Smart Communities

Edward M. Kennedy (1932-2009)

There is only one story to report on today and that is the life of Edward M. Kennedy. A lion of the Senate, Kennedy died last night at age 77. However the stories in the media this morning brush past the details of his death to the magnitude of his life's work--a voice for the those who couldn't speak for themselves or weren't listened to when they spoke. He had his detractors and critics and his fair share of mistakes but the sum of his life was service and no one can deny that. 

I shook his hand in 1971 as a freshman student at The University of Alabama. He was a national figure then and he is today. My guess is that the word of the day would be his--the work must go on.

Goal: Let's Confuse as Many People as Possible

I want to rename the last few weeks of summer referred to as the "dog days" to the "bewildering weeks." I say this because of there is a swirl of controversial information all around us on many things but particularly health care reform and the stimulus. The information provided is a long way from what is correct or incorrect. It is more about how it is "spun" in the media, how people read the same information with different lens and experiences, and who you listen to on the radio and television. In other words, how are citizens able to get a straight answer these days? Some people make their living through misinformation; others have their own biases substantiated by myth; and still others see the world myopically beginning and ending with their own interests. An article on the impact of the federal stimulus on bostonglobe.com is a perfect example. The Democrats say that it has had a significant impact in creating and restoring jobs; the Republicans say that it hasn't. Now I know that cause and effect are sometimes hard to pinpoint but there must be some objective measure that we could use to determine where the stimulus was a factor in job creation. Ple---ase.  

I agree with Neal Gabler's contention in the LA Times that the non-partisan, non-biased voice on health care and other hot button issues has to be the media. Instead of fueling the flames of the extremists on both sides, just tell us what it will cost, who will pay, and what it will do to my expensive but good existing health coverage. Newspaper subscriptions and sales have been down. If newspapers want to be the leading voice again--then lead. Help us understand this. 

A New Twist on Urban Farming

Traditional farms have been hit hard by everything from globalism to bad weather over the last couple of decades. There is, however, not a decline in the demand for or need for food particularly in urban areas. This article on vertical farming in urban buildings is well worth reading and pondering. As we advance the conversation on urban farms and greening generally this is an interesting concept to put in the mix.

Happy Birthday Hawaii

Today is the 50th birthday of statehood for Hawaii. Paul Theroux has written an engaging op-ed on the the state and its traditions for the New York Times. I was particularly interested in the article because of work the Pew Partnership did there a decade ago. In our early leadership work, the Pew Civic Entrepreneur Initiative, Honolulu joined with nine other cities to recruit and engage new leaders in the future of the city and the state. The lessons we learned through that project still hold true. It was the forerunner to LeadershipPlenty.

We met some remarkable people in that time and began to learn about the culture that Theroux describes. It is rich and deep. I also learned of the challenges of separation from the mainland in terms of costs of goods and sometimes access in general. There are significant social problems in the state from poverty to health care. There is a concern about the eroding of native culture and language. In other words, it is complex and glorious setting that has greatly enriched the life and culture of its 49 siblings.

Trying to Understand the Health Care Debate

I am trying to understand the health care debate from all perspectives for several reasons. This is really slow news time on anything else and I can't quite figure out why it is evoking such passion from people who will be covered anyway. You would think that the passion would come from the people who don't have it. Go figure.

Here is an editorial that I found very reasoned and interesting from the former head of Medicare/Medicaid in Massachusetts. I think we need to step back a bit on this debate and get the facts out in the open in a more non-partisan way. The talks shows have spun the issue so many times, I am not really sure who to believe. However I heard a story last weekend that put it all in perspective. A person I know quit her job. Because she and her husband had some pre-existing conditions--thyroid for her--she could not find cheaper insurance to carry them between jobs. She was forced to COBRA her insurance from her previous employer at the tune of over $900 per month. Yikes!

Stress Needs Summer Respite

A new study reported on by the New York Times says that prolonged stress can cause our brains to take on a self-defeating posture and cause serious health problems. According to the journal, Science, a team from the University of Minho in Portugal found that stress caused rats' brains to change. In short hand, their ability to have goals, as in eating or pushing the bar when they wanted a pellet, was replaced by repetitious, autopilot behavior. The good news is that this can be reversed. Humans who show signs of this tendency to almost shut down can relax and thus rejuvenate their cognitive abilities to try new things and by the way improve their blood pressure, heart rate, and fight off diabetes and Alzheimer's disease more effectively. "Rats who had just four weeks of "vacation" were able to innovate, discriminate, and lay off the food bar."

OK folks we have three weeks left until Labor Day. Try something new, learn something about your community, or try to rid yourself of one source of stress. As author Ellen Glasgow said, "The only difference between a rut and a grave are the dimensions."

Health Care Reform--not a lost cause

Four physicians have taken a look at health care reform in three communities--Cedar Rapids, Portland, and Asheville--

and have a clearer picture of what can be done to lower costs and extend care. Nothing in their findings has to do with rationing that I could read. I am not sure where I come out on the health care reform debate but I know for sure that fear mongering is not what we need. We need to know what really works and these doctors have given us a glimpse of what is actually working in real time.

While this kind of study is just the beginning, it is more concrete than the war of words that is dominating local forums and the airwaves. We have known that we must address the rising costs of health care and the lack of coverage for decades. But like every difficult discussion, we just skirt the edges. 

The best thing that the Obama Administration and Congress can do is to look at what is already working and discuss those ideas so that people can understand what reform would mean to their community and for their families.

Woodstock?--Not exactly

My teenage son asked me this week why I didn't go to Woodstock. When I repeated his question to my sister she said," did you tell him that we couldn't afford it, our father would not have let us, and we really never considered it?" Well I didn't say that exactly. My reply to him was a mumbled, "it was too far away." Well there is truth to that but in reality I watched it from afar with interest not envy. I was only 17 then with a summer job. Woodstock seemed very far away from my reality and something that college kids from the northeast were doing. But I was interested and have stayed interested all these years. Of course we hear most about the conditions--drugs, sex, and unisex bathing--but there was also wonderful music of course and a great feeling I am told. But to be truthful, I am not sure what that great feeling was all about. Was it freedom from convention? Was it a feeling of change and possibility? Was it a feeling of trust of strangers you do not know but feel safe with in a specific time and place? I am not really sure.

In this morning's Washington Post, Jeanne McManus, talks about Woodstock and why she didn't go. She does a beautiful job of describing life then when things were a little less complicated. Her last line is something like, "she could use a little Woodstock in her life." I think I know what she means. For me, Woodstock does represent love--not free love--but a caring of your fellow man and woman that is public. That is, it thinking about the implications of injustice, poverty, and racism even it doesn't affect you....and doing something about the wrongs that face us. It is also about trust in others to do the ethical thing. We have lost some of that and that is not old age talking. 

Addition:

A wonderful memoir of Woodstock was written by Gail Collins and published in the 8/15/09 edition of the New York Times. 

Eunice Kennedy Shriver--1921-2009

The death yesterday of Eunice Shriver touched many of us. Although I never met her, I admired her so much. The Special Olympics has given thousands of children and adults with developmental challenges an opportunity to excel in sports of all sorts. It has also given volunteers and contributors a chance to invest in an effort that has touched families and communities for decades.

Following the Kennedy mantra of "to those that much is given, much is expected," she certainly met the challenge. She found her niche and never gave up or tired of it. Mrs. Shriver is a great example for all of us. Don't stand around and wish it were so or wring your hands over injustice, get in the game.

My son was a counselor at a summer camp for developmentally challenged young people this summer and last. It was a wonderful experience for the campers but an even more profound one for the counselors. For those of us lucky enough to attend the camp talent show or hear the traveling band and chorus, we saw only young faces expressing themselves in the most glorious way. That is what I saw this morning when I looked at Eunice Shriver's picture in the paper--a face and a person expressing herself in a glorious way.

Newspapers Still Here

As you have read in this column over the last year, newspapers are in trouble. We have lost some of our best-known ones and others are bleeding red ink. But the Seattle Times is bucking the trend for now. While the community has gone from two daily papers to one, that one--the Times--seems to be weathering the storm. That is good "news" for an industry that is competing with the Web, lack of interest, and the cuts that are overburdening the staff who remain. It is also good news for us as citizens and readers. We need a non-biased press. With the talk show radio and TV venom and partisanship that is spewed daily on both sides of the political spectrum, people need to know the facts so they can decide for themselves if the health care reforms will ever work or if the economy is coming back or what is happening in the world. One of the genre that is doing pretty well however are community newspapers.

A couple of years ago, Time magazine had a very good article on this subject. I remember years ago, a person saying that the day would come when we wished for the daily news that we could hold in our hands, come back to later in the day, and see the local sales. This wish sounds, smells, and looks like a daily newspaper to me.

The American Journalism Review has lots to say on the say on the subject also. This piece is an excellent assessment of other sources of media and how they stack up to newspapers. I, for one, hope that we see a resurgence of the big papers. We need them now more than ever.