Thanks sweety, for all the advice and unconditional love on this unorthodox journey.

After placing my order for a composite surface counter top (and calling for a ride home) my dog and I began a spiral search of the neighborhood for a repair shop. None were found, but I had an urban design epiphany. The corridor was 2 blocks deep and six blocks long. It consisted of small storefronts and light industrial spaces. One that could have been a grocery, several retail fronts, another perhaps the repair shop I needed, now shuttered. Behind these buildings were blocks of small houses. It had been a neighborhood with supporting services.

Any semblance of urban design/functional planning has long disappeared, replaced by city wide services attracted by low rents. Clearly the only local services are the AA and spiritual storefront ministries, also attracted by low rents. The “boulevard“I  reached was a cacophony of franchise stores, of the type one would expect to see on any major thoroughfare, in every town USA. The closest grocery store, which I patronized, was about 15 blocks away from my situational neighborhood. I’ll be having my car towed about 5 miles for repair tomorrow.

I’ve lived equally in large cities and small towns, and in places that might better be characterized as villages. Village life has a completeness that is more difficult to approach in city dwelling, if we recognize the concept of carbon footprints. It’s something easily ignored if you’r in a higher economic bracket. Village (local) life is more efficient than big box life.You end up spending less on going and more on living.

This concept might be construed as damaging to economic growth and design sophistication, the latter with which I’ve been committed for my entire professional realized life. I disagree. Demand would encourage local craftsmen to increase their skills. The concept of local services need not be consigned to big box national enterprises.

Designers will be challenged in new ways and provide us with products and services that are regionally focused.

We might perhaps begin to focus on the places we live and start to demand services that don’t force us to drive 20 miles in snow conditions to find the just perfect countertop for our kitchen.

Advantages of technology and fighting strength do not necessarily create a winning strategy. There haven’t been any huge battles in the campaign, as the combatants are fighting different war strategies. The insurgent groups are practicing guerilla tactics, which prove highly effective against conventional forces.

I make no argument against the effort to neutralize al-Qaeda, however, the action must be fought equally with an army of economists. The collapse of the buildings in New York, facilitated by terrorists armed with box cutters, has led to a worldwide economic recession. Wars are not financed just by ideology though.

Complainers who compare Afghanistan to the American War in Vietnam are fundamentally wrong. Vietnam posed no threat to America. Vietnam was a failed ideological campaign. The US government was the invading force, taking a moral/political stand against communist expansion. That part of the comparison rings true. Allowing al-Qaida to grow is a real direct threat to much of the world. The US had a force of 550,000 at the peak of the war, and couldn’t win. There was never a definition of victory.

We’re eight years into another war. We elect politicians of various skill and experience to make decisions on such matters. Christian conservatism is an undeniable force in the western world. It influences culture and elections to a great degree.The tennents are not such as the majority of the population practices, nor believes. Pandering to voting blocs will always be an issue in the US political system. It’s a flaw in democracy. Money for advertising usually wins elections, so candidates court the interest groups.

It’s a dismal situation. I believe a philosophic economist will provide the winning solution, not a military general, or a heretic preacher.

We plow this high plains with a shallow plow, knowing that we’ll never belong or be welcomed beyond superficiality by most. I have a lot of experience with Christian doctrine, baptised, and like most folk of Scandinavian extraction in the US, raised as a lite Lutheran.

We were a traveling family, much like the Roma, except by continents; a certain path to being outside the common culture. It was also a life lesson for me in acceptance of differences in beliefs. It was never a boiled matter of right or wrong.

I’ll continue my life of acceptance, exercise tolerance when possible, and remember this place as very dark and foreboding. Its path seems unalterable.

“We must never assume that which is incapable of proof.” -Unknown (via Guy Arceneaux)

Perry failed to deploy a federally funded program of high-tech security cameras, only managing to install 2 of the 100 devices. He’s called on the citizenry to monitor the cam feeds and report suspicious activity to the US Border Patrol.

This, from the guy who teases succession to wing nut extremists, and seems enamored by Sara Palin. While denouncing the  stimulus funds, Texas is one of the largest recipients of those grants. Being a tough on crime guy, he’s currently sitting on $90 million just for law enforcement.

Perry rejected $550 million in federal unemployment compensation funds on the basis of too many strings attached. I’m certain this is comforting to the 12% of Texans currently out of work (and options).

The ruggedly handsome (with really good hair) governor would seem to be practicing electioneering politics, pandering to the electorate. Scary Mexican drug lord violence is not spilling across the border into El Paso, of any of the other ports of entry. It is largely restricted to Ciudad Juarez and Nuevo Laredo. Perry would have the white citizenry of Austin and Dallas believe the issue is akin to the killer bee invasion. It’s been over 30 years since that lab accident in Brazil, and still only incidental threats exist.

Perry is a great white hope. Texans will see at least one more white guy, or the likely gal leader. It is my hope that people of Hispanic decent will be governing Texas in the very near future. It’s also my hope that those leaders are not flattened into neo-conservative fundamentalist Christian shills before that happens. Texas could be great!

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The US has made a mess of the War on Terror through conduct of large military invasions of Middle East countries. al Qaida is not a country, nor an army to conquer. Pakistan next? The invading forces may kill off the first, second, or third ranking leaders incidentally, but has it made the West safer? Have we done anything to address the ideology? There will be new leaders, first, second, and thirds, also new incidents in the West.

Where are the best rational minds of these times?

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Computers and associated sophisticated software, along with the penetrating integration into our daily life, has fundamentally changed how we interact with each other. Television news and printed newspapers are no longer the primary source for world and local information. Information (and news) is gleaned from new media sources.We interact and form friendships without necessarily being place or time bound (radio is a separate concept for another discussion).

My career in distance learning has put me through many interviews. The positions I applied for were always management, with a large component of the position being a hands on leader. This usually meant that the candidate would be expected to fill in as the Instructional Designer (twice in my career). Mostly the successful candidate would be the one thatt could convince faculty that they wouldn’t need to change their methods too much when wading into technologically mediated instruction. In fact, perhaps it would be easier than showing up on campus to deliver lectures.

Clearly the time is now for ID’ s to fill the important void of designing, identifying and proving new learning paradigms, extending their expertise to the field of learning design. You’re already qualified to make significant  contributions, by virtue of seeing both sides of the teaching and learning puzzle.

Be sure to reach out to K-12 for foundation work!

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I arrived along with a new president determined to guide it in the difficult transition to a new LMS and a broad implementation of classroom technology.

Having a record of success in guiding pedagogical change at my last two postings at community colleges, it seemed not a great leap to apply these skills to a university environment. The assumption was wrong. The departmental leadership melted down within the first 2 years and both principals were gone. Oversight and direction of distance learning was given to academic committee, and my department was reassigned to various "duties", in my case, classroom technology infrastructure.

It’s a little more hands on objects than I signed on for, but I’m coping. My forte, which was the main reason they hired me, is training as a change agent. Many faculty still approach me for advice and training in technology matters.

Certainly, part of my frustration has to do with the perception that faculty just rejected new technologies and didn’t want to participate in formal training sessions. I complained about this in a previous post some time ago. A former faculty member at the university kindly reminded me that in addition to teaching, faculty have pressure of committees, research, publishing, etc towards achieving tenure, or just plain good standing as an associate. I’ll get nowhere with that argument. Point well taken.

I’ll likely close out my educational career in a couple years with mixed feelings about this matter. Seems they wanted a head-knocker for the position, rather than a compassionate guide. I don’t view it as a weakness, but the approach clearly didn’t fit the frenetic business model.

When did universities become businesses?

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I’m putting my pundit faith in the premise that she is going to be a media spokesperson somehow connected with Rupert Murdoch, eventually descending to some outlet of Fox Sports evening wrap, after failing to generate interest/ratings against Rachel Maddow on MSNBC.

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All the chest thumping bravado by conservatives is just a public show, largely election posturing. Behind the scenes, security agencies and the military are certainly planning for scenarios like a missile package aimed at Alaska, or worse yet, Seoul. We are technically still at war with North Korea. South Korea is entirely dependent on the US for its defense.

Kim Jong Il is ill, and if the history of the regime holds true to convention, leadership will be transferred to the twenty-something second son of the dictator. Intelligence on the hermit nation is difficult to acquire. It’s likely to be messy. A rain of fire?

Iran is a less urgent security matter. Mostly we are rooting for a change in leadership, but any change in the election results will result in little change for the culture. The Ayatollah and his council still calls the shots. The last time the US meddled in Iran ended poorly. The Shah was viewed as a puppet leader.

President Obama is rightly carefully measured in his public comments about the election results and aftermath in Iran. The US has a proven  negative reputation in the arena of cultural imperialism. Our government has installed rogue leaders in several Central and Latin American countries, Vietnam, and notably Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Cuba didn’t work out so well either with Batista.

The up tick of urban bombings in Iraq does not bode well for the planned urban withdrawal of American security forces. Bad in, bad out apparently.

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