Small Change
Why the revolution will not be tweeted.
by Malcolm Gladwell

One more factor, urban specialists said, is the collaboration Des Moines has built into its governing practices to avoid civic wars that can delay projects. Moreover, virtually all of the city’s new private projects, including the Wellmark building, were assisted by city tax funds. Richard A. Clark, the city manager, said Des Moines had invested an average of nearly $2 million annually in public dollars over the last several decades to help businesses assemble parcels of land, improve streets, build parking structures and other infrastructure. The public money has leveraged over $2 billion in private investment downtown since the 1990s, he said.

Des Moines even spends $250,000 in tax revenue annually to support public art. Its hotel-motel tax contributes $740,000 annually to a $2.45 million regional account that the city shares with seven suburbs to support the zoo, a civic center, a botanical garden, a symphony and other cultural institutions.

Steve would never let you call him a Troll. He sees himself as a person who likes to argue. In a way, that is not surprising: a Troll worth of the name cannot endorse the label in front of his victims, while he is 'trolling' them. Most regular forum or newsgroup users know about Trolls, and if they spot one, they will shun it, moderate it or refrain from 'feeding' it. Anti-Troll policies are on the rise, which has made the hobby more difficult of late, but also more exciting. Yet Steve's friends, off-trolling, will readily admit to being Trolls. And all of them will recognize a fellow Troll in Steve; some will even say he's the greatest they know. But Steve is so professional that he will never allow himself to let down his facade of sincere interest for argumentation. He won't come out as a Troll.

Is there a formula—some mix of love, work, and psychological adaptation—for a good life? For 72 years, researchers at Harvard have been examining this question, following 268 men who entered college in the late 1930s through war, career, marriage and divorce, parenthood and grandparenthood, and old age. Here, for the first time, a journalist gains access to the archive of one of the most comprehensive longitudinal studies in history. Its contents, as much literature as science, offer profound insight into the human condition—and into the brilliant, complex mind of the study’s longtime director, George Vaillant.

The Journey of a Beginning Farmer :: As a child I spent most of my life in town living with my mom, but whenever I visited my Dad and his side of the family it was on the farm. From my earliest memories I have always wanted to be a farmer (except when I wanted to be a cowboy). Now, I am trying to fulfill that dream. This will be a journal of that journey :: my research, my joys, my frustrations, and all of the things that go along with the beginning farmer.

Within his first day in office, President Obama signed off the Memorandum of Transparency and Open Government and the Freedom of Information Act. Both clearly aim to engage the public in policy making and to provide their Government with the benefits of their collective expertise and information. One such example recently emerged at the How-To Wiki of Wired, which has an interesting post [howto.wired.com] about how to help build "data.gov", a possible future website that aims to make US government data more accessible and easier to use. In particular, the post aims to help focus attention on valuable data resources that need to be made more accessible or usable, and to create an online collaborative place to report where government data is locked up by design, neglect or misapplication of technology.

A design and screen printing studio focused on mentoring students to produce excellent work for the benefit of others.

The ecumenical community of Taizé and the international youth meetings

The farm itself, of course, is a model of sustainability. Run by solar and wind energy, it consumes no power from the Ontario Hydro grid. Wood stoves burn wood gathered locally for warmth in winter. The chicken coop and duck house are straw bale constructions and a small hut (the “Cob Cottage” where Brian does his writing) is made from straw and mud. The few head of cattle are Kerry cows—a rare breed from Ireland that is in danger of extinction. They have a giant, diverse vegetable garden, full of tomatoes, raspberries, onions, garlic, cucumbers, brussel sprouts and some long rows of potatoes (the latter of which will be sold to some high end Toronto restaurants who prefer organic vegetables).