Sunday, October 16, 2005
Tidbits of the week
“Everyone of us can make a difference to eliminate world hunger and empower poor people”. Message carried through from Saturday panel on poverty, hunger and health. A very different crowd from the Sarah Jones performance--white and older. Haiti--bottomless pit, Zimbabwe--formerly bread basket of Africa, now in danger of starvation. “Elephant in room”--population. Using up resources at unsubstainable, peak of oil production on downward spiral. 1.2 billion live on less than $1a day. Asked question about social responsibility of corporations? Tackled in issue of "Reason" but simple greed cited by panelist as what it boiled down to.
“I thought if I didn’t ‘make it; by the time I was 35, it was all over. At 35, I would have been stunned to know the way things would come out for me.” Rachel Naomi Remen from “Oprah” magazine. Inspired by this. Have been feeling like I'm a loser at 30 since I have neither career nor family life. Can't relate to those "Quarter-Life Crisis" type books where they're stressing out about boyfriends and stressful jobs since haven't gotten to that point yet.
Anna Quindlen “By the Tube, For the Tube”. You’re not qualified to govern this country if you don’t understand the use of TV. Saying that there’s a lot of junk on TV if that’s why you won’t watch is like saying you won’t read books because there are a fair amount of chessy ones published. Look at government debacle of Hurricane Katrina. Apparently they didn’t know. This is mind-boggling to those of us who understand how to work a remote. Nature of job divorced from normal human experience. A certain snobbery has developed around notion of TV viewing, a certain “let them watch Raymond” attitude that television is declasse, a thing best left to the masses”. An obvious jab at Bush and FEMA crowd who don't keep up with news, preferring to make fun of journalists.
From article in "Reason" magazine: “ I think relying on these [anti-depressants] is an existential cop-out is a way of avoiding coping with life. Peter Bregger “When so many Americans feel depressed and hopeless, we are clearly within a social phenomenon. The very idea that drugs are the answer suggest a moral, psychological, or spiritual vacuum." Then the author, puts in her thoughts: {Giving shy people medication to ease socializing is dismissed either as pathologizing normal human variation and creating greater conformity or as keeping the socially awkward avoid the hard work needed to overcome their fears. Therapies can cause harm. encourage people to ruminate on origins of their depression can make the conditions worse.} Someone willing to admit therapy might be a scam even more than popping happy pills? Don't personally feel comfortable with either, not that I can afford either.
Business Week: Design “Social Shopping”
The goal was lofty: too create a store so well-designed that it would become for busy Baby Boom women a sort of “third place”, a destination other than home or work where people enjoy spending free time . Gap wanted the store’s physical space not only to facilitate the sale of clothing but to enbody the new brand, much as Starbucks and Apple Store do. In doing so, Gap is placing a big bet on the growing importance of social shopping, the notion that shopping can be transformed into a pleasurable communal experience.”
From magazine reading: Spending $35.9 milion on medical interventions in Mexico would result in 2, 591 fewer TB cases and $108 million net savings in the US the researchers found. Stepped up screening of legal Mexicans by comparison, would require $329 million to prevent 401 important case of TB. Does give a different meaning to sign "Help Mexicans in Mexico not here"...
The goal was lofty: too create a store so well-designed that it would become for busy Baby Boom women a sort of “third place”, a destination other than home or work where people enjoy spending free time . Gap wanted the store’s physical space not only to facilitate the sale of clothing but to enbody the new brand, much as Starbucks and Apple Store do. In doing so, Gap is placing a big bet on the growing importance of social shopping, the notion that shopping can be transformed into a pleasurable communal experience.”
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