Nine Shift

What's good about General Motors?

What's good for General Motors is good for the country.

That was the phrase Americans stood by, or drove by, for the last 50 years. *

Today, however, some 46% of auto analysts believe the number 1 U.S. employer of the last century cannot continue to thrive. Some don't think it can even survive.

So what is GM's grand plan to return to glory?  (Hint: It's not good for the country.)

1. Reduce or eliminate what created the middle class and American prosperity: good benefits for its workers.

2. Destroy the world sooner than ever by focusing more on SUVs and other gas guzzler- high polluting cars.

* The actual quote, made by a GM executive in the 1950s, was "what's good for the country is good for GM," but it got turned around and commonly accepted (and approved).

We Cry Wolf

Last weekend driving up north, we saw a wolf.

A huge, beautiful wolf. That night Julie went online and from the DNR map, identified it from the Lost Lake Pack #26.

Stats:
Almost 400 wolves in Wisconsin today.
Forty years ago = no wolves.
Number of people killed by wolves in the entire history of the U.S. = 0.

There is a relationship, somehow, between technology and nature.  The more we go online, the more we appreciate nature. 

Here's the map of wolf packs in Wisconsin. The one we saw was very near the top (northern most) red dot on the map.

The Hot Issues are not

While everyone is excited and focussed on today's HOT issues, they in fact are not. 

They are merely symbolic of the bigger, less sexy, issues that are fundamentally changing society.

So argue on, you baby boomers  (most of the HOT issue arguments seem to be argued both pro and con by baby boomers, the generation of the last century).

100 years ago, there were HOT issues too, like silver vs. gold, prohibition, and of course evolution.

Today's HOT issues:
* Stem cell research
* Gay marriage
and fascinatingly,
* Evolution! 

Behavior-based grades

Julie Coates has come up with a terrific way of describing the current disaster with grades in schools.

Behavior-based grades = grades based on irrelevant behavior-related criteria.

Outcomes-based grades = grades based on knowledge competencies and what one has learned. 

Terrific work Julie.

Spare the rod

Even Laura Bush is concerned about the boys.

You have to credit the White House for great photos, like this one. We hope  First Lady Bush is sincere. The Bush ladies (Barbara was a national spokesperson for literacy) seem to have their efforts undercut by the Bush men. But their symbolic support is, well, symbolic.

Punishing boys for their late homework has produced the same results (drop outs, emotional distress, zero postive gain) as hitting the boys 100 years ago.

So it is intriguing that we've heard support recently for hitting boys again.  A recent letter to the editor in the St. Paul paper has the writer, an older man, citing his great job and achievements as helped by getting hit as a kid.  And we talked with a former teacher who noted wistfully he could "bop" the kids when he was teaching. 

Look for more of the "Spare the rod and spoil the child" regressive and punitive values being expressed.  For us, we say simply, "Spare the rod." 

Should parents control kids' web use?

YES, NO, YES.
Yesterday an Associated Press reporter called us and asked us some questions about parental control of kids' web use. 

Afterwards, I checked with our techie, who has a young son; and our teenage son. We all agree on the answers:

1. Should parents limit the number of hours their children spend online?
Answer: NO.

2. Should parents monitor web sites or install software to block certain sites?
Answer: Depends on the kid. If there is evidence s/he has gone to prohibited web sites, then
YES.

3. Should your child's computer be placed in an "open" area like the living room, so others presumably can see the screen.
Answer: NO.

Unasked questions:
* Should parents learn about the web from their kids? Answer: YES.
* Should parents relax and only worry if there is evidence? Answer: YES.
* Should parents limit their own isolating car usage and own isolating television usage?
Answer: YES.

Take heart (or not) Democrats

Republicans= congratulations on your electoral victories.
Democrats= if you are a progressive, take heart.  Change continues even under Republican election victories.

* One hundred years ago,  Republicans were in power in 12 out of 20 years between the change and transition years of 1900-1920  (and they were in power after 1920 as well, of course).  Nevertheless, social policies opposed even today by Republicans were enacted by society.

* Forty years ago, with Republican president Richard Nixon in power, American society still saw civil rights victories, peace-anti-war victories, and gay, environmental and feminist movements WIN big victories.

As Americans and American media continue to wrongly focus on elected leaders, keep in mind - -

The lesson: the transition to the 21st century proceeds regardless of elected leaders.  It would be helpful if our leaders moved us more quickly along of course......

Gates takes school debate to new level

'America's high schools are obsolete. By obsolete, I don't just mean that they're broken, flawed or underfunded, though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean our high schools even when they're working as designed cannot teach all our students what they need to know today.'

Bill Gates, who spoke the preceding words, opened up a new level in the 21st century versus 20th century debate over education. Thank you Mr. Gates.

* Obsolete word.
   The word "obsolete" is a devastatingly correct term. It is accurate.

* Even when they're working.
   As a parent sending his child to a terrific high school, Gates is once again entirely correct. 

* Gates didn't originate this.
  No way.  Many others, including us NineShifters, have been saying this for years. Slashdot cites the Gates story by prefacing it with "in-the-i-could-have-told-you-dept"

* Let the debate enter a new phase.
   The last-century folks have begun, beginning (unfortunately) with NY Times education reporter Diane Ravitch. Even higher schoolers themselves.   (We're so fair and balanced here, citing the obsoleters)
   Fortunately, the industrial-age high school supporters cannot win, and schools are changing even as they protest.

Yeah Gates, yeah you, yeah 21st century. 

Are parking lots endangered?

Well, we certainly hope so.

That's the title of an article in today's New York Times about New York parking lots being sold so developers can build big new apartment buildings.

It's a good trend.  Shift Number Five: Dense communities replace suburbs. And it is happening.

Am wondering what, if anything, the housing "bubble" bursting would do to this shift towards more people living downtown.

Unrelated "endangered" note: Julie and I saw a wolf on the way up north this weekend. From the Lost Lake pack #26, according to the DNR web page.  Huge, beautiful, one of only 400 in the state, but 400 more than were here 40 years ago. Yeah nature.

Intangibles key to our economic future

Well, the kids have done it again. This time they have discovered how to rescue the American economy.

News Item: a 22 year old has purchased a virtual island for $26,500 in real money. The virtual island exists only in an online game.

In the 21st century, a post-industrial economy such as that in the United States can and must transform itself from a material economy into an intangible economy.

The 22 year old Australian who purchased the virtual island produced several economically positive things for post-industrial countries like the U.S. But let's pretend he was an American.
1. The $26,500 went to the maker of the game, a U.S. based company, with U.S. workers. The money stayed in our economy. The money pays for U.S. workers.
2. The $26,500 did not go into tangible items made in China, so it does not contribute to our trade deficit. Instead, it helps lower the trade deficit.
3. Part of the money is used to sell the game to people in other countries, thus creating more income for the American company and more jobs.

As part of the game, the owner of the virtual island will sell "beachfront property" (all virtual) to others. That money then stays out of China. The beachfront owners hire architects to build virtual hourses.  The virtual island may seem bizarre and unreal, and its economic lesson equally unreal, but when applied to online movies, software, information and a host of other intangible products and services, the same positive economic outcomes occur.

Americans will not cease to buy tangible items from China. But $0.00 purchases is not the goal. And ceasing consumer expenditures is not the goal.  The goal is to cut tangible purchases down so they are balanced out by intangible purchases. Instead of buying 12 toy fire trucks, mom and dad buy 1-2 toys and then software, online games, online music and online movies for their kids.

Intangible products and services:

• Can and must be the primary business of American companies.
• Can be sold without a manufacturing intermediary.
• Can be sold internationally.
• Create high paying jobs for knowledge workers in the U.S. and other post-industrialized nations.
• Lower the trade deficit and restore a balance of trade.

Two good articles that explore the economic impact of this virtual transaction include Real Profits from Virtual Worlds in the Telegraph, and Jeffrey Harrow's thoughtful comments in "A Shadow Economy?"

Thanks kids