Liberty ~ Increasingly AWOL from US... WTF!

As this amazing country celebrates its birth -- an epic achievement made possible ~230 years ago by righteous, civic-minded, and wise men who despised and indeed fought the grotesque evil, "political correctness", and geopolitical stupidity of their day -- let's think earnestly about the subsequent violations of the US Constitution and seemingly neverending erosion of and painful decimation of hard-won liberties, including...

• Gerrymandering and Illegitimate Non-Representation 
• Illegitimate Warfare, Invasions, and Offensive Actions
• Unwarranted Searches and Seizures in both Physical and Digital Realms
• Unfunded Mandates, Conscription, and Similar Unconstitutional Equivalents to Slavery
• Taxation without Proper Representation or Proportionality including Rapacious Income and Wealth Taxation
• Criminalization of Victimless Vices including Drug Use, Prostitution, Gambling, etc 
• Unequal Treatment of Voting Age Citizens via Drinking, Smoking, Driving, and other Illegitimate Age-based Discriminatory Laws 
• Myriad Unconstitutional Impositions upon peoples Freedoms of Religion, Speech, Commerce, Migration, and Choice 
• An enormous Governmental Bloatocracy, endless Illegitimate Entitlements, and increasingly Outrageous Debt
• Absence of Reason, Facts, Evidence, Logic, and Thought in far too much of what the Government does

The list goes on and on and it's painful to recite all the evil incarnate that left and right wingnuts in office have perpetrated. It's urgent to return ASAP to the moral middle, the sensible center, the authentic pro-freedom libertarian core of America.

Get Out ~ Silveria on Racism, Sexism, Stupidism

USAF Lt Gen Jay Silveria speaks vigorously against racist slurs...

"If you can't treat someone with dignity & respect then get out"

P.S. As of 8 November 2017, BBC reports that it was a hoax -- Black US Air Force cadet 'wrote race slurs' on dorm doors. I wonder if they'll kick him or her out ASAP?

R.I.P. Paul E Gray ~ MIT President Emeritus...

Sad to hear MIT President Emeritus Paul Edward Gray has passed away at age 85. He was the Institute's iconic leader during my undergrad days, himself an alumnus and an exemplar of actual MIT Values. I got to know him much more through our Technology Breakfast entrepreneurship events, his work with MIT Planning Director Emeritus Bob Simha on Kendall Square residences for university affiliates, and his dozen-plus guest appearances in our Understanding MIT seminar.

Reflection & Reality ~ Making Tough Choices...

Given the state of leadership in the world today...

R.I.P. Paul Kangas ~ "The Best of Good Buys!"

Alas, Paul Kangas, the Walter Cronkite of business broadcasting has passed away. He started the broadcasting of business info. Indeed, others, like CNBC, “all started mimicking us.” “But as my wife, who is an artist, says,” he added, “the original is always the best.” I personally loved his panache and his epic and memorable signature signoff...

“Wishing all of you the best of good buys”

Gender Inequality ~ Global Gov't Leader Map...

The Economist's Daily Chart spotlights how Gender inequality goes right to the top...

"Around the world, women rarely get the top job. The World Economic Forum, a think-tank, has tallied data on women in power in 144 countries for the past 50 years. During that time period, just under two-fifths of the countries surveyed had a female head of state or government at some point for at least a year (excluding monarchs). In half of those countries, the total time served by female leaders falls short of five years, a common length of a single full term in office."

Understanding MIT ~ Crafting Our Creative Place!

My DUSP Campus Planning colleague Bob Simha and I are hosting our Understanding MIT seminar this Fall 2015 every Tuesday afternoon 4-6pm starting September 15th to survey research universities and how they work, with the Institute as our live-case study. Each week, we invite a different senior academic, administrative, or trustee leader of MIT (and at least one rep from our host-city Cambridge) to share with us what they do to help the Institute stay vital in the short, medium, and long term -- and ask what we can do to be pro-active in improving MIT as well.

This is part of my larger action-research agenda on understanding creative places and innovation ecosystems and is sister-class to our our Creative Places seminar and design workshop on Model Cities, both offered in the upcoming Spring 2016.

R.I.P. Lee Kwan Yew ~ Singapore City-Statesman

Strongman Lee Kwan Yew of Singapore has passed away at age 91. Leader of the modern city-state, Lee's achievements are perhaps best summed up by his autobiographical book title From Third World to First and the facts from this Economist infographic...

R.I.P. Edward Brooke ~ Black GOP Mass Senator

Very sad to hear that the groundbreaking Edward Brooke has passed away at age 95. He was not only the first African American popularly elected to the US Senate but did so as a Republican and a self-described "creative moderate" in Massachusetts. Read his Open Christmas Letter to the Racially Divided City of Boston from 1974.

Breastpump Hackathon ~ MomTech @ Media Lab!

Today's Day 1 of Breastpump Hackathon here at the MIT Media Lab has explored a wide range of prospective new, better, and alternative approaches to improved connections between babies and busy moms!

"The health benefits of breastfeeding (both to mother and baby!) are numerous and include the reductions of type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, female cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis. Despite the overwhelming data and worldwide endorsement of breastfeeding for at least two years, many women do not breastfeed at all or wean after several months. In particular, low-income, working women are rarely able to take extended maternity leave, to afford the cost of a pump, or to pump breastmilk at their workplace. In emerging economies around the world, women who go back to work wean their babies rather than using a breast pump."

There's lots of room for improvement and creative re-imagination of the current and prospective enabling technologies! Here's just a few of the key people -- Media Lab students, alums, and and friends, including many Moms and Dads -- who are making this goodness happen...

R.I.P. Kay Stratton ~ MIT's Gracious First Lady

The lovely and kind Catherine “Kay” Stratton, wife of MIT’s 11th President and a wonderfully gracious first lady, has alas passed away at age 100. I met her during my grad studies when she shared how she and her husband connected both newly arrived and senior faculty and linked interesting people with one another through regular dinner gatherings at the President's house. Mrs Stratton stayed very active well beyond her formal duties. Indeed, as MIT's News Office reports...

"In 1988, Stratton created the “Aging Successfully” lecture series at MIT to explore health topics of concern especially -- but not exclusively -- to an aging population. MIT created a Lecture on Critical Issues series in her honor in 1994, which has included such varied topics as Internet security, population growth, control of nuclear weapons, and microfinance."

She remains an inspiration for those of us seeking to make MIT a welcoming and gloriously creative place.

Understanding MIT ~ Crafting Our Creative Place

My DUSP Campus Planning colleague Bob Simha and I are hosting our Understanding MIT seminar again this Fall 2014 every Tuesday afternoon 4-6pm starting next week September 9th to survey research universities and how they work, with the Institute as our live-case study. Each week, we invite a different senior academic, administrative, or trustee leader of MIT to share with us what they do to help the Institute stay vital in the short, medium, and long term -- and ask what we can do to be pro-active in improving MIT as well. This is part of my larger action-research agenda on understanding creative places and innovation ecosystems and is sister-class to our MIT Cities Initiative design workshop on Changing Cities.

Undercover Bosses ~ Great Reality TV Show...

I've written about Undercover Boss before, but it's so good a concept that I had to spotlight a bunch of episodes again! And yes I know there's something a bit contrived about settings with video cameras, with bosses dispensing largesse (sometimes), and the inherent promotional nature of the show. Nevertheless, I do think it illustrates an important but otherwise near impossible connection between everyday employees and the top of these organizations. First, boss Ron Lynch from Tilted Kilt... Second, boss Joe DePinto from 7/11... Third, boss Don Fertman from Subway... Fourth, boss Dave Rife from White Castle... Fifth, boss Coby Brooks from Hooters... Finally, boss Larry O'Donnell from Waste Management...

African Holocaust ~ Rwanda Genocide 20 Yrs Ago

Two decades ago, extreme violence seized the small but densely populated African nation of Rwanda. Peacekeeping efforts were overwhelmed, the UN and outsiders were slow to act, many, many died. We're still not sure what lessons to draw from the whole experience. But at least it's worth remembering what happened. First, contemporary reports, for example, Nightline Rwanda 1994... Next, retrospective documentaries from a decade ago, including the Ghosts of Rwanda 2004... The overwhelmed UN General Dallaire whose memoir is tellingly titled Shake Hands with the Devil... President Kagame reflects on 20 years... Finally, amidst the craziness of that time emerged several remarkable protectors and heroes. The BBC's Mark Doyle tells of A good man in Rwanda, the Senegalese Captain Mbaye Diagne, a UN observer...

"This is the story of the bravest man I have ever met. [...] We will never know exactly how many people owe their lives to Mbaye. [He] was part of a small group who had been willing to risk their lives to save others. [Mbaye] had a sense of humanity that went well beyond orders, well beyond any mandate."

Remember Pearl ~ Surprise, Failure, & Lessons

Imperial Japan's infamous attack on US forces in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii 72 years ago today killed thousands and expanded WWII greatly. But it was such a surprise and so devastating largely because of unconcerned, inattentive, and incompetent intelligence, military, and government authorities, much like 9/11 sixty years later. Let that be the ultimate lesson:  visionary leadership, eternal vigilance, and creative ability are all three together paramount for civilization to survive the forces of malice and perfidy and indeed thrive towards human greatness, overcoming the evil irrationalities of colonial imperialism, religious fanaticism, and political collectivism.

R.I.P. Madiba ~ Alas Nelson Mandela is Gone...

Sad to hear South Africa's Nelson Mandela has passed away.

Executive Suite ~ Epic Film's Boardroom Finale!

Here we revisit the climactic finale scene from one of my favorite films, the 1954 entrepreneurial epic Executive Suite, where the young VP R&D Don Walling (played by William Holden) prevails in a boardroom battle royale over VP Finance Loren Shaw (played by Frederic March). Asks Walling: Why do men work? His answer: Pride!

Ibrahim Index ~ Econ on African Governance

The Economist spotlights the Ibrahim Index of African governance...

Understanding MIT ~ Crafting Creative Places!

My DUSP Campus Planning colleague Bob Simha and I are hosting our Understanding MIT seminar again this Fall 2013 every Tuesday afternoon 4-6pm starting next week September 10th to survey research universities and how they work, with the Institute as our live-case study. Each week, we invite a different senior academic, administrative, and trustee leader of MIT to share with us what they do to help the Institute stay vital in the short, medium, and long term -- and ask what we can do to be pro-active in improving MIT as well.

This is part of my larger action-research agenda on understanding creative places and innovation ecosystems and is sister-class to our MIT CityScience Design Workshop on Innovation Hubs.

Reshaping New York ~ Bloomberg's 12yrs Visuals

NYTimes has great story on and infographic visuals of Reshaping New York under Mayor Bloomberg...