Category: Misc

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Misc

Field Observation 1: Boulder Coffee

In my quest to meet people in Rochester, I’ve been to two different Boulder Coffee locations. One on Park Ave, the other near the Exchange/Ford street bridge.

Boulder has some claim to indie cred. The music is eclectic, and while not indie in genre (A death metal single caused a bit of a stir), it’s clearly not Top-40 drek.

The clientele seems a split of serious “I work here this is my office” type folks (of which I was one), and late-teens to mid-twenties students.

Surprisingly, they had single source Kenyan coffee for only $1.60. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it came from a pre-made tap, and wasn’t french-pressed on the spot, as I was accustomed to during my stay in Missouri.

Furniture was a good mix of faux-antique plush and “let’s get this done” chairs, desks, and stools.

The biggest disappointment, however, was how people in both locations tended to stay isolated and impersonal. They’re not rude, there’s just a large enough space that no one really interacts with each other.

I would go there again, but I’m still on the lookout for a great place that lets me get work done AND meet cool and interesting people.

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Some things have changed around here

For example, back in 2007, you wouldn’t see a candidate for the Mayoral nomination mix it up with a local reporter on twitter.

That reporter, by the way, has a massive twitter following and her own popular blog.

I remember when the massive blog on the street was a quite different animal.

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Misc

At my little sister’s graduation. Yay shelly!

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Misc

My favorite place in the entire world

Is in the boughs of this tree

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Misc

Scene from Missouri.

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Misc

Right-Wing Human-Rights group in Israel

Right-Wing Human-Rights group in Israel

They consider themselves liberal and zionist but not leftist. They monitor human rights abuses against Palestinians like lefties do, but then plan on working with the IDF to address them.

If this is the true face of the right wing in Israel the world would be such a wonderful place.

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By our powers combined

In January, our intrepid hero went on a quest to find wisdom. He travelled to NYC, DC, and back. In his travels, he was aided by many strong women and men, each a hero in their own right.

  • Yale Spector, the air mage, floated down from the glittering crystalline heights of the towers of code he was constructing to offer counsel about big plans.
  • Earth witch Kanglei Wang gave him a locket of the key to happiness:staying rooted and aware of the now and the new.
  • Ned Resnikoff, the wizard of water and lore, offered him hearth and home and revealed the truth: some of that (belief) which was solid, was slowly reverting back to the mists. 
  • The fiery Mikey Franklin engulfed our hero in the passion of true friendship and true hospitality. Our hero Ash Ketchum  was filled with renewed vigor: it was time to be a Pokemon Master re-engaged in the grand struggle to better people’s lives.

Yet, these powerful sorcerers could only help our hero cut and refine the gems of wisdom he found in DC, the heart of empire. Only one person could properly prepare our hero for that challenge: Elly Kalfus, wielder of the power of Heart. 

The wisdom he found in DC, inside the very heart of the empire, is a story for another day. 

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Misc

The curious consensus of Jews on Abortion

The curious consensus of Jews on Abortion

The article goes into pretty great detail on theological (and historical-theological) views on abortion within Judaism, and concludes that it can’t account for this overwhelming support.

My suspicion is that this is all driven by an out-group mentality. The face of anti-abortion is the enraged Christian Right. The same sort of people who want to put nativity displays in town halls and hyperventilate about the supposed “War On Christmas”. 

And really, I think the consensus of American Jewry is that these sorts of positions, while not perhaps anti-jewish in intent (because who can see into the heart of hearts of Bill O-Reilly), are pretty anti-jewish in effect. Because their vision for America doesn’t have any place for us in it. 

Is it any wonder that we don’t want to associate with these people?

That different Jews have disparate views is not news. What is news is when most Jews agree on a particular idea or approach. And so it is with the curious consensus of Jews on abortion.

In mid-2012, the Public Religion Research Institute (“PRRI”) published its findings from a 2012 survey of Jewish values (the “Jewish Values Survey”). The survey sought to measure the opinions of American Jews on a wide variety of political and economic issues, as well as with respect to certain religious beliefs and practices.

While Jews varied considerably in their views of a wide range of topics, on one – abortion – they were not only reasonably cohesive in their attitude, but strikingly different from other groups. 

…

Essentially regardless of denominational affiliation or demographics, American Jews think abortion should be legal in all (49%) or almost all (44%) cases. That is, fully 93% of all American Jews support legalized abortion in some fashion

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The Aaron I knew

I didn’t know Aaron too well in person – I don’t want to pretend we were best buddies or anything. Still, he knew my name enough to connect it to my face, and we moved in more than one of the same circles. I looked up to him.

I’ve known about Aaron for a long time. How could I not? I was there when he rewrote Reddit, over six years ago. I was a fan of Lawrence Lessig – Lessig was a fan (and mentor) of Aaron.

We first actually met through the PCCC – a new grassroots organizing outfit he co-founded with two others. I heard about the PCCC through my blogging life, but I decided I wanted to join up because Aaron was a co-founder. I was on the team when there were just 5 of us. I finally met Aaron at a retreat the PCCC held at the end of May. He didn’t say much at first (the night before when we were just hanging out). I mostly talked to his friend, Quinn Norton. She was full of interesting tales (the history of coffee! Breaking into buildings in San Francisco!) and just a really cool gal.

So exciting! I hung out with him, my friend Yale (who is a tech person similarly awed by Aaron), and Aaron’s brother Ben Swartz, who also went to Brandeis.

From time to time I would run into him at conferences. We’d exchange a few words. I asked him to be on the advisory board of my startup – he said first I had to “show him something impressive”. I never got the chance to do that.

But I think I knew Aaron best through his writing. It’s how so many of us can feel a close connection to him. His blogging wasn’t self-indulgent and vain. It was red-hot but cooly-considered thought. It was brilliant tempered with empathy and wisdom.

I bet I’ll refer to his writing for years to come.

Aaron was pretty much who I aspired to be. Tech-savvy but not bound by that culture. Progressive but not captured by the professional left. A fellow-traveler to many. A generous spirit. Always trying to figure out exactly how the world worked, then sharing what he found.

I’ll miss him so much.

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Aaron

Dear Diary,

Aaron Swartz is dead but the world continues in its banality. Instagram photos on my feed. People pimping their articles. Don’t they know that Aaron is dead?

What the hell.

Aaron and I (and others) once hung out at Brandeis. We were watching the news reports of a petition delivery he did in Boston in support of something to do with appointing a Senator after Ted Kennedy died. Four or five of us, in a cramped dorm room at the Brandeis castle.

Aaron was also one of my bosses at the PCCC, though I only got to see him a few times in that capacity. He was obviously, well, everyone uses the world brilliant because it’s true. We’d have a discussion that was going in all different directions, and time and time again Aaron would ask a simple, insightful question that got right to the heart of the matter. It was a joy to work with him.

Aaron had reason to visit Brandeis – his brother Ben studied there as well. I’ll never forget that he was at my commencement for my MA (he was at commencement for Ben’s Bachelors’). About ten people ahead of me alphabetically didn’t up for their degrees, so I ended up hamming to the crowd and making several false starts on stage, etc. He sent me a tweet: “Very colorful. Congratulations.”

The rest I know about Aaron, I know from his public life. His wonderful blog posts. His instapaper shares. The projects he was working on. All that gave you a wonderful, oddly intimate look at the “public” Aaron. The Aaron I briefly met in person – he lived up to his legend. So sad he’s gone.

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Misc

Sahar Massachi, aspiring InfoVegan

Clay Johnson wrote a small post introducing the concept of infoveganism a few years ago. I read it once. Then again. Then I talked a bunch about it with my friends. But I didn’t really take its advice.

The concept is pretty simple. If the information we consume was food, what would it be? Well, there’d be too much of it. And a lot would be crap. Instead, be picky! Reading “raw” (primary source) info, “healthy” (long-form, investigated pieces), etc. Also exercise by writing, videographing, etc.

The analogy is pretty good, as far as it goes. Not sure you can string that insight out to an entire book, but I haven’t read it, so who knows?

So, time to create! (Or, write about the intention to write. So meta-circular. Blech!)

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Tech Start

(Most of) Tech Start!

These are all the folks I did startup stuff with these last 12 weeks. Wonderful people. Not a bad egg in the bunch. 

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A weird thing about my life

Is that I’m currently in training on how to do a startup. Yes, me of all people.

Who would’ve figured that of all my friends I’d be the one pursuing the capitalist dream?

Some notes:

  • Mentors frequently mention stuff like “you could make a nice little business here, and that’s okay.” if you don’t want to ask for venture capital. Their version of a nice little business – millions of dollars of profits a year.
  • A culture of scalability means a culture of cutting labor costs (hiring as few people) as much as possible.
  • As far as I can tell, many mentors, though old white rich men, are also Democrats. Some even contribute/fundraise for campaigns. Strange but cool!
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Declaration of Independence

Remember the joy of being young, the joy of discovery? 

Remember rushing outside and finding everything so utterly fascinating?

The pleasure of moving your body. The smell of the outdoors. Each conversation an adventure. 

I’m beginning to forget. 

I’ve been spending so much time with computers lately. First for class, now for work. I keep in touch with my scattered friends through the computer. I read news through the computer. My most important organs are now my brain for thinking and my hands for typing.

Our bodies deserve to be more than just vehicles to transport our brains from meeting to meeting.

I declare independence from:

  1. Being so social-movement focused.
  2. Obsessing over news.
  3. Viewing the internet as a consumer rather than producer.
  4. Facebook
  5. Google Reader
  6. Smartphone notifications
  7. Digitally-mediated interaction

Sure, I’ll still be online. But no longer will I spend a bulk of my time on google reader and facebook. No longer will I consume much more than I create. 

That means more blogging. More writing. More going outside and walking. Less reading facebook (only check it once a day!), less reading Google Reader (I’m on a week-long hiatus!), less politics. The left is interesting and all, but my dreams should be full of other topics as well. I have other interests! It’s time to activate them.

Time for each day to be an adventure again.

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Election Thoughts

Copied from a mail I sent a friend.

I’m most excited about Elizabeth Warren. She’s one of that special breed of person who rarely get elected to anything, much less Senator. 

1. She’s one of the smartest minds thinking about banking and finance policy. And now she’s a senator. This isn’t someone who can be bamboozled by lobbyists or think tanks. 

2. Since she’s the expert on finance and banking, other senators will follow her lead and aks her advice. 

3. The banks fear her. 

4. She wants to cut all subsidies to fossil fuels. Is a strong voice for our clean energy future. 

5. As an academic, she wrote this article: http://www.democracyjournal.org/5/6528.php?page=all . It was so spot on that it caused a federal agency to be born. Elizabeth Warren knows how to wield non-electoral, non-governmental power. That’s huge. 

She’s the Louis Brandeis of our time and I’m so excited! 

Other cool things: 

* Every Marriage Equality ballot measure was a win for our team. 

* Drug war might start winding down soon 

* Obamacare will happen 

* The Democrats in the Senate just got markedly more liberal. 

* In Jan 2013, taxes go up by a lot, especially on the rich. Great leverage for team blue. 

* Tammy Baldwin! 

* Dems pick up many state legislatures. 

* We won senate North Dakota! And Montana! 

* Alan Grayson crushed and will rejoin the House 

Sad that we lost close senate races in Arizona and Nevada.