Organic Food

The most interesting line on this video from the NYT's interview with Michael Potter, founder and CEO of Eden Foods is that organic is much more than ingredients. "Organic means the health of the soil, the quality of the soil that produces the plant." (1.50)

What do you think when you hear the word organic? Does it mean simply no added inorganic components (pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers?)

Several years ago, I decided to spend a semester studying plants at our local agricultural college, and it was there that I learned how plants "eat." Basically, the process is called translocation, in which the roots suck in molecules such as K+, and Na+ and deliver them up the plant. Combined with water and CO2, using the power of sunshine, the plant produces simple sugars with mineral componenets.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/business/organic-food-purists-worry-about-big-companies-influence.html?pagewanted=all

About that tax hike...

Maybe I'm not seeing clear this am, but people like Sergey Brin, Walter Buffet, and others cited in this article seem to be making money through their shares of stock. Remember, stock is not taxed until it is sold. So, it is probably safe to say that the most that they will pay would be the AMT -- which is vastly reduced by charitable contributions. How does increasing the tax rate on earned income change this for these 1 percent??

Arafat - victim of polonium poisoning?

From USA Today: Tests show that Arafat might have been a victim of polonium poisoning. This is the same stuff that killed Livechencko, the Russian billionaire, several years ago. So, does that mean that the KGB offed Arafat? If we believe Ion Pacepa, the former head of the Romanian secret service, granted political asylum by the Americans in the late 70s, Arafat was a creation of Andropov. This information came to public ears in March 2004. Arafat died in October of that year. Layers upon layers upon layers...

On Schooling

I spent the better part of Sunday afternoon sitting on the floor listening to the dreams and aspirations of many young parents. Their questions: what characterizes a good education, what is the value of education, do schools provide a good education?

My question: what are the skills and tools that we (parents, community) can give our children in order to enable them to live independent, healthy lives as adults?

In no particular order: grit, (determination, work ethic); self-confidence tempered with a dose of humility, compassion, drive.

Then, ability to pull diverse pieces of a puzzle together (creativity). Skills to see the big picture, as well as to look for the small details. Patience.

Others?

The Way Back Machine

As various politicians and pundits amuse themselves slinging mud at each other in an adult version of the playground wars, it becomes more and more clear how historical data saved somewhere in the cloud has become a powerful tool for the least empowered members of our society. No longer forced to pay large sums of money to Nexus-Lexus, nor to sit in libraries pouring through microfilms and micro-fiches, the average voter can, possibly for the first time, find out what was truly said, rather than rely on blanket statements of "He said, she said" from the chattering class. The power of memory seems to frighten those who live and work in DC - at least when it happens here, rather than Tahir Square, but for the rest of us-- we live in exciting times.
Here's the direct link - give it a try! http://archive.org/web/web.php

The Reverse Gender Gap

Ever since I plunged into the world of children's literature, shortly after the birth of my first child,  I've been struck by the absence of strong, positive, male role models in the stories that they most love to read. As a child, the moment I realized that my cousins had the Hardy Boys was when my copies of Nancy Drew went into the attic. Today's boys however, have the anti-hero: Artemis Fowl; or the hero in search of himself: Harry Potter; or the clueless hero: Percy Jackson. The really interesting books all involve groups of boys and girls: The Mysterious Benedict Society.

  Anecdotally, I've heard that it's easier for a young man to get into certain competitive colleges - even in stem disciplines.

And once you enter the work force, it's the young women who have pulled ahead. Citing higher motivation and better work ethic from young women, the NY Times points out the lack, at the top, of young men.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/us/14iht-letter14.html?_r=1&src=recg

What does this mean for my sons? For our society in general?

Leadership

http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2012/05/traits-of-effective-online-community.html

http://connectededucators.org/community/powerful-learning-practice/?interview=1