Sunshocked

It was not poor planning, but rather mutual ignorance, that led to the simultaneous scheduling of the Commonwealth Club‘s lecture by Geoff Nunberg and the smartMeme reportback on the STORY project. Only because they offered such a chance to rub elbows with intelligent people did I break a sweat running through the streets in order to attend both. I’m glad I did. I don’t think anyone else noticed that the two were talking about exactly the same things.

Just the other day, I was having a discussion with a friend over whether she was anti-capitalist or post-capitalist. The latest issue of Adbusters comes to the rescue with a feature by Peter Barnes, author of Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons. His use of a software metaphor for a social institution had me at hello.

There have been lots of efforts by peace activists to bring the troops home. Marches, concerts, and civil disobedience have all fallen on deaf ears. When I participated in the Troops Home Fast, my low expectations were blown away. Not only has it made a difference politically, but I’ve learned a lot about my own “internal politics”.

Pope Leo X, despite having an awesome rap star name, is immortalized in time as the Pope to get 95 bitch slaps from Martin Luther. Luther was excommunicated and had to go into hiding, but spawned The Reformation nonetheless. Not bad for one piece of paper nailed to a door.