Nine Shift

Yes Santa, there IS a Virginia

Hardly anyone is listening to the boys today.

As we noted before, in covering the story about 2.0 million smart boys not in college each year, none of the journalists interviewed an impacted boy.  And the boys have the answers.

Kevin Kling, an Ojibwa storyteller from Minnesota, was on NPR this month and relayed this mind-blowing Ojibwa saying, "We need to listen to our young because they are closer in time to the Creator and thus remember more."

Belief is a two way street. It's not enough for Virginia to believe in Santa, it's just as necessary for those of us with white beards to believe in the Virginia's of the world.  Keep up your great work, kids. We'll try to listen harder.

Virtual facial expressions

From NineShifter Suzanne Kart: "I had an interesting thing happen this week in the business communications class that I am teaching this semester that I wanted to share with you. My students did presentations on "cultural communications." One 20-year-old male student did his presentation on the communications culture of online gaming. I don't know how much you know about this topic (I knew VERY little before the presentation), but people play games in virtual worlds on line. This is not online gambling, but online games. According to my student, 85% are male and most are between the ages of 19-24.

Anyway, in these worlds they are able to use different technologies to express themselves, because obviously they can't really see each other. They are basically working on virtual facial expressions (if I understood this kid correctly). The technology is evolving rapidly.

The reason that I thought this may be of interest is that 1) The Nine Shift addressed concerns over a perceived lack of "human interaction" for people working from home. 2) Your blog has talked extensively about how boys are ahead of everyone in technology. 3) I believe I heard you say that kids instinctively play at things they will need to know as adults. It occurred to me that these boys/young men are developing the technology to express themselves (better human interaction) in the virtual world through their "play." I even told this student that even though we don't know exactly what this means now, I would guarantee that in 10 years (5 years?) we will be able to draw a direct line from this developing technology used for play to the technology used for work."

Gas prices and where to live

Well, with high gas prices some Americans are reconsidering where to live.

Balancing the transportation-residence location question will be a major consideration for workers and families in the 21st century.  So far Americans are thinking only cars, but that is/will change to living close to mass transit.

In England, Philip Badman told me both he lives closer to the central city, so has less train fare to pay, but has a higher mortgage.  His daughter is planning to move further out, but she'll have greater train fare costs. Rethinking the trade-off is interesting. What are you thinking about the location of your current/future residence vis a vis transportation?

The good news about/for boys

The best thing about the recent media coverage on the boys issue is the formation of the Boys Project at http://www.BoysProject.net. 

It was formed this month  by an early advocate for boys, Judith Kleinfeld of the University of Alaska. She wrote the breakthrough article, "The Myth that School Short Changes Girls."  And turned us on to "Gender and Fair Assessment," an incredibly pioneering book with real facts and data.

Also, if you're looking for the big players on the boys issue, they are almost there as "founding board" members.  Keep up the great work Judith!

If only John Lennon had played football

The last two months have seen a barrage of phony news articles and nonsense opinions about the boys-education crisis.

While the stories are supposedly about 2.0 million smart boys who are missing from college each year, none of the reporters interviewed a single impacted boy!  This is like doing a story about hispanics and only interviewing white people.

* Shelly Copley in the Oregonian failed to interview a single boy and raised the inaccurrate idea that keeping boys down helps girls get better pay in the workplace. Her editor told me the story was "fair and balanced."

* Sara Mead at Education Sector denied there was a problem at all, then received so much email from mothers she as much retracted her "research," titled "The Truth about boys and girls." She couldn't answer two simple questions from me.

* John Tierney in the New York Times declared boys unmotivated and lagging behind girls in academic performance (both assertions wrong, unsupported by the data).

* Jacqueline King of the American Council on Education tried to cover-up the whole issue by saying race and income levels are a factor (they are not, the problem is just as acute in Norway and New Zealand, countries with few minorities and almost no income gap).

* And Bill Gates, John Lennon and other college drop outs would enjoy another proposed solution: more football teams! as a way of recruiting and retaining boys in college. 

Sadly lacking was any new evidence.  Sadly prevalent was a widely based gender bias and misinformation about the issue.

The Last Socialist

Frank Zeidler, the last socialist mayor of a big city in America, died this month at age 93.

He was so committed to public transportation he decided not to learn how to drive. A "sewer" socialist, he was mayor of Milwaukee from 1948 to 1960 and improved the city with projects (parks, schools, etc.) for the average citizen. I heard him speak in the early 1970s and had a long personal conversation later. He was as nice a person as they all say. (Frank Zeidler at election victory in 1948.)

Big shock: separate business relocation from jobs

Here's a big shock to economic planners and city job recruiters.  Moving a business to your city won't necesssarily mean relocating the company jobs to your town.  According to a NY Times story, more CEO's are moving (or back) to New York City than in decades.  "The trend is a turnabout from the urban exodus..." writes Patrick McGeehan. 

Corporate offices in New York City grew to 602 last year from 274 in 1990. But while the head office is moving to New York, the average number of jobs in those head offices declined to 78 from 127. All the other employees are staying in cheaper locations. The NIneShift lesson for today folks:  business relocation in this century does not mean job relocation. Just like the CEO is moving to his/her favorite city today, more knowledge workers will relocate wherever they please. Disconnecting the job from the business location-wise.

Football and the decline of America

Well, football as defined by 96% of the world's population.  What Americans call soccer.

There's been more talk about why Americans don't get football recently.  We're concerned about our lack of concern. And more people are tying America's poor interest, as well as play, with the larger social scene. One recent writer to the NY Times suggested that America's lousy showing at the World Cup reflected the decline of the U.S. globally. The only "world series" we can win is when only other Americans are playing. 

Jon Stewart had the best commentary on the U.S. loss to Ghana: "No shame for the U.S. We lost to one of southwest Africa's LEAST malnourished nations." 

A new book, Soccerheads, talks about the social implications. And another NYT letterwriter, Yu Jin Ko of Wellesley, Mass., observed, "Americans' sporting sensibilities have been molded by our industrial obsession with productivity."  That's pretty NineShifty, isn't it?  Two conclusions: * There's something to the relationship between society and football (soccer you say) worth exploring.  * America's isolation from the rest of the world is both symbollically and literally exemplified by our lack of participation in the sport of the 21st century.  The height of our ignorance - - the NPR reporter who interviewed someone from England and kept insisting and correcting the Brit when he referred to the sport as football.  We can't even get the name of the sport correct. What are your thoughts on socc, I mean football....

San Francisco leads the way - - again

Well, in addition to moving to trains and installing wireless downtown, it looks like the City by the Bay is leading us in another way as well - - universal health insurance.

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom wants his city to be the first in the nation to provide coverage for the uninsured.  In SF that's 82,000 people. In the USA, that's 45.8 million. Newsom the cost of the uninsured on hospitals and other care providers is too great.  More primary care will cut health costs. As Newsom puts it, "Let's not wait until the ulcer bursts to go to the doctor."  Two other interested quotes/trends from a recent USA Today story on it:

* No federal leadership. "This is a case of filling a vacuum at the federal level," says Stephen Shortell, dean of the school of public health at the University of California-Berkeley.

* Democrats no better.  "Shame on both parties. It's complete abdication of any real responsibility." Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Universal health care, an essential for the 21st century. Go Mayor Newsom. Go San Fran.

Eat up, it's Phillip Morris food!

"Not only does Phillip Morris make cancer sticks, but they lied about them for decades. Do you really trust them with your food?"

That's what Willie asked me the other day.  He's home from college, so I am re-starting my learning about the 21st century. He's my teacher. 

I had just bought some walnuts, very healthy, good for you. My criteria for purchasing: cheaper than the other walnuts on the store shelf. Then Willie pointed out that the walnuts I bought were coated with hydrogenated oil, which is bad for one's health.  And that led to his telling me about Conscious Consumerism, basically understanding more about what one is eating and the impact on the earth. Remember Mother Earth?   Co-worker and master gardener Debbie Barron also tells me that Monsanto and Dow Chemical are buying up rights to food, like seedless watermelon.  Makes one think a little before ordering a side of Monsanto, a helping of Dow Chemical, and a Phillip Morris desert to go with your entre, huh?  What are your thoughts about whether this is an issue or just inevitable uncontrollable fact of life?