PIctures worth thousands of words

The use of whiteboard presentations, especially for short presentations  seems very useful in getting the gyst of a speaker's intent. Even more so than Powerpoint presentations. I first stumbled on one a few years ago when Sir Kenneth Robinson condense a longer speech into an 11 minute whiteboard presentation that was just brilliant!! When I shared it through this blog I had many many people email me their similar positive experience. Changing Paradigms is a classic eye-opener and thoughtful look at education. 



This was rolled on on a website from RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufacture and Commerce)  whose stated mission is
 " to enrich society through ideas and action." 

Their Animates series does exactly that. Changing Paradigms by Sir Kenneth Robinson was first crafted as video that runs just over 11 minutes. You can see how it is both "full of ideas" and the use of the whiteboard, you get the feeling of action.

RSA has also created a series of "Shorts" for those of us with less time to commit to learning. So Sir Ken Robinson's longer talk summarized in "Changing Paradigm" gets even more succinct in the RSA Short, "Finding Your Element" in less than 3 minutes.

I have fallen out of the practice of revisiting the RSA Animate's website, but drifted back there the other day. Here are three really good shorts. It's not to say the others are equally good, but I looked at these but not all of others.

Kate Raworth, whose recent Doughnut Economics is a widely read and acclaimed look at our economic system and some practical/sustainable alternatives has an RSA Short, entitled , "Kate Raworth on Growth" which preceded her more lengthy book. In less than 3 and a half minutes she deftly explains the problem with a focus on economic growth, so dominant in mindsets of our elected officials and too many economists.

In a not too dissimilar vein the "What is a Universal Basic Income?" the animation makes a very quick and clear explanation of this idea of growing interest around the world and which I have blogged about earlier, in slightly more than 2 minutes. 

Akin to Sir Kenneth Robinson's work John Lloyd's "On Knowledge" is a very brief but thoughtful look at how and what we value as knowledge and how it affects our lives. 

The most offering uploaded about a week ago is three plus minute synopsis of Simon Sinek's thoughtful look at "Intensity vs. Consistency". 

All of these animates are based on longer talks that are available as videos on the site. Most of which have not been made into the whiteboard animates summarized here.

Nonetheless, you might want to visit this site once in awhile to be stimulated to think about the world a little differently. Keeping ideas alive.... the possibilities are endless.

Guns, More Guns - Will We Ever Have Enough?

We were away in Britain when news of the horrific massacre in Las Vegas occurred. We were actually approached on the street in the small Cornish town of Fowey by an older fellow who overheard us chatting and noted our North American accent. He wanted us to try and explain to him how it is that Americans are so crazy about guns. The impromptu conversation also digressed into Trump, Teresa May, health care…

I think our reply to his initial query was less than sufficient. However, the following day British journalist Gary Younge who lives in the US and also does a column for The Nation, penned a penetrating response to that same question in The Guardian. It was so good I referred other Brits to it in subsequent discussions we had there before we came home a few days ago. It deserves much wider review.

But I don't need to tell any reader of this blog that we are bathing in a culture of violence. Younge talks about gun violence but he also notes the larger culture of violence as manifested in American exceptionalism. We returned home to see that the U.S. Senate had approved a military spending budget of a record $700 billion. As a culture we throw money at the military (not the veterans who have served) without regard for what we buy. Of course the powerful interests, especially the weapons makers and hawks will be the first to scream when an impoverished person grabs a little extra benefit for themselves or  their family, but not a whisper when it's the Goliath doing the thievery of the public purse.

Fortunately, there are a few dedicated organizations that try to help us see the waste and fraud, not to mention the foolish expenditures that come from military spending. In just the past week we see the Project on Government Oversight reporting on the $20-40 billion waste on the F-35. Or even more dramatic the many holes of waste shared by William Hartung in his piece last week for TomDispatch. Also on Tom Dispatch we hear from military veterans Danny Sjursen and Andrew Bacevich each making visible more tales of military fiascoes. 

Yet, if one was to follow our elected senators and representatives public comments or the mainstream media we would rarely ever hear a mention of such public ripoffs. Instead, we see a  military spending bill loaded with perks for each state and district, brazen enough to request items the Pentagon hasn't even asked for. The ground based missile defense system expansion and new satellite war toys are among the latest boondoggles our elected leaders are trying to bring to their home states and districts.

It's not good policy. But it is a reward to the many contributions the military industrial complex has showered on the Senate and the House members, not to mention the millions spent on lobbying them once they get elected. Without a strong citizen outcry, this game will continue with the rules concocted by those with the power and money. Time to get vocal. As the old chant from the 1950's urged, "Better Active Than Radioactive."

Call your Washington Reps and tell them to cut the military waste and boondoggles and use the money to help our neighbors who are hurting from climate catastrophes, poverty, and savage inequality.