And this payment must be in the American Dollars - that Cuba so desperately needs.
American cruise ships, for example - depart from Miami, and then dock in number of ports on the coast of Cuba. At in each port, their passengers board buses, that show them the local sights.
The cruse ships, have to pay to be able to dock at each port, and then pay to operate those buses.
Saturday, June 30, 2018
A Spymaster Steps Out of the Shadows
NY Times
This is another article that makes blogging easy.
Another article that every American should read - but most will not.
This is another article that makes blogging easy.
Another article that every American should read - but most will not.
El Sistema
I am watching a video about this on medici.tv.
It is about a musical education program for poor children, in Venezuela. And is simply amazing. The government there has funded an excellent Classical Music system. At the same time it has descended into political and economic chaos.
This reminds me of the situation in the USSR, which also had an excellent Classical Music system.
The founders of El Sistema, who are interviewed here in depth, believe music will save their country.
It is worth watching the video, just to see how their minds operate. There is lot of admirable behavior going on there.
Americans have been Bad in Every Way They Could Think Of
But there were some ways they deliberately overlooked, and this has saved them.
One of these ways they retained from Industrialization - the ability to organize themselves as machines. To decide on a goal, and make it happen. But this goal has to be capable of being measured numerically, in numbers. Which severely limits the kinds of goals (or projects) that are possible.
I will illustrate with an example from my own life.
I share a house with Ray, who lives in most of our house, but I rent the apartment in the back of the house from him. He rents the entire house from a woman who had lived here - but returned to the States, and now only visits here occasionally.
Recently, she decided to sell the house. Which meant Ray and myself, would have to look for somewhere else to live. She offered to sell it to Ray, and gave him a good price for it. At first, this seemed impossible, because Ray did not have this much money.
But he made a huge effort, and assembled a package of financial arrangements that satisfied her. He now owned the house!
I could not survive, it it were not for Ray. He took charge, during my recent medical crisis. He found a Neurologist, who diagnosed my Drop Attack problem, and negotiated with him, in Spanish, to give me a lower cost medication.
This was the kind of project he was good at. But he cannot be a personal friend for me - and doesn't want to be. This is not one of the things he can do.
One of these ways they retained from Industrialization - the ability to organize themselves as machines. To decide on a goal, and make it happen. But this goal has to be capable of being measured numerically, in numbers. Which severely limits the kinds of goals (or projects) that are possible.
I will illustrate with an example from my own life.
I share a house with Ray, who lives in most of our house, but I rent the apartment in the back of the house from him. He rents the entire house from a woman who had lived here - but returned to the States, and now only visits here occasionally.
Recently, she decided to sell the house. Which meant Ray and myself, would have to look for somewhere else to live. She offered to sell it to Ray, and gave him a good price for it. At first, this seemed impossible, because Ray did not have this much money.
But he made a huge effort, and assembled a package of financial arrangements that satisfied her. He now owned the house!
I could not survive, it it were not for Ray. He took charge, during my recent medical crisis. He found a Neurologist, who diagnosed my Drop Attack problem, and negotiated with him, in Spanish, to give me a lower cost medication.
This was the kind of project he was good at. But he cannot be a personal friend for me - and doesn't want to be. This is not one of the things he can do.
Friday, June 29, 2018
How the Startup Mentality Failed Kids in San Francisco
Wired
Articles like this make it easy to write a blog. You just find things you like (or they find you, actually) and you provide links to them.
This is about an educational disaster - so much of a disaster, it's hard to believe.
Most of sources for this, did not want to be identified. But the main source, Willy Brown himself - wanted to be interviewed - and was brutally honest about what happened.
Articles like this make it easy to write a blog. You just find things you like (or they find you, actually) and you provide links to them.
This is about an educational disaster - so much of a disaster, it's hard to believe.
Most of sources for this, did not want to be identified. But the main source, Willy Brown himself - wanted to be interviewed - and was brutally honest about what happened.
Self-Destruction can be an Attractive Option
I was thinking of a friend of mine, for whom this definitely applied.
I met her at a nudest resort (actually a clothing-optional resort) where we must have been attending some kind of workshop. Everyone was attending, or presenting workshops back then, in the Nineties, in California. She seemed to be someone special, who had her own mind. And I decided I had to know her better. So we dated - as the expression was then.
She had an unusual story. Her passion in life was the Theater, and she graduated from the University of California at Berkeley - where all kind of crazy things were going on. She met her husband there, who was also passionate about the Theater. After they graduated, they promptly left for New York City - because this where the Theater scene was.
Her husband become involved with an offbeat producer, who believed in free theater. But he also became an alcoholic, and succumbed to that. Meanwhile, my friend Carol, was having children.
There she was, without a husband, or anyone to provide for her. So she did the sensible thing, for her, and joined a Publisher that was also headquartered in NYC. And rose rapidly there. She was an excellent editor, and had a good feel, for which writers did good work. She was a success!
But she then destroyed this success - a pattern that she would repeat throughout her life. When I met her at the nudest resort, she was dead broke, and sleeping in the back of her car.
I was working as a Technical Writer, and I told my boss I needed an editor to work with. He approved of this, and I hired Carol, as my editor. She was an excellent editor and we worked well together. I could just produce a rough draft, and she would polish it up. I became a more productive writer, working with her.
And she had money! A miracle, for her. But it did not last long. She and her girlfriends joined some wild parties in Mexico, with a lot of drinking. Before she knew it, her money was gone,
She next became involved in mobile housing. This was back when anyone could get a mortgage, whether they could pay for it or not. She soon owned a mobile housing unit, and a lot she could park it on - when she could pay for neither. She was coming up in the world! But this did not last long either.
I lost track of her, when I moved to Costa Rica - but we resumed our friendship, using email. Then she did something, many of my friends did. She terminated our friendship abruptly, giving no reason for this. She destroyed our friendship - which I valued.
I met her at a nudest resort (actually a clothing-optional resort) where we must have been attending some kind of workshop. Everyone was attending, or presenting workshops back then, in the Nineties, in California. She seemed to be someone special, who had her own mind. And I decided I had to know her better. So we dated - as the expression was then.
She had an unusual story. Her passion in life was the Theater, and she graduated from the University of California at Berkeley - where all kind of crazy things were going on. She met her husband there, who was also passionate about the Theater. After they graduated, they promptly left for New York City - because this where the Theater scene was.
Her husband become involved with an offbeat producer, who believed in free theater. But he also became an alcoholic, and succumbed to that. Meanwhile, my friend Carol, was having children.
There she was, without a husband, or anyone to provide for her. So she did the sensible thing, for her, and joined a Publisher that was also headquartered in NYC. And rose rapidly there. She was an excellent editor, and had a good feel, for which writers did good work. She was a success!
But she then destroyed this success - a pattern that she would repeat throughout her life. When I met her at the nudest resort, she was dead broke, and sleeping in the back of her car.
I was working as a Technical Writer, and I told my boss I needed an editor to work with. He approved of this, and I hired Carol, as my editor. She was an excellent editor and we worked well together. I could just produce a rough draft, and she would polish it up. I became a more productive writer, working with her.
And she had money! A miracle, for her. But it did not last long. She and her girlfriends joined some wild parties in Mexico, with a lot of drinking. Before she knew it, her money was gone,
She next became involved in mobile housing. This was back when anyone could get a mortgage, whether they could pay for it or not. She soon owned a mobile housing unit, and a lot she could park it on - when she could pay for neither. She was coming up in the world! But this did not last long either.
I lost track of her, when I moved to Costa Rica - but we resumed our friendship, using email. Then she did something, many of my friends did. She terminated our friendship abruptly, giving no reason for this. She destroyed our friendship - which I valued.
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Stanford Social Innovation Review
SSIR Now
Stanford has finally realized that the best way to get their ideas adopted - is to provide this information, for free
Something that MIT, on the East Coast, realized a long time ago.
But both have the same problem - most people do not want new ideas. And as a result, they end up preaching to the choir - to the few who are open to new ideas.
This is similar to the conclusion reached by one article in this series - The Best Leaders May Be Those Who “Give Up”.
Stanford has finally realized that the best way to get their ideas adopted - is to provide this information, for free
Something that MIT, on the East Coast, realized a long time ago.
But both have the same problem - most people do not want new ideas. And as a result, they end up preaching to the choir - to the few who are open to new ideas.
This is similar to the conclusion reached by one article in this series - The Best Leaders May Be Those Who “Give Up”.
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