"People Thought He Was A Monster And Wanted Him To Die. I’m Glad He’s Alive To Tell His Story."

I am proud of Thaler for producing this:



More here.

2011's "rise of civic consciousness"

‎"A positive development that has gathered strength over the past year has been the rise of civic consciousness, the acceptance by ordinary citizens that they too must play a part in the process of change and adaptation. This is not so much protest against the inadequacies of government as recognition of the importance of balancing rights with responsibilities." 

- Aung San Suu Kyi, Burmese politician and Nobel peace prize-winner


[from "A sense of balance" by Aung San Suu Kyi, in "The World in 2012" from The Economist Newspaper.]

"Here's what we've done to help."

Two things I said to the Board this morning about Rock Creek Hills Park:

"...understanding the availability of the site is key to avoiding wasting time, resources, and scarce tax dollars pursuing an option that may not exist."

"Doing so would be consistent with the due diligence that is required in any site selection, and in this case, it could help avoid enforcement actions or threats to future funding."

Save Rock Creek Hills Park!

What I said to the Board last night: "... don't build a costly and deficient school on this little park."

Sunday Feature: Photo Gallery.

Have you seen what supporters of Rock Creek Hills Park are sharing on facebook?

Save Rock Creek Hills Park!

What Cathy Fink told the Board Monday night: "In this park 50 languages say hi to each other."

Save Rock Creek Hills Park!

What Paul Beck told the Board Monday night: "I invite you to reflect for a moment on our sense of betrayal."

Save Rock Creek Hills Park!

What I told the Board of Ed last night: "No wonder you don't want to talk about this."

Save Rock Creek Hills Park!

[Photo: Soccer yesterday in Rock Creek Hills Park, &

the Kensington Park retirement community.

Join park supporters on facebook ;

learn more at http://SaveRockCreekHillsPark.org. ]

Save Rock Creek Hills Park!

We have been writing here less often, NeuroCooking friends, because another topic has been occupying us lately, a great deal really, since the night of April 28th, when, out of the blue, something shocking and terrible happened.

In fact, ...

* * * * *

On second thought, we would prefer not to go into the matter here. However, we would like to take the opportunity to direct your attention to it.

And so, please, might we direct your attention to:

http://SaveRockCreekHillsPark.org

And to the facebook page "Save Rock Creek Hills Park".

Thank you for your understanding, and your interest.

Brown, Grey, & Green.

"Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing one sees."

- John Berger

Vincent Grey is the recently-elected Mayor of Washington, DC. During the campaign, candidate debates were regularly marked by another candidate, Mr. Sulaimon Brown, proclaiming "Vote Brown, vote Grey, vote any color you want, just don't vote [for incumbent Mayor Adrian] Fenty!"

After Mr. Grey took office, Mr. Brown was given a job in his administration, but was soon fired, when some facts about Mr. Brown's past came out.

Mr. Brown is now alleging that the Grey campaign had promised him a job, and provided him with financial support during the campaign, in return for his continued attacks on Mr. Fenty.

To support these contentions, Mr. Brown has made his cellphone records available to the Washington Post, which has assembled a data graphic summarizing calls between him and Mr. Grey, and between him and Mr. Grey's campaign chair, Ms. Lorraine Green.

We at NeuroCooking today celebrate the key, or graphical legend, to the Washington Post's fine data graphic:

on intercourse & distinctions

"Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness POSITIVELY by uniting our affections, the latter NEGATIVELY by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions."

-from Common Sense by Thomas Paine, 1776.

"Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing"

"While Warning About Fat, U.S. Pushes Cheese Sales" - New York Times.

Election Day!

Dear NeuroCooking friends who are Americans (and not convicted felons),

Please vote! It's important.

Thank you.

Ethical Storysharing

Story is not a commodity, to be taken from someone and given to someone else. Often, I help people find and share their stories, so that they can better share their stories or the story of their organization. I call this “listening in the service of telling” – as opposed to listening to better understand and craft solutions to organizational problems, for example. This kind of listening presents unique ethical challenges. I’m hoping to explore these challenges in greater depth at an upcoming panel, Ethical Storysharing for Social Change, at the South By Southwest conference. In preparation, I’ve been thinking about the following:

• Sometimes, the opportunity that you, as the story facilitator, are presenting to the storysharer may be his or her only chance to be heard.
• You are the sharer’s microphone.
• You may have more knowledge of the possible repercussions of a story being shared than the sharer does. You have an ethical obligation to protect the sharer.
• You must be clear as to whether there are any differences between your goals and the goals of the storysharer.