The Swapping Continues...

Many of Threeow's readers know about my lovely wife Emily's significant involvement in the national foodswapping movement. Along with great friend and insigator/conspirator Bethany R., she was instrumental in founding PDX swappers, one of the most influential and media covered swapping groups in the nation. Their story has been filmed by Cooking Up a Story, covered by HuffPo, mentioned by the NY Times, and has been significant in inspiring and equipping similar events and community organizing nationwide.

If you're coming late to the party, food-swapping is a currency free exchange of homecrafted food, beverages, goods and services. 

Kindle Fire Ignites Security Concerns

With Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet shipping today, many consumers are talking about the tablet's hyped features and low price tag. While I'm sure that the Fire will bomb the market as a low cost iPad alternative, and e-reader on steroids, what's far more interesting to me are the many security and privacy concerns integral to the tablet's new Silk web browser.

In the words of Steve Vaughan-Nichols over at ZDNet "Silk looks to be very fast and about as private as a bathroom stall without a door."

Our "Kill Team" and the Death of Humanity

photo credit

Let me begin a difficult Veteran's Day Post by thanking any individual veterans or families who may read this for undergoing difficulty in support of national defense. Though I dissent strongly with America's military philosophy and culture, I do not forget the individual men and women who frequently put themselves in harm's way.

I've been following the trial of Sgt. Calvin Gibbs and his "Kill Team" ever since the story broke some time ago.

Gibbs was convicted of the murder and mutilation of Afghan civilians during a tour of duty with the 5th Stryker Brigade - a platoon described as "out of control" by prosecutors. The evidence bears that description out, with widespread drug use, abuse of Afghan remains, and suppression of whistle-blowers.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Gibbs pleaded that in many cases, after he murdered a civilian and staged their corpse, he cut off their fingers as trophies. Why? In his own words he was "disassociated." "It was like keeping the antlers off a deer you'd shoot."

War creates killers, there's no arguing that. I'm sure that we all can relate stories from family members or friends who have seen combat. But sometimes the violence exceeds even the standards of battlefield ethics. I've heard descriptions many times of sociopathy in war, whether in the Ardennes, Mai Lai, or Baghdad. The pressures of combat encourages the abandonment of social norms and ethics. Even good men do terrible things.

A Rant about Hands and iPads

I recently caved and sort-of joined Twitter. (I'm sorry, self-respect).

It was almost worth selling my soul, though, to find a tweet from landscape architect/good friend @bethanyrydmark. She shared an excellent essay with her followers by Bret Victor, titled "A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design." (Link to full piece below).

Victor puts into words a sentiment that I've felt for a long time, but lacked language to express. Contemporary visions of the future (he highlights a particular ad campaign) portray the future of interactive design as a world where humans manipulate images under glass.

The problem? "...This vision, from an interaction perspective, is not visionary. It's a timid increment from the status quo, and the status quo, from an interaction perspective, is actually rather terrible."

Zoobombing the BBC

Bike Pile!

The BBC recently highlighted Portland in their "Close Up" series. What got their attention? The robust and wild local tradition of ZOOBOMBING. Participants careen down the West Hills, at night, on souped up children's bikes that they store in the bike pile seen above, outside Rocco's pizza on 10th Ave.

What about this seems like a good idea? EVERYTHING.

Full video after the jump on the BBC's website.

Photo Credit

END OF ROCKTOBER!!! Z is for Zappa

Frank Zappa, rabidly original guitar blasphemer, brings the august month of ROCKTOBER to a close.

Zappa's musical perfectionism and compositional talents served a brain that was iconoclastic, crude, wildly inventive, and completely unique.

His legacy extends beyond music as an outspoken advocate of free speech, taking a firm personal stand against censorship - including offering senate testimony against the PMRC in 1985.

Low Tech Education in Silicon Valley

 

A recent piece in the New York Times highlights a Waldorf School in Los Altos, CA. Like other educational institutions and philosophies that share values with the Waldorf system, the vast majority of learning methods and resources are low tech, and low profile. Hands on learning is facilitated by a wide variety of methods. Ideas are captured on paper with old fashioned pens by students, on blackboards by teachers. There is a marked absence of computers.

So should it surprise us that top executives and other employees from eBay, HP, Google, Apple, and Yahoo send their kids here? In fact, 3/4 of parents work in the tech industry.  It feels like it should.

Mike Richtel from the Times comments:

"Schools nationwide have rushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policy makers say it is foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found at the epicenter of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have a message: computers and schools don’t mix."

Rocktober Alphabet: Y is for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Indie rock power trio the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a rockable, danceable mix of rough cut lyrics, great guitar work, and enough attitude to shake up every indie shoegazer who ever tried to pull a Ben Gibbard into an open-mike night PA.

Rocktober Alphabet: X is for the X-Ray Spex

The X Ray Spex, classic and influential late 70's punk rockers, came to light again this year. After the death of talented lead singer Poly Styrene in April, people have been rediscovering the group's music, especially their best (really only) album, Germ Free Adolescents.

Harsh, grating, charismatic, inventive, the group's dynamic presence shaped punk in its formative days. And they still sound really, really good. 

(photo credit)

Top 3 Most Invasive "Patriot Act" Provisions

10 years after the passing of the Patriot Act, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has put together a "Greatest Hits" collection of the Act's most invasive and dangerous elements.

In case you've been living in a bunker since 2001, the Patriot Act is a collection of

"...decidedly unpatriotic principles barred by the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution. Provisions of the PATRIOT Act have been used to target innocent Americans and are widely used in investigations that have nothing to do with national security."

Take the time to read the full article at EFF.

Via BoingBoing

Rocktober Alphabet: W is for The White Stripes

The most dynamic, haunting rock of my generation, Jack and Meg White brought roots-blues, American myth, biblical imagery, and garage punk noise noise noise to their fans.

Cultivating a southern gothic personal mystique, the pair made more genuine rock with just drums and a guitar than most full bands could dream of. Though they've broken up (as of February, '11), It's going to take people a very long time to forget about their music.

Shane Claiborne on Jesus and OWS

Out of Ur published author and activist Shane Claiborne's thoughts on the "Jesus-ness" of the OWS movement. Claiborne's is a refreshing perspective, that grounds the important action of OWS protesters and advocates in a larger - and compelling - theological context.

Shane writes

"One of the constant threads of Scripture is “Give us this day our daily bread.” Nothing more, nothing less. Underneath this admonition is the assumption that the more we store up for tomorrow the less people will have for today. And in a world where 1% of the world owns half the world’s stuff, we are beginning to realize that there is enough for everyone’s need, but there is not enough for everyone’s greed. Lots of folks are beginning to say, “Maybe God has a different dream for the world than the Wall Street dream.” 

Maybe God’s dream is for us to live simply so that others may simply live. Maybe God’s dream is for the bankers to empty their banks and barns so folks have enough food for today."

Maybe, Shane. Well said.

Read the full article at Out of Ur.com

(Photo credit)

Rocktober Alphabet: V is for Eddie Vedder

Eddie Vedder, frontman of Pearl Jam, is the quintessential alt-rock frontman. Angry, intense, loud, with a narrative, confessional style, Vedder helped propel alt-grunge into the mainstream of 90's music.

Outspoken, brash, human, difficult, Vedder is talented, opinionated, and raw.

Mobile Chapel of Love (Video)

My friend (ex-coworker and member of infamous rogue yarn group The Crotcheteers) Mary S. is highlighted in this video by OregonLive.

Mary runs the Mobile Chapel of Love, a Portland icon of... well, love. The bike powered chapel performs both legally recognized and above-the-law weddings, to anyone or anything you'd like.
Or rather, that you'd love... be that a bike, a Voodoo Donut, or the City of Portland.

Our marriage culture is more polarized than ever in America. As we (at the best of times) humbly discuss, and (worst of times) rant vitriolically about what marriage is and what makes it holy, let's take a minute to enjoy this. Whatever your views, it's a unique visual representation of something every husband or wife knows: much of your marriage is made of what you bring to it. 

Rocktober Alphabet: U is for U2

I will follow...

The boys from Dublin have rocked better, for far longer than any other band in history. But it's not their longevity or prolific, quality output that earn them a spot in Paul's Rocktober Alphabet.

They stand out for the depth of their lyrics, the pounding, huge sound, the breadth and height of what rock music can be. Dynamic, intimate, poetic, angry. U2 rocks with more than  rebellion, more than raw sexual energy. Rather, they speak the truth about humanity's beauty and brokenness, with honesty, dignity, and hope.

The Vatican on Fiscal Theology and Financial Reform

A City on A Hill

Global Money and Human Flourishing

Released today, the Vatican's document on Global Financial Reform is an interesting and inadequate proposal for worldwide financial overhaul.

Phillip Pullella of the National Post summed up some key talking points of the paper:

“The economic and financial crisis which the world is going through calls everyone, individuals and peoples, to examine in depth the principles and the cultural and moral values at the basis of social coexistence,” it said.

It condemned what it called “the idolatry of the market” as well as a “neo-liberal thinking” that it said looked exclusively at technical solutions to economic problems.

“In fact, the crisis has revealed behaviors like selfishness, collective greed and hoarding of goods on a great scale,” it said, adding that world economics needed an “ethic of solidarity” among rich and poor nations.

In addition to this, the paper articulates a strong ethic of Christian involvement for the common good:

Coffee Break Commentary: Why I Bank Local

Safer than a sock under the mattress!

An ancillary benefit of the Wall Street occupation has been to bring attention to the benefits of keeping your money local.

Though attention was given to the "move your money" concept during the 2008- 2009 meltdown process by the HuffPo and others, we're hearing it again as protests and general grumpiness about our fat and shattered system continue.Now may be the time for a personal exodus  from Wall Street finance to community banking.

My family switched to a local credit union several years ago.  

We've experienced several benefits after moving our money from one of the Big Six banks to a local credit union:

Rocktober Alphabet: T is For Townshend

Who?

Pete Townshend. Though blessed and cursed to live in the age of the Great Guitar Gods (Page, Hendrix, Clapton, Beck), Pete Townshend never felt himself the searing lead guitarist that a late sixties rock band demanded. His technique and "upward" lead abilities simply could not compete.

So he created his own kind of music.

Rocktober Alphabet: S is for Patti Smith.

Gritty godmother of punk, people still don't know what to do with Patti Smith. She's rough, artistic, sacred and profane.

Her sheer poetic force, lyrical originality, and dark charisma hypnotize me.

You need to be in the right mood for her albums, I'll admit it.
But there will never be anyone like Patti Smith.

Start with Horses.

OWS as "Post-political" Movement

Party on?

Occupy Wall Street's recently released survey data/overview of their supporters observes that over 70% of respondents self identified as politically independent.

Whatever your view of the movement - supportive, opposing, or apathetically cynical- the data reflects the fact that whatever the long range impact of the OWS movement will be, it is safe to claim that it is a major milestone in the breakdown of American two-party politics.