tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37584027464930518142024-02-21T07:22:20.418-08:00The SymposiumSam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-36650372025358770002011-11-04T16:29:00.000-07:002011-11-04T16:30:57.058-07:00By the light, of the moon<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/N3iORDe7Mxw" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-85992314098423336242011-11-04T16:27:00.000-07:002011-11-04T16:28:23.954-07:00I believe in a thing called love<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HVtw94PJ8XA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-44354294811010470762011-10-31T23:21:00.000-07:002011-10-31T23:22:38.384-07:00Experience Zero Gravity<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/29017795" webkitallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" width="400"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/29017795">Experience Zero Gravity</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/bettywantsin">Betty Wants In</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-30411963097784458782011-10-31T22:33:00.001-07:002011-10-31T22:33:44.949-07:00And We Danced<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Vhf5cuXiLTA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-28584656673682425912011-10-31T22:30:00.000-07:002011-10-31T22:32:25.958-07:00Justin Hall-Tipping: Freeing energy from the grid<!--copy and paste--><object height="374" width="526"> <param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> <param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talk/stream/2011G/Blank/JustinHallTipping_2011G-320k.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/JustinHallTipping_2011G-embed.jpg&vw=512&vh=288&ap=0&ti=1249&lang=eng&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=justin_hall_tipping_freeing_energy_from_the_grid;year=2011;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2011;theme=the_rise_of_collaboration;theme=tales_of_invention;theme=a_greener_future;event=TEDGlobal+2011;tag=Science;tag=Technology;tag=energy;tag=entrepreneur;tag=environment;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;"> <embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talk/stream/2011G/Blank/JustinHallTipping_2011G-320k.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/JustinHallTipping_2011G-embed.jpg&vw=512&vh=288&ap=0&ti=1249&lang=eng&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=justin_hall_tipping_freeing_energy_from_the_grid;year=2011;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2011;theme=the_rise_of_collaboration;theme=tales_of_invention;theme=a_greener_future;event=TEDGlobal+2011;tag=Science;tag=Technology;tag=energy;tag=entrepreneur;tag=environment;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" height="374" width="526"></embed> </object><br /><br />From TED.com:<br /><p>Some of our most serious planetary worries revolve around energy and power -- controlling it, paying for it, and the consequences of burning it. Justin Hall-Tipping had an epiphany about energy after seeing footage of a chunk of ice the size of his home state (Connecticut) falling off Antarctica into the ocean, and decided to focus on science to find new forms of energy. A longtime investor, he formed Nanoholdings to work closely with universities and labs who are studying new forms of nano-scale energy in the four sectors of the energy economy: generation, transmission, storage and conservation.<br /><br />Nanotech as a field is still very young (the National Science Foundation says it's "at a level of development similar to that of computer technology in the 1950s") and nano-energy in particular holds tremendous promise.</p><p>He says: "For the first time in human history, we actually have the ability to pick up an atom and place it the way we want. Some very powerful things can happen when you can do that." </p> <blockquote>"By working in the universities, right at the coal-face of nano-energy research, we can spot discoveries that otherwise might disappear without leaving the lab."</blockquote> <cite>Nanoholdings.com</cite>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-17287127400043655072011-10-31T22:25:00.000-07:002011-10-31T22:30:01.719-07:00Alex Steffen: The Shareable Future of Cities<!--copy and paste--><br /><object height="374" width="526"> <param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"> <param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talk/stream/2011G/Blank/AlexSteffen_2011G-320k.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/AlexSteffen_2011G-embed.jpg&vw=512&vh=288&ap=0&ti=1207&lang=eng&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=alex_steffen;year=2011;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2011;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=architectural_inspiration;theme=a_greener_future;theme=design_like_you_give_a_damn;event=TEDGlobal+2011;tag=Design;tag=Technology;tag=architecture;tag=cities;tag=collaboration;tag=energy;tag=environment;tag=green;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;"> <embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talk/stream/2011G/Blank/AlexSteffen_2011G-320k.mp4&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/AlexSteffen_2011G-embed.jpg&vw=512&vh=288&ap=0&ti=1207&lang=eng&introDuration=15330&adDuration=4000&postAdDuration=830&adKeys=talk=alex_steffen;year=2011;theme=a_taste_of_tedglobal_2011;theme=new_on_ted_com;theme=architectural_inspiration;theme=a_greener_future;theme=design_like_you_give_a_damn;event=TEDGlobal+2011;tag=Design;tag=Technology;tag=architecture;tag=cities;tag=collaboration;tag=energy;tag=environment;tag=green;&preAdTag=tconf.ted/embed;tile=1;sz=512x288;" height="374" width="526"></embed></object><br /><br />From TED.com:<br /><br /><p>Do you ever wonder whether we should be optimistic or pessimistic about the future? If you want more reasons to think things may still turn out for the better, Alex Steffen's your man. He doesn't downplay the scope and scale of the problems we face. Instead, he shows that we have the tools within our grasp for meeting those massive challenges, if we have the will to use them.<br /><br />This isn't just hopeful thinking, either. Steffen uses real-world examples and big-picture research to show us that a brighter, greener future is ours to choose, and his work has earned him the ear of leading cities, corporations and philanthropic foundations. As the <em>New York Time</em>s said a recent profile, "Alex Steffen lays out the blueprint for a successful century."<br /><br />After working as a journalist on four continents, Steffen co-founded and ran the online magazine <a href="http://worldchanging.com/" target="_blank">Worldchanging.com</a> from 2003-2010. In those seven years, he made Worldchanging one of the world's leading sustainability-related publications with an archive of almost 12,000 articles and a large global audience. He also edited an internationally best-selling book surveying innovative solutions to the planet's most pressing problems: <em>Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century</em>.<br /><br />His most recent work is <em>Carbon Zero</em>, a book describing cities that create prosperity not climate change, accelerating their economies while reducing their climate emissions to zero. He is now at work on a new book and a television project. "The big open secret about sustainability work," he recently told <em>Design Observer</em> magazine, 'is not how bad things are. It is how good things can get."</p> <blockquote>"His vision of the future isn't granola and porridge. It's what he calls 'bright green:' creating and buying products and systems that are smart, sexy, sleek, and sustainable."</blockquote> <cite>Living on Earth</cite>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-81206670220435675592011-10-04T22:34:00.000-07:002011-10-04T22:43:14.120-07:007 simple rules of going into hiding<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlbX3PYfuuNv8X6r5qiuuehALdsbc5HNfNQgGpFzPNTwC9mF3wkt9h49JsjAu5yQmbB26vV43SCXySKOg4Z2zWYf6Jt7C4GOyrvv7CSbuOINzS1k88chlxzswix0ZMCXFyX4p-ijRsZ_F/s1600/cold-1.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 262px; height: 360px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitlbX3PYfuuNv8X6r5qiuuehALdsbc5HNfNQgGpFzPNTwC9mF3wkt9h49JsjAu5yQmbB26vV43SCXySKOg4Z2zWYf6Jt7C4GOyrvv7CSbuOINzS1k88chlxzswix0ZMCXFyX4p-ijRsZ_F/s400/cold-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659879485777977874" border="0" /></a><br />one) never trust a cop in a raincoat.<br />two) beware of enthusiasm and of love, both are temporary and quick to sway.<br />three) if asked if you care about the world's problems, look deep into the eyes of he who asks, he will never ask you again.<br />four) never give your real name.<br />five) if ever asked to look at yourself, don't.<br />six) never do anything the person standing in front of you cannot understand.<br />and finally<br />seven) never create anything, it will be misinterpreted, it will chain you and follow you for the rest of your life.Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-20023839514165868462011-03-27T20:54:00.001-07:002011-03-27T20:54:35.560-07:00Going Down<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zT7bfd6gCxs" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="640"></iframe>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-84862005982228816612011-03-27T20:48:00.001-07:002011-03-27T20:51:12.651-07:00Losing Our Way<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSF8VE7jSMB1OXgKIzBzGnyzilrNk6nJ433wuj4BYKdXvZIVoffhG9B0hskgqg_Z3smoqLDh2yhHEhrvqmmS5aA8kQiJmw026RQTpOgHvx4PB6_h-huB8-220NPo1b2wbGpdzVPml1dSEn/s1600/452727484_e7f4e20311.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 243px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSF8VE7jSMB1OXgKIzBzGnyzilrNk6nJ433wuj4BYKdXvZIVoffhG9B0hskgqg_Z3smoqLDh2yhHEhrvqmmS5aA8kQiJmw026RQTpOgHvx4PB6_h-huB8-220NPo1b2wbGpdzVPml1dSEn/s400/452727484_e7f4e20311.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5588972737790360898" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/opinion/26herbert.html?_r=1&ref=bobherbert">Losing Our Way</a>, by Bob Herbert<br />Final Column with the NY Times, March 25, 2011<br /><p style="font-style: italic;"> Arthur Miller, echoing the poet Archibald MacLeish, liked to say that the essence of America was its promises. That was a long time ago. Limitless greed, unrestrained corporate power and a ferocious addiction to foreign oil have led us to an era of perpetual war and economic decline. Young people today are staring at a future in which they will be less well off than their elders, a reversal of fortune that should send a shudder through everyone. </p><p style="font-style: italic;"> The U.S. has not just misplaced its priorities. When the most powerful country ever to inhabit the earth finds it so easy to plunge into the horror of warfare but almost impossible to find adequate work for its people or to properly educate its young, it has lost its way entirely. </p>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-63182011065806563682011-03-27T20:38:00.000-07:002011-03-27T20:39:34.857-07:00The Morning Benders: Excuses Live<iframe title="YouTube video player" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7jgmgE-QDzA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="640"></iframe>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-17013455839116610552010-12-14T21:45:00.000-08:002010-12-14T21:46:23.964-08:00The Cave - Mumford & Sons<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3KkUeRPjc-Y?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3KkUeRPjc-Y?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="640"></embed></object>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-33961781234555154652010-11-28T16:36:00.000-08:002010-11-28T16:41:05.409-08:00Who Will Stand Up to the Superrich?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizn8aEU3Zyx2sad6nZYaauXDLlIjBc1NTV6BFjuHBW_oJHvCOeIcl57DUspSwuLIu2vczusFX0b5KLbmWBnjsdJzwF99LtDIna_2Qp1Xtu2HuFNoizrwDycNKNiFTlmtCYcmdLQJeEnWOi/s1600/14blittimg-articleLarge.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizn8aEU3Zyx2sad6nZYaauXDLlIjBc1NTV6BFjuHBW_oJHvCOeIcl57DUspSwuLIu2vczusFX0b5KLbmWBnjsdJzwF99LtDIna_2Qp1Xtu2HuFNoizrwDycNKNiFTlmtCYcmdLQJeEnWOi/s400/14blittimg-articleLarge.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5544765008086449650" border="0" /></a><br /><h1 class="articleHeadline"><span style="font-size:130%;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/opinion/14rich.html?pagewanted=1&emc=eta1">Who Will Stand Up to the Superrich? </a><br /></span></h1><h1 class="articleHeadline"><span style="font-size:100%;">By Frank Rich</span></h1>Nov 13, 2010<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">...The president’s argument against extending the cuts for the wealthiest has now been reduced to the dry accounting of what the cost would add to the federal deficit. As he put it to CBS’s Steve Kroft, “the question is — can we afford to borrow $700 billion?” </span><p style="font-style: italic;"> That’s a good question, all right, but it’s not <em>the</em> question. The bigger issue is whether the country can afford the systemic damage being done by the ever-growing income inequality between the wealthiest Americans and everyone else, whether poor, middle class or even rich. That burden is inflicted not just on the debt but on the very idea of America — our Horatio Alger faith in social mobility over plutocracy, our belief that our brand of can-do capitalism brings about innovation and growth, and our fundamental sense of fairness. Incredibly, the top 1 percent of Americans now have tax rates a third lower than the same top percentile had in 1970. </p><p style="font-style: italic;"> “How can hedge-fund managers who are pulling down billions sometimes pay a lower tax rate than do their secretaries?” ask the political scientists Jacob S. Hacker (of Yale) and Paul Pierson (University of California, Berkeley) in their deservedly lauded new book, “Winner-Take-All Politics.” If you want to cry real tears about the American dream — as opposed to the self-canonizing tears of John Boehner — read this book and weep. The authors’ answer to that question and others amounts to a devastating indictment of both parties. </p><p style="font-style: italic;"> Their ample empirical evidence, some of which I’m citing here, proves that America’s ever-widening income inequality was not an inevitable by-product of the modern megacorporation, or of globalization, or of the advent of the new tech-driven economy, or of a growing education gap. (Yes, the very rich often have fancy degrees, but so do those in many income levels below them.) Inequality is instead the result of specific policies, including tax policies, championed by Washington Democrats and Republicans alike as they conducted a bidding war for high-rolling donors in election after election.<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;">The book deflates much of the conventional wisdom. Hacker and Pierson date the dawn of the collusion between the political system and the superrich not to the Reagan revolution, but to the preceding Carter presidency and its Democratic Congress. They also write that contrary to the popular perception, America’s superhigh earners are not mostly “superstars and celebrities in the arts, entertainment and sports” or the stars of law, medicine and real estate. They are instead corporate executives and managers — increasingly (and less surprisingly) financial company executives and managers, including those who escaped with outrageous fortunes as their companies imploded during the housing bubble. </p> <p style="font-style: italic;"> The G.O.P.’s arguments for extending the Bush tax cuts to this crowd, usually wrapped in laughably hypocritical whining about “class warfare,” are easily batted down. The most constant refrain is that small-business owners who file in this bracket would be hit so hard they could no longer hire new employees. But the Tax Policy Center found in 2008, when checking out similar campaign claims by “Joe the Plumber,” that <a href="http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jul/27/stephen-hayes/so-called-wealthy-are-actually-small-business-owne/" title="An article from PolitiFact.com evaluating claims about the expiring tax cuts.">only 2 percent</a> of all Americans reporting small-business income, regardless of tax bracket, would see tax increases if Obama fulfilled his pledge to let the Bush tax cuts lapse for the top earners. The economist Dean Baker<a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/97315/who-would-the-tax-increases-hurt" title="An article from The Washington Independent evaluating the effects of the tax increases on the rich."> calculated</a> that the yearly tax increase at the lower end of that bracket, for those with earnings between $200,000 and $500,000, would amount to $700 — which “isn’t enough to hire anyone.” </p><p style="font-style: italic;"> Those in the higher reaches aren’t investing in creating new jobs even now, when the full Bush tax cuts remain in effect, so why would extending them change that equation? American companies seem intent on <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/14/AR2010071405960.html" title="An article in The Washington Post about companies piling up cash.">sitting on trillions in cash</a> until the economy reboots. Meanwhile, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office ranks the extension of <em>any</em> Bush tax cuts, let alone those to the wealthiest Americans, as <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/23/opinion/la-oe-hacker-tax-cuts-20100923" title="An editorial in September by Hacker and Pierson in The Los Angeles Times.">the least effective</a> of 11 possible policy options for increasing employment. </p><p style="font-style: italic;"> Nor are the superrich helping to further the traditional American business culture that inspires and encourages those with big ideas and drive to believe they can climb to the top. Robert Frank, the writer who <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/books/review/Beam-t.html" title="A review of “Richistan” in The Times.">chronicled the superrich</a> in the book “Richistan,” <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/09/23/where-will-tomorrows-billionaires-come-from/" title="Robert Frank’s blog post on the Forbes 400 list.">recently analyzed</a> the new Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans for The Wall Street Journal and found a “hardening of the plutocracy” and scant mobility. Only 16 of the 400 were newcomers — as opposed to an average of 40 to 50 in recent years — and they tended to be in industries like coal, natural gas, chemicals and casinos rather than forward-looking businesses involving the Green Economy, tech or biotechnology. This is “not exactly the formula for America’s vaunted entrepreneurial wealth machine,” Frank wrote... </p>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-42784724351365805582010-11-28T15:20:00.001-08:002010-11-28T15:20:26.024-08:00<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UePtoxDhJSw?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UePtoxDhJSw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-14037994861619400732010-11-27T11:15:00.000-08:002010-11-27T11:25:21.277-08:00Braddock, PA & New American FrontiersMaybe it's just an excellent AD Campaign, but Levis new push, using the story of Braddock, PA, is moving. John Fetterman is an inspiration, as are the residents of Braddock.<br /><br /><object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p63BwVm_ojw?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p63BwVm_ojw?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="640"></embed></object><br /><br /><nyt_byline version="1.0" type=" "><div class="byline"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/us/01braddock.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1">Rock Bottom for Decades, but Showing Signs of Life</a> - NY Times<br />By <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/david_streitfeld/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More Articles by David Streitfeld">DAVID STREITFELD</a></div> </nyt_byline> <div class="timestamp">Published: January 31, 2009 </div><p style="font-style: italic;">BRADDOCK, Pa. — As Americans wonder just how horrible the economy will become, this tiny steel town offers a perverse message of hope: Things cannot possibly get any worse than they are here.<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;">Hunched on the eastern edge of the Monongahela River only a few miles from bustling Pittsburgh, Braddock is a mix of boarded-up storefronts, houses in advanced stages of collapse and vacant lots.<br /></p><div style="font-style: italic;" class="inlineVideo left brightcove">The state has classified it a “distressed municipality” — bankrupt, more or less — since the Reagan administration. The tax base is gone. So are most of the residents. The population, about 18,000 after World War II, has declined to less than 3,000. Many of those who remain are unemployed. Real estate prices fell 50 percent in the last year.</div> <!--brightcove player ends --> <p style="font-style: italic;">“Everyone in the country is asking, ‘Where’s the bottom?’ ” said the mayor, John Fetterman. “I think we’ve found it.”</p><p style="font-style: italic;">Mr. Fetterman is trying to make an asset out of his town’s lack of assets, calling it “a laboratory for solutions to all these maladies starting to knock on the door of every community.” One of his first acts after being elected mayor in 2005 was to set up, at his own expense, a Web site to publicize Braddock — if you can call pictures of buildings destroyed by neglect and vandals a form of promotion. </p><p style="font-style: italic;">He has encouraged the development of urban farms on empty lots, which employ area youths and feed the community. He started a nonprofit organization to save a handful of properties.</p><p style="font-style: italic;"> In an earlier era, Braddock was a famed wellspring of industrial might. The steel baron <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/andrew_carnegie/index.html?inline=nyt-per" title="More articles about Andrew Carnegie.">Andrew Carnegie</a> put his first mill in the town, the foundation of an empire that helped build modern America. With the loot and guilt Mr. Carnegie piled up, he also built a library here, the first of more than 1,500 Carnegie libraries in the United States.</p><p style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/us/01braddock.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1">Continue Reading...<br /></a></p><p style="font-style: italic;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pP3ucWRx3Ig?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pP3ucWRx3Ig?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object><br /></p>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-36101641789071530472010-11-12T18:28:00.000-08:002010-11-12T18:29:36.065-08:00Can ya stay a while?<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h7NJfuVk9hY?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h7NJfuVk9hY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-53761388337959164892010-11-12T16:38:00.001-08:002010-11-12T16:40:58.418-08:00friday afternoon sunset<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvY_y8TiBWQywW5FltP-CK6sPBZU1VW0zzMfHov4qBBbYioGj09cC3Jf58ZPP0-bf0UozBCYlsxZZJskKCZ8GPW2X2Pz2sygOUDu_uY1YbqKr4SknvmTNjvWSl8WpJ73dVNZN4YuMZed3s/s1600/1112001611.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 453px; height: 209px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvY_y8TiBWQywW5FltP-CK6sPBZU1VW0zzMfHov4qBBbYioGj09cC3Jf58ZPP0-bf0UozBCYlsxZZJskKCZ8GPW2X2Pz2sygOUDu_uY1YbqKr4SknvmTNjvWSl8WpJ73dVNZN4YuMZed3s/s400/1112001611.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5538827329937767602" border="0" /></a>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-43885066960032266272010-11-12T16:37:00.000-08:002010-11-12T16:38:15.439-08:00you are not a robot<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/64oH4zQ2gwg?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/64oH4zQ2gwg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-78035734409322986722010-11-09T15:38:00.000-08:002010-11-09T20:49:50.399-08:00The Next Time Around<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dGHbOZBSv18?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dGHbOZBSv18?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-19734041217498860292010-11-08T14:36:00.001-08:002010-11-08T14:36:12.577-08:00The Show Goes On<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q91LonKd2hs?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Q91LonKd2hs?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-53264400662514762722010-11-04T10:05:00.000-07:002010-11-04T10:08:31.167-07:00How Obama Saved Capitalism and Lost the Midterms<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8KYlTam3K0bYHhfX-vJt1Up-qT4dxJlCE-GUX9K9kh9mk1oH3hb-Zg82gNrbMkFfaL1uOgXNnmjIRaU6MVhnyv3ag1mAMDgpUgexaeyOjRISiZCaNYEKkFhoUXuz66XhXVEv0oKjsrbw/s1600/john-boehner.gif"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS8KYlTam3K0bYHhfX-vJt1Up-qT4dxJlCE-GUX9K9kh9mk1oH3hb-Zg82gNrbMkFfaL1uOgXNnmjIRaU6MVhnyv3ag1mAMDgpUgexaeyOjRISiZCaNYEKkFhoUXuz66XhXVEv0oKjsrbw/s400/john-boehner.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535742449903439986" border="0" /></a><br /><p>by Timothy Egan, NY Times<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;">...The banking system was resuscitated by $700 billion in bailouts started by Bush <a href="http://politifi.com/news/Poll-Voters-Think-TARP-Passed-Under-Obama-1019761.html">(a fact unknown by a majority of Americans)</a>, and finished by Obama, with help from the Federal Reserve. It worked. The government is expected to break even on a risky bet to stabilize the global free market system. Had Obama followed the populist instincts of many in his party, the underpinnings of big capitalism could have collapsed. He did this without nationalizing banks, as other Democrats had urged.<br /><span id="more-66917"></span><br />Saving the American auto industry, which has been a huge drag on Obama’s political capital, is a monumental achievement that few appreciate, unless you live in Michigan. After getting their taxpayer lifeline from Obama, both General Motors and Chrysler are now making money by making cars. New plants are even scheduled to open. More than 1 million jobs would have disappeared had the domestic auto sector been liquidated. </p> <p style="font-style: italic;">“An <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/16846494/comments%20Health%20care%20holding%20down%20costs:%20http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/107xx/doc10781/11-30-Premiums.pdf">apology is due Barack Obama</a>,” wrote The Economist, which had opposed the $86 billion auto bailout. As for Government Motors: after emerging from bankruptcy, it will go public with a new stock offering in just a few weeks, and the United States government, with its 60 percent share of common stock, stands to make a profit. Yes, an industry was saved, and the government will probably make money on the deal — one of Obama’s signature economic successes. </p> <p style="font-style: italic;">Interest rates are at record lows. Corporate profits are lighting up boardrooms; it is one of the best years for earnings in a decade. </p> <p style="font-style: italic;">All of the above is good for capitalism, and should end any serious-minded discussion about Obama the socialist. But more than anything, the fact that the president took on the structural flaws of a broken free enterprise system instead of focusing on things that the average voter could understand explains why his party was routed on Tuesday. Obama got on the wrong side of voter anxiety in a decade of diminished fortunes. </p> <p style="font-style: italic;">“We have done things that people don’t even know about,” Obama told Jon Stewart. Certainly. The three signature accomplishments of his first two years — a health care law that will make life easier for millions of people, financial reform that attempts to level the playing field with Wall Street, and the $814 billion stimulus package — have all been recast as big government blunders, rejected by the emerging majority.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">But each of them, in its way, should strengthen the system. The health law will hold costs down, while giving millions the chance at getting care, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Financial reform seeks to prevent the kind of meltdown that caused the global economic collapse. And the stimulus, though it drastically raised the deficit, saved about 3 million jobs, again according to the CBO. It also <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/us/politics/19taxes.html?_r=1">gave a majority of taxpayers a one-time cut</a> — even if 90 percent of Americans don’t know that, either.<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Full Article: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/how-obama-saved-capitalism-and-lost-the-midterms/?src=me&ref=general</span></p>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-19608697351484233452010-10-14T17:44:00.000-07:002010-10-14T17:45:53.450-07:00Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun - Debussy<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9_7loz-HWUM?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9_7loz-HWUM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-57043953081844049262010-10-14T15:40:00.001-07:002010-10-14T15:40:43.393-07:00Trey-dio Departmentz<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/t9wKY0aVml8?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/t9wKY0aVml8?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-48212221741944478622010-10-14T10:05:00.000-07:002010-10-14T10:08:32.292-07:00To every action there is always an equal and opposite reaction<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lBFdX37Qpnk?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lBFdX37Qpnk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I like playing in the sand what's mine is ours</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br />If it doesn't remind me of anything </span><!-- end of lyrics -->Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-29580763986821942922010-10-12T20:34:00.000-07:002010-10-12T20:36:48.524-07:00Lose it in the End<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/F-zS99Ek_eU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/F-zS99Ek_eU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3758402746493051814.post-28579121877669734092010-10-12T17:17:00.000-07:002010-10-12T17:18:42.443-07:00Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Sxm5LslcB2o?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Sxm5LslcB2o?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />I started out on burgundy<br />But soon hit the harder stuff<br />Everybody said they'd stand behind me<br />When the game got rough<br />But the joke was on me<br />There was nobody even there to bluff<br />I'm going back to New York City<br />I do believe I've had enough.Sam Lawrencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03638456525907772933noreply@blogger.com0