Wednesday, August 14, 2002

The Chaordic Design Process Building a synergic community requires a clear statement of purpose. The following process from the Chaordic Commons can be very helpful: The first step in the chaordic design process is to define, with absolute clarity and deep conviction, the Purpose of the community. An effective statement of Purpose will be a clear, commonly understood statement of that which identifies and binds the community together as worthy of pursuit. To be effective, it must reach beyond instrumental goals and speak of that which has utmost significance both for the individuals involved and for the community. The first step will usually result in a single, powerful sentence. It will express deeply held personal aspirations and provide a powerful focus for collective intent and enterprise. Participants will say about the Purpose, "If we could achieve that, my life would have meaning." Work on Purpose is the foundation for everything that follows. The Purpose and the Principles constitute the fundamental body of belief on which the organization is based. Honest conversation is the key to arriving at a compelling statement of Purpose. Such dialogue is based in mutual respect and involves both a willingness to state one's own thoughts and feelings clearly and a capacity for listening carefully to the views of others. Work on Purpose asks participants first to explore, perhaps in ways that go unusually deep, what is most personally meaningful to them. From these deeply personal statements of caring, concern and aspiration can emerge a sense of what participants have in common - a shared concern or aspiration that is significant for the organization, community or field as a whole. (08/14/02) Helping Poor Nations ? This past week the World Bank and the IMF stepped in to help Brazil pay the interest on its outstanding loans from J.P. Morgan and Citibank. How this works to help poor countries was explained in this 1994 article by Walden Bello & Shea Cunningham. They wrote: 1994 marks the 50th year of the founding of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, during an Anglo-American-managed conference attended by, among others, Lord Keynes. For people in the more than 70 countries which have been subjected to 566 IMF and World Bank stabilization and "structural adjustment" programs (SAPs) in the last 14 years, there is hardly any reason to celebrate this anniversary. Indeed, from Nigeria to Jamaica, "Sap" has entered popular discourse as a synonym for economic misery. And far from being the promoters of global economic growth and stability envisioned by Keynes, the World Bank and IMF are a central cause of the stagnation and instability that plague the world economy. (08/14/02) Airlines Failing? New York Times -- US Airways flew smoothly yesterday through its first 24 hours of operating under bankruptcy court protection. But the airline industry hit one of its roughest days since the Sept. 11 attacks, with stocks plummeting and some passengers wondering how travel would be affected by the carrier's reorganization. Investors seemed to focus on the prospect that other carriers — especially the beleaguered United Airlines — would also file for bankruptcy. Analysts, however, said that the restructuring of US Airways was likely to strengthen the industry by forcing widespread cost-cutting and a reduction in capacity. Shares of UAL, the parent company of United, fell almost 27 percent, to $3.80, leading a severe downswing in the stocks of the biggest carriers. Many of those stocks ended the day at their lowest point in years. ... Shares of AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, dropped 13 percent; Continental Airlines was down 10 percent; Northwest Airlines fell 7 percent; and Delta Air Lines declined 4 percent. "The market seems to be embracing a domino theory," said Sam Buttrick, an analyst at UBS Warburg. "That is at odds with basic supply- and-demand fundamentals. Companies in bankruptcy shrink, and each successive reduction in industry capacity enhances the probability of financial returns. From our vantage point, each successive bankruptcy makes the next one less likely." (08/14/02) Our Ancestors: A Promenade with Prosimians Scientific American -- There are currently 250 or so prosimians--the roots of the term mean "pre-ape" or "pre-monkey"--at the Duke center, mostly lemurs from Madagascar but also bushbabies and lorises from Africa and Asia. Prosimians appeared about 55 million years ago. Because they branched off the line leading to humans and retain some of the characteristics of that common ancestor, they are fascinating to primatologists and other scientists interested in our origins. But they are equally fascinating to those not snooping around the family tree. The 50 or so species--which all evolved from one ancestral lemur that most likely traveled the 250 watery miles from Africa to Madagascar on a tangle of vegetation--are beautiful with their various colors and almost canine faces, intriguing because of their amazing specialization to narrow ecological niches, and highly endangered because of intense deforestation.  Fifteen kinds of lemur live at the center, which sits on 80 acres of forest, and visitors can see many of the species. Housed next to the ruffed lemurs is a common brown lemur, and next to it a sifaka named Drusilla with her new infant. Of all the lemurs, sifakas are perhaps the best known because they can leap fantastic distances in trees but when on the ground jump awkwardly on two legs, their skinny bodies stretched tall as they careen sideways. Drusilla is having nothing to do with anything as strenuous as that, however, and stays in the back of the cage with her tiny baby. In with Drusilla is Nigel, the 30-year-old, bald-kneed sire of many of the sifakas at the center. "You can tell when lemurs are old because they lose the hair on the top of their knees," Larson says.  (08/14/02) My Genes Make Me Fat ! Scientific American -- Mice lacking a single gene can feast on a high fat diet without gaining weight. ... The gene, known as SCD1, encodes an enzyme (SCD) involved in synthesizing monounsaturated fatty acids. Previous research has implicated high SCD activity in a variety of disorders, including obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis. ... There are drawbacks to lacking SCD1, however: a number of the altered mice developed skin and eye problems as they aged. But other studies conducted by Ntambi and his collaborators indicate that mice that produce half the level of the SCD enzyme are normal. Drugs aimed at suppressing the fatty acids produced by SCD, Ntambi says, may therefore offer protection against obesity and diabetes without the side effects. (08/14/02) Catch 22: A Treatment for Stroke Increases Risk for Stroke Science Daily -- Patients with high blood pressure are often prescribed diuretics. Diuretics often deplete the bodys level of Potassium. Now a new study shows: People with a low amount of potassium in their diet may have an increased risk of stroke. The observational study involved 5,600 men and women over age 65 who were free of stroke when they started the study. The participants were followed for four to eight years to record the number and type of strokes that occurred. The people with the lowest amount of potassium in their diet were 1.5 times more likely to have a stroke than those with the highest amount of potassium in their diet. Low potassium intake was defined as less than 2.4 grams per day; high intake was more than four grams per day. ... "Diuretics clearly help prevent stroke by controlling high blood pressure, but we wanted to see whether their effect on potassium levels would affect the risk of stroke," said study author and neurologist Deborah M. Green, MD. Those patients on diuretics with the lowest level of potassium in their blood were 2.5 times more likely to have a stroke than those with the highest level of potassium.  (08/14/02) We, The World Have you heard of an organization called We, The World? Dr. Jane Goodall writes: "I support and endorse the mission of We, The World to make sure that individuals and organizations who share a commitment to sustainability can network effectively to achieve their goals. We, The World is an intriguing idea that merits strong and serious consideration and we look forward to further exploration and development of its approach." (08/13/02) 6:37:52 AM

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