A Campus Household

We're a long way from Animal House, in terms of our role in the Global U. This is a really studious crew.

TM took herself to the main Multhnomah County Library on the bus, to get books on the American jury system, jury nullification and Constitutional law being foci these days, as well as the impact of new technologies on Supreme Court decision making.

LW was immersed in a video on the violent labor history of Colombia, the role of paramilitary groups. She also cooked some ethnic dishes, getting creative with our spices.

I finished cleaning the freezer in the basement, and pumped out more Rad Math, cuing for an Alice in Wonderland reference on math-teach. Much earlier this morning, at the hospital, I did some programming for a client, or should I say studied some programming a client had done. This evening, I read up on Python 3.1.2, some of the new features.

I'm not sure what NC was up to, but then scholarship is his way of life, even when he's camping out somewhere.

We're not entirely in our own little worlds.

TM and I talked about the Internet and Wikipedia. She's quite aware of how shoddy and poorly organized are so many Internet sources, compared to what you might find in books. She appreciates blogs for being better than average, because here people put their names on the line and tend to want to be taken seriously, do more homework. I recounting some of my travails writing for Wikipedia, on that Synergetics article in particular. She was happy to hear Lionel had been involved, remembers his visit fondly.

I watched most of the Colombia video with LW, with TM catching part of it.

NC and I discussed the Iranian situation again, more of the usual global grid talk (we're both World Game veterans from when RBF was better appreciated, another radical we've both studied).

I consented to run the heater for a short while, cleared the idea of mowing the lawn with LW. Other household decisions happen collectively.

Given the nightmare of history, I'm eager to spread a knowledge worker aesthetic and keep to a highly civilized standard. The state of Kerala, discussed during our Wanderers retreat, might be a role model in some ways.

Better policies arise from more informed participation, not from leaving everything to titular leaders.

TM misses our not having any TV at all, misses CBS News in particular as do I, though we still have it on the Internet.

The Global U idea is poetic, like Spaceship Earth. Affiliating with actual campuses, such as the Pauling Campus, is what houses like ours should be up for.

A circuitry of exchange might then be more formalized and computerized.

Imagine large numbers of households wiring up to schools as a part of a new design pattern. The devil is in the details of course and I'm not saying I have all the answers.

Seeking alternatives to violence through citizen diplomacy might be one of the stated missions for this program. Scholarships might come through the State Department in some cases? I know this guy in Indonesia eager to study Python. This could be bigger than the Peace Corps, with Portland an administrative hub why not?

Tourism has been one way to lower xenophobia around the world, but the most scholarly are not the most likely to frequent leisure class hotels. Future diplomacy will be more effective in proportion to the level of realism people bring to their positions, versus stereotypes and crazy-making projections.