Fascinating article in the New York Times about the norther area of Somalia where people have built peace in an incredibly turbulent region by mixing indigenous governance with democratic participation, using elders and tribal leaders to harness attachment to clans AND to transcendent principles such as independence and peace. Some quotes: “You can’t be donated power,” said Dahir Rayale Kahin, the president of the Republic of Somaliland, which has long declared itself independent from the rest of Somalia. “We built this state because we saw the problems here as our problems. Our brothers in the south are still waiting – …
Ethan Zukerman is blogging from the TED conference. THe opening keynote was from Carolyn Porco who showed this amazing picture of Saturn eclipsing the Sun. Ethan write about the moon Enceladus: More amazing is Enceladus, a much smaller moon, about the tenth of the size of Titan. She shows Enceladus as if it were hovering over Britain (it’s not a threat, she promises” – the moon is roughly the size of England and Wales. It’s got a white, fractured surface lined by geological and tectonic activity. The amazing part of Enceladus is the South Pole, where these white …
I was in Victoria Tuesday and Wednesday and, in addition to working, found out a few other things about my regular routine there: Tuesday’s there is an Irish session (with some other tunes) at the Bent Mast Pub in James Bay. It’s a very friendly session, and a nice social scene. My new friend Jonathan took a few pictures of our tijme together on Tuesday including the one above of me. we even had a dancer join us. The best place for lunch on the whole planet bar none is daidoco. It is a little Jaanese place tucked into Nootka …
participatorybudgeting.org ParticipatoryBudgeting.org is a companion site to the book, Militants and Citizens, and a general resource site on participatory budgeting. (tags: participatorybudgeting democracy organization) Participatory Budgeting Project — Resources This page contains papers, links, and other information about research and other projects related to participatory budgeting that are being developed throughout the world. (tags: participatorybudgeting democracy) Porto Alegre Participatory budgeting virtual library Articles and books in English, Spanish and Portugese (tags: participatorybudgeting democracy organization) AmbientMusicGuide.com – A Guide To Essential Ambient & Downtempo Albums Including some great fortnightly 2 hour mixes. From the host of Ultima Thule (tags: ambient music …
Openly musing today on wondering what it might look like for participatory budgeting to be deployed for an Aboriginal governance authority responsible for child and family services. The work we are doing on Vancouver Island is about building the capacity of the community to be the owners of the child and family services in their communities. We are about to do an Art of Hosting training here with 40 or so community members to build the leadership capacity of the local communities, but I was thinking today, after having dinner last night with my friend Donna Morton, who knows much …