Adam recently hooked me up with a friend of his that was tight with all the beatniks I used to hang out with at Rutgers University. We re-lived days of hosting bad radio shows, writing dubious poetry, and playing self-confessional folk music. And yesterday, Michael and I discover we’re from the same town and know people in common, one of which was a childhood friend of his and a high school buddy of mine. At one point Michael and I were living a couple blocks from each other.

The real life connections are still more exciting than the virtual ones.

Stewart got married. Wonderful!

Daniel S. Brenner says, ‘Build a Mosque at Ground Zero, and a church, and a synagogue. An inter-religious center would be a testimony to America’s spiritual power.‘ Then a friend asks, ‘What if the world religions at least got together on the common ground of fair trading? Like co-operative review committees? WTO watchdogs?” In my more cynical moments I think, fat chance, most religions are too focused on the next life to give a shit about this one (IMHO I think churches could do worse than follow the Unitarian example). Ideological association between church and state should make us all nervous, but physical proximity and interaction is an interesting suggestion as it might most effect those that are pious at church on Sunday and driven by greed on Monday.

What’s the Matter With Sun?: Newt Gingrich was talking about large information-technology companies and what they need to say to their customers. Gingrich said, ‘The line should be, The Answer to Complexity Is ( Your Company’s Name Here ).’

Memo To: CEOs

There is nothing clever about firing large numbers of people.

In our finance classes, we are teaching a view of the world that says that each of us is obsessively self-interested and intent on maximizing personal gain. Economic Man, we tell our students, has one goal: more. And to get more, each of us is willing to do anything…. In fact, the essence of real leadership and responsible management is the ability to judge the difference between short-term calculable gains and deeply rooted core values.

Imagine a company that puts its shareholders first – only to discover that it has alienated its customers…. Customers recognize the cynicism of a company that only sees them as dollar signs.

We used to say that corporations exist to serve society. After all, that was why they were originally granted charters — and why those charters could be revoked.

In 1999, the number of billionaires (in the U.S.) had increased to 268 — and the number of people living below the poverty line had increased to 34.5 million. A recent UN survey of the world’s wealthiest countries ranked the United States highest both in gross domestic product and in poverty rates….at the height of a decadelong economic boom, one in six American children was officially poor, and 26% of the workforce was subsisting on poverty-level wages. More than 30% of U.S. households have a net worth ( including homes and investments ) of less than $10,000.

It’s nearly impossible to find the contact info for my local bikeshop on the ‘net, a situation not improved by my inability to spell renaissance, so I made them a webpage. Nothing special, just something for people to find when they’re looking.