why we don't make more shows in the U.S. available. Usually I say "rights issues" because the real answer involves a longer discussion of how the TV industry works. As part of a larger peek behind the scenes of the TV industry I'm doing for BoingBoing, I'll give you the longer version:

I found this fascinating! I have always wondered why some shows weren't available online. You would think they would make an online model for shows. Maybe creating shows available ONLY online.

mnmlist: society, reimagined

Sometimes I wonder if society could be vastly different, redesigned almost from scratch.

It stems from my belief that somewhere along the line, we allowed ourselves to be sidetracked from what’s important — people — and instead have put profits, corporations, productivity, and consuming at the forefront of everything we do.

We’ve become workers focused on productivity, because we need to earn a living, so that we can … buy things (including entertainment). Including a car, which is needed to go to work and to shop. We need to send our kids to school, so we don’t need to worry about them when we work, and so that they can grow up to be good workers. We need to buy fast food and convenience food, because we’re too busy or tired from work to cook.

We’ve gotten fat, tired, sick, deep in debt, disconnected from our kids and other family members, divorced, separated from our neighbors. We’re polluting and causing global warming, all in the name of money and work and profits and buying. This seems broken, to me.

SUCH a cool way to look at the world we live in. He wrote a fantastic follow up post here: http://mnmlist.com/reimagined2/. I kind of want to take over the world today.

“Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules.”
– Ashleigh Brilliant

If I asked you to tell me what you’ve learned so far to have the best, happiest, most successful life, what advice would you give me?   What are the rules (or rules of thumb) you’ve learned in your 20,30,50, 80 years of life?

I’ve been getting a lot of emails on the subject lately, and I’ve struggled to answer the question myself.  What really matters in life? What really makes you happy?

So I went back to the basics.  I thought a lot about my own life and wrote down the principles I use to guide everything I do.  I then wondered – were there any studies on the subject? I was happy to find that there was.  So, these aren’t just my rules – these are rules that research also shows can improve your life.

And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it starts with love.

References at the bottom of article.

I love articles like this. Such insight on making your life FAB-U-LOUS

Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits

Your first book isn't going to happen by itself. If writing a novel or non-fiction book is something you've dreamed of, the only way to make that dream a reality is by putting it into action -- day by day.

And the best way to do that is to develop some simple habits that will make the dream a reality, one step at a time.

I've learned a lot about writing habits over the years. As a journalist, a freelance writer, and a speech writer, I've written thousands of articles over the last 17 years. I've also written a novel, numerous short stories, a couple ebooks, and am now working on a non-fiction book. It's a struggle, daily.

But I've found that certain habits go a long way, and after awhile, they're not as difficult as they are during the first week or so. Get past that first-week hump, and it'll get easier. And that dream of your first book will come true.

Note on forming habits: I recommend trying to form only one of these habits at a time, starting with the first one and working downwards. Focus on each for at least 2-3 weeks, until it is ingrained. Then move on to the next.

I suppose this would mean choosing a topic to write on...

Would love to write a book....Just can't commit to one topic

wonder what their dream is

Our dreams and desires define us. Be they broken, scarcely remembered, on the verge of reality, or in full bloom. They pilot our choices. Dreams have the power to shape the entire landscape of our lives. Because they tend to be so precious and potent, many people keep their dreams and aspirations to themselves.

A dream is a very sacred thing to share.

If you knew someone's dream, you might look at that person very differently...with more tenderness, more respect, more familiarity, and more wonder than before. Dream-sharing melts boundaries and it calls forth resources and commonalities.

I have always reveled in other peoples dreams/desires/goals. What is your dream?

The Alexander Drake Building, Downtown Bend, OR

As I was unpacking boxes, lifting heavy furniture and contemplating the feng shui, it occurred to me that professional service firms spend a lot of time and money on their office space. And rightly so.

For companies with no tangible product to sell, it’s a crucial component of the brand.

For instance, when it comes to selecting an ad agency, office space always figures into the equation. The workspace is a tangible display of the agency’s creativity and “out-of-the-box” thinking. Or lack thereof.

Clients love doing business with people in cool offices. They want to go somewhere that feels different, better, or more energized than their own office. It’s an escape from their normal, day-to-day reality. Take a tour of Weiden & Kennedy’s Portland headquarters and you’ll see what I mean.

For architects the office is an everyday opportunity to show off their work. It’s exhibit A in the firm portfolio.

For attorneys it’s about showing off their ivy league law degrees and proving, somehow, that they’re worth $350 an hour.

Harry Beckwith, in “What Clients Love,” tells how State Farm Insurance chose a firm to handle a huge payroll and benefits contract. They looked at all the proposals, narrowed the field, sat through presentations and listened to pitches from several very capable companies.

Great insights on why your office matter as well as your website look. Now, I am off to find someone to do a re-design. *sigh*

A post about 30 Books Everyone Should Read Before Their 30th Birthday made me wonder if there were many "things you should do before you’re 30" lists. After some googleage I found a few interesting lists but for the most part they are too generic for me. Then, I remember that I’ve always wanted to do the 101 Things in 1001 Days thing. I’ve wanted to do this since I saw it on Zandria’s site (May of 2007 to be exact). So, from here the little hamster wheel in my brain started running and I wanted to figure out how to make my 101 days end at my 30th birthday – I know I’m so clever aren’t I?

So many things to do and so little time. Ok, not LITTLE time. I mean eight years....What is something you wish you had done before turning 30?

Everyone has ideas.
Some people take their ideas seriously, some don’t.
Of those who do, some people can handle failure and course correction and some can’t.
The end.

Apparently taking yourself seriously is more important than I thought....who knew...

iStockphoto

In the New York Times on Monday, University of Massachusetts and Amherst economics professor Nancy Folbre took on questions of what impact personality traits, as opposed to simple gender difference, have on the continuing salary disparities between men and women. Folbre points out that the recent bank meltdown, in which many of those destabilizing the country’s economic base were enjoying tremendous financial reward for it, demonstrates that those profiting hand-over-fist were not being paid for their intelligence or innovative ideas. Instead, they were being rewarded for self-interested or malevolent impulses to sell out others to profit themselves. Many of those impulses were exhibited by men, whom Folbre writes, "score significantly higher than women" when it comes to exhibiting aggressive and Machiavellian behaviors increasingly associated with personal economic success.

I have had a brief introduction into feminism during my college career. This "should a woman act like a man" debate has been going on for centuries. Such a refreshing look at the issue and where we stand in the workplace.