The Jackdaw Journal

Do You Travel?

2011-11-11T04:41:42Z

Daniel Taylor in a review of David Farley’s Modernist Travel Writing, writes: "The essence of travel is putting yourself in a different place—and coming back changed. If you go somewhere and don't come back, you haven't traveled, you have simply moved. If you go and come back but are not changed, you haven't traveled, you have simply been a tourist. There is an element of pilgrimage (physical travel for a spiritual purpose) in all genuine travel, and the urge in human beings to do so is timeless.

"On the other hand, we have been reminded, by people as diverse as the medieval Cistercians (who discouraged pilgrimage) and Henry Thoreau (who said explore your inner spaces before exploring outer ones), that spiritual and intellectual quests are also a form of travel. The greatest discoveries, they argue, are not over the horizon, but within the soul and mind.

But why not both? Why not put both body and mind in motion and allow them to feed each other?"

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46 Reasons Why Your Body Needs Water Every Day

2009-07-18T19:38:46Z

While reading Water: For Health, for Healing, for Life: You're Not Sick, You're Thirsty! by F. Batmanghelidj M.D., I came across this list of forty-six reasons why your body needs water every day. It certainly makes a case for drinking more water on a daily basis.

Without water, nothing lives.
Comparative shortage of water first suppresses and eventually kills some aspects of the body.
Water is the main source of energy - it is the “cash flow” of the body.
Water generates electrical and magnetic energy inside each and every cell of the body - it provides the power to live.
Water is the bonding adhesive in the architectural design of the cell structure.
Water prevents DNA damage and makes its repair mechanisms more efficient - less abnormal DNA is made.
Water increases greatly the efficiency of the immune system in the bone marrow, where the immune system is formed (all its mechanisms) - including its efficiency against cancer.
Water is the main solvent for all foods, vitamins, and minerals. It is used in the breakdown of food into smaller particles and their eventual metabolism and assimilation.
Water energizes food, and food particles are then able to supply the body with this energy during digestion. This is why food without water has absolutely no energy value for the body.
Water increases the body’s rate of absorption of essential substances in food.
Water is used to transport all substances inside the body.
Water increases the efficiency of red blood cells in collecting oxygen in the lungs.
When water reaches a cell, it brings the cell oxygen and takes the water gases to the lungs for disposal.
Water clears toxic waste from different parts of the body and takes it to the liver and kidneys for disposal.
Water is the main lubricant in the joint spaces and helps prevents arthritis and back pain.
Water is used in the spinal discs to make them "shock-absorbing water cushions."
Water is the best lubricating laxative and prevents constipation.
Water helps reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Water prevents clogging of arteries in the heart and the brain.
Water is essential for the body’s cooling (sweat) and heating (electrical) systems.
Water give us power and electrical energy for all brain functions, most particularly thinking.
Water is directly needed for the efficient manufacture of all neurotransmitters, including serotonin.
Water is directly needed for the production of all hormones made by the brain, including melatonin.
Water can help prevent attention deficit disorder in children and adults.
Water increases efficiency at work; it expands your attention span.
Water is a better pick-me-up than any other beverage in the world - and it has no side effects.
Water helps reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.
Water restores normal sleep rhythms.
Water helps reduce fatigue - it gives us the energy of youth.
Water makes the skin smoother and helps decrease the effects of aging.
Water gives luster and shine to the eyes.
Water helps prevent glaucoma.
Water normalizes the blood-manufacturing systems in the bone marrow - it helps prevent leukemia and lymphoma.
Water is absolutely vital for making the immune system more efficient in different regions to fight infections and cancer cells where they are formed.
Water dilutes the blood and prevents it from clotting during circulation.
Water decreases premenstrual pains and hot flashes.
Water and heartbeats create the dilution and waves that keep things from sedimenting in the bloodstream.
The human body has no stored water to draw on during dehydration. This is why you must drink water regularly and throughout the day.
Dehydration prevents sex hormone production - one of the primary causes of impotence and loss of libido.
Drinking water separates the sensations of thirst and hunger.
To lose weight, water is the best way to go - drink water on time and lose weight without much dieting. Also, you will not eat excessively when you feel hungry but are in fact only thirsty for water.
Dehydration causes deposits of toxic sediments in the tissue spaces, joints, kidneys, liver, brain and skin. Water will clear these deposits.
Water reduces the incidence of morning sickness in pregnancy.
Water integrates mind and body functions. It increases ability to realize goals and purpose.
Water helps prevent the loss of memory as we age. It helps reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and Lou Gehrig's disease.
Water helps reverse addictive urges, including those for caffeine, alcohol and some drugs.

Rule of Thumb: On average, you need at least .5 ounces of water for every pound of body weight on a daily basis.

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Rebuilding Our Society

2009-06-18T19:05:07Z

Here is a thought provoking 9 minute video from Douglas Rushkoff, discussing the themes of his book Life Inc.. In it he makes the observation, "Most of us spend so much time working and consuming that we have very little time and energy left to anything that has to do with other people. By the time you’re done with work and buying and Costco and Wal-Mart, it’s all you can do to sit on the couch and watch a little television before you go to sleep. It’s really hard to muster the energy to get together with other people."

Life Inc. The Movie from Douglas Rushkoff on Vimeo.

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Centraal Station Antwerpen gaat uit zijn dak!

2009-04-25T17:50:04Z

Antwerp Central Station goes through the roof! This is great. You are guaranteed to enjoy it. See also the making of this video on YouTube

More than 200 dancers were performing their version of "Do Re Mi", in the Central Station of Antwerp. With just 2 rehearsals they created this amazing stunt! Those 4 fantastic minutes started om March 23, 2009 at 08:00 AM. It is a promotional stunt for a Belgian television program, where they are looking for someone to play the leading role in "The Sound of Music".

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Why Bankruptcy?

2009-04-06T16:11:40Z

David Wessel explains in the Wall Street Journal of the rational behind bacnkruptcy. In Bankruptcy Is Vital to Capitalism he writes:

America is relearning an old lesson: Failure and bankruptcy are essential to capitalism.

Bankruptcy is an orderly way to give an overburdened debtor a fresh start and to decide which creditors get paid back and which don't. As Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz teaches: Bankruptcy is a way to cope with those times when markets fail to allocate capital wisely and monitor its use.

In good times, bankruptcy is a way to encourage risk-taking. After all, an economy in which everyone fears trying something that might fail is a stagnant one. But the roots of modern American business bankruptcy date to bad times like today.

Bankruptcy is not a death sentence. It's more like an organ transplant. It can save a company's life, but sometimes the patient dies. Bankruptcy is unpleasant and should never be so easy that it encourages foolishness. Headline-making bankruptcies of several brand-name companies at a moment of severe economic crisis can so undermine confidence in the economy that avoiding them makes sense.

But bankruptcy, or some other orderly process to share the pain, is the only way to prevent mistakes and debts of the past from hobbling an economy's future.

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Failure of Self-Interest?

2009-03-09T17:23:27Z

Alan Greenspan described himself, in congressional testimony last October as being “in a state of shocked disbelief” over the failure of the “self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity.” Self-interest was very present and working. It’s just that the self-interest was defined too narrowly. Self-interest was personal not institutional.

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Think Empathy Before You Get on Your Soapbox

2009-01-23T20:10:02Z

Eliot Cohen, who serves as a counselor to government – most recently the Department of State – writes that empathy, as opposed to sympathy, is an essential quality for a successful pundit. He advises:

Do not prescribe a policy that the current group of officials cannot hope to implement because of who they are. I have had highly intelligent individuals -- including some with senior government experience -- sit in my office and lay out perfectly plausible policies that the current team, limited by time remaining in office, the pressure of competing and more urgent crises, and the all important mix of personalities, could never hope to put into effect.

Moreover, core beliefs and style constrain policy makers profoundly. So don't ask them to do something outside their range of psychological possibility by, for example, proposing cold-eyed realpolitik to a band of idealists or vice versa. There are no platonic ideal-type policies, valid no matter who is in charge. What may make sense for one administration may make no sense for another, not because of the external environment, but because of who has to execute the policy and live with its consequences.

High-quality commentary reaches audiences (including those overseas) who may not affect daily policy making, but whose opinions matter in subtler and longer-term ways. Well done, it sharpens a larger discourse -- and besides, it's more therapeutic than shouting at your television set. A prudent commentator should be modest in his aspirations, conscious of his limitations, and sparing with his exhortations.

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The Obama Generation

2009-01-22T18:09:58Z

Interesting post today by Jeremiah Owyang on the Obama Generation:

These juniors and seniors are about to enter the workforce, and they’ll have experienced this in a different way then any previous generation has. What’s so different? they’ll always have been in the workforce and known that:

Their President was always their Facebook friend.
Their President was always the top Twitter user as far as they can remember.
Their President has always addressed them on Saturday mornings on YouTube.
They’ll be connected to their friends to discuss topics and join causes in social networks.
The “Mall” won’t just be about shopping but also refer to the Washington Mall.
Blackberry’s are the new scepter of power, and a status symbol.

Charlie Rose Interview with Warren Buffett - October 1

2008-10-07T08:11:33Z

Charlie Rose interviewed Warren Buffett on October 1 about the financial crisis. Here are a few of Buffett’s comments:

“You want to be fearful when others are greedy.”

“People don’t get smarter about things as basic as greed. You can’t stand seeing your neighbor getting richer. You know you're smarter than he is. And he’s doing these things. He’s getting rich and your spouse is getting unhappy with you because your aren’t doing it. Pretty soon you start doing it. And so you get what I call the natural progression – the three “I’s:” The Innovators, the Imitators, and the Idiots. That’s what happens. Everybody just kinda goes along. And you look kinda silly if you disagree….Its very human.”

“As long as you have market’s you’ll have excesses. You’re not going to change the human animal. And the human animal doesn’t get a lot smarter. You can have institutions that put curbs on that in various ways.”

You can view the 54 minute video on the Charlie Rose web site.

Related Interest:
Fixing the Financial Crisis Once and For All

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Friend or Friendly

2008-08-10T22:48:06Z

In On My Honor, John Ashcroft shares a lesson that is true not only in public life, but any walk of life:

One of the problems of public life is that when you are in a position to do things that people consider to be beneficial, they will befriend you; but they won’t necessarily be your friend. There is a major difference between these two realities. Unfortunately, you can never really know where you stand with someone until your capacity to benefit that person is gone. That may sound like a jaundiced view, but it’s all too true.

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Wisdom in Scoop

2008-08-05T15:44:15Z

In Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, a brilliant satire of the 1930s tabloid press, he writes this line describing a character: "He was gifted with the sly, sharp instinct for self-preservation that passes for wisdom among the rich."

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William F. Buckley Jr (1825-2008)

2008-02-29T00:31:11Z

Witty and thoughtful journalist, critic, editor and conservative, William Francis Buckley Jr. died yesterday at the age of 82. At age 29 he founded the National Review.

In Up From Liberalism, on the Opinion page of the Wall Street Journal, they reported:

In his last years, Buckley grew discouraged about what he considered the drifts of the American right. In an interview with this page in 2005, he noted that "I think conservatism has become a little bit slothful." In private, his contempt was more acute. Part of it, he believed, was that what used to be living ideas had become mummified doctrines to many in the conservative political class. At the Yale Political Union in November 2006—Buckley's last public audience—he called for a "sacred release from the old rigidities" and "a repristinated vision." It was a bracing reminder that American conservatives must adapt eternal principles to new realities.

Buckley himself never lost his faith—in God, his country, the obligation to engage in the controversies of the age, and the wonders of the mind. His half-century at the center of the American scene was a model of thoughtfulness and political creativity that remains as relevant today, perhaps more so. Ave atque vale.

William F. Buckley wit and wisdom:

I believe that the duel between Christianity and atheism is the most important in the world. I further believe that the struggle between individualism and collectivism is the same struggle reproduced on another level.

—God and Man at Yale, 1951

At a press conference during his campaign for mayor of New York City: Do you have any chance of winning?
Buckley: No.
Q: Do you really want to be mayor?
Buckley: I've never considered it.
Q: Well, conservatively speaking, how many votes do you expect to get?
Buckley: One.
Q: And who would cast that vote?
Buckley: My secretary.

—1965 (When later asked what he would do if elected,
he replied, "Demand a recount.")

Henry Gibson: Mr. Buckley, I have noticed that whenever you appear on television, you're always seated. Is that because you can't think on your feet?
Buckley: It's very hard to stand up carrying the weight of what I know.

—Appearance on Laugh-In, 1970

I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words.

—Column, 1986

Reagan: "Well, Bill, my first question is why haven't you already rushed across the room here to tell me that you've seen the light?"
Buckley: "I'm afraid that if I came any closer to you the force of my illumination would blind you."

—Debate in 1978 with Ronald Regan on the Panama Canal

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Joe McNally on Creativity

2008-02-27T19:13:05Z

Joe McNally is a photographer and photojournalist. In discussing his new book he made this comment that gets to the heart of creativity and good communication. “Getting your camera in a different place is very crucial because the world is much seen. So if you can just put a twist on some already expressed situation you’re gaining ground photographically.”

McNally has a blog and talks about his new book, The Moment It Clicks, here.

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Charles Handy on Education

2008-02-25T05:54:21Z

Charles Handy writes in his memoir, Myself and Other More Important Things, about the state of learning today:

The way schools are designed goes against the grain of human nature. I firmly believe that we can learn anything, provided we want to enough. The problem is that most of what we are asked to learn in schools does not excite us or interest us. We are asked to take it on trust that it will be useful to us in some distant future, and when you are fifteen, thirty is an age away, out of sight out of mind. As I have discovered for myself, warehoused or stockpiled learning goes off rapidly. All lessons should have a “use by” label attached if they are going to stick.

We have to work with the grain of our children’s interests not ours, to start where they are, not where we are. As it is, children are learning anyway, although it may not be what we want them to learn.

There is a lot of learning going on in society, the trouble is that most of it is not in schools. We learn most when we are working on things that interest us, and for most people those things aren’t in school.

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How To Be Efficient With Fewer Violins

2008-01-30T19:29:47Z

How To Be Efficient With Fewer Violins OR How a Liberal-Minded Industrial Engineer Reported on a Symphony Concert.

For considerable periods the four oboe players had nothing to do. The number should be reduced and the work spread more evenly over the whole concert, thus eliminating peaks and valleys of activity.

All the twelve violins were playing identical notes; this seems unnecessary duplication. The staff of this section should be drastically cut. If a larger volume of sound is required it could be obtained by means of electronic apparatus.

Much effort was absorbed in the playing of demi-semi-quavers; this seems to be an unnecessary refinement. It is recommended that all notes be rounded up to the nearest semiquaver. If this were done, it would be possible to use trainees and lower-grade operatives more extensively.

There seems to be too much repetition of some musical passages. Scores should be drastically pruned. No useful purpose is derived by repeating on the horns something which has already been handled by the strings. It is estimated that if all redundant passages were eliminated the whole concert time of two hours could be reduced twenty minutes and there would be no need for an Intermission.

In many cases the operators were using one hand for holding the instrument whereas the introduction of a fixture would have rendered the idle hand available for other work. Also, it was noted that excessive effort was being used occasionally by the players of wind instruments, whereas one compressor could supply adequate air for all instruments under more accurately controlled conditions.

Finally, obsolescence of equipment is another matter into which it is suggested further investigation could be made, as it was reported in the program that the leading violinist's instrument was already several hundred years old. If normal depreciation schedules had been applied, the value of this instrument would have been reduced to zero and purchase of more modern equipment could then have been considered.

Author Unknown

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