The Hard Thing about Hard Things; by Ben Horowitz-

This book is about Ben's journey through 3 companies and the difficult role of CEO in 2 of them.
A pattern quickly emerges throughout the book basically when he would come to a fork in the road; one road being very hard and the other harder.  Basically the book is about him continuously running into tough spots that he had to go through, find a way through and the "answer" if you can call it that to these problems were always difficult.  It gave me perspective because many things in life can be like that; where there is no easy option; there is option A) tough and option B) tough; and you have to use your best judgement, crunch numbers, use your gut and use any thing you can to determine which road to choose knowing it isn't going to be easy.  Things ended up very well for him and the companies he ran; but he even says while he was in the middle of  some of those situations his reputation was not doing well, people might have been calling him a horrible CEO, only later, long after his decisions paid off do people call him a genius.

Al Sharpton prank call

Ralph Nader before the 2000 election

The Boss Impersonaters - yesmen

noahslook #1

Gabcast! noahslook #1

yes men -

I wanted to be

Coolest thing of the year -

I used to work at Bay Ridge realty and financial, in Berkeley. My boss was a nice guy named Steve, I got the job because my mom was friends with his wife. I worked there for about 6 months learning about the business while in college. His wife passed away from cancer about 2 years ago, I believe he had no reason to continue working as hard as he had been. Money didn't mean to him what it used to without the person he loved s o much and shared his life with.

this is a recent email from Steve.


Dear Loved Ones,

Today is the Day!

I fly to India today. It is hard to believe. Time moved quickly.

If I haven't spoken to you recently I apologize. Official excuse: So much to
take care of and get done before I leave. Many times it felt like I would
never complete all my tasks. But I really did. What a relief.

My daughter Chandrika, and
granddaughter, Nayeli (2 1/2 yr.s young)are happily moved in to OUR house
now. Chandrika will have all the up to date news about me. My cell phone
won't take messages until my return.


My first stop in India will be Bombay (Mumbai). Two days of rest, a minor
shopping for clothes, and then I'm heading north towards Pakistan. Not going
to Pakistan. Too scary... A friend from the early seventies lives in Baroda,
Gujarat, just south of the border. He is 80 by now and is a Swami. That
should be a fun visit.

Then I will take a night train to New Delhi in the northeastern part of
India, From there it's on to the base of the foothills of the Himalayas:
Rishikesh. My real destination.

My agenda is to settle in Rishikesh. The tasks include securing a building
to rent or buy, or building one if possible. The task of getting a better
visa with longer durations allowed is immediate as well.

During this time I will be setting up my "ashram schedule". Yoga will be my
newest full time job, complete with lots of overtime. I hope to do a lot of
meditation, chanting of Sanskrit songs, chanting with groups, and trying to
keep silence as much as possible. Every night, at sunset, there are
wonderful gatherings at the River Ganges where the most worshipped River in India gets worshipped some more. A powerful scenario.
I will also be getting private hatha yoga lessons. Ayurveda, an ancient
Indian healing system, thrives in Rishikesh, with many clinics, teaching
programs, etc... I will be working on my health issues under this system.
The surrounding foothills and the collosal mountains beyond are a major
draw. It was only some 35 years ago that I trekked through these higher
mountains. I should be in shape for some trekking in June.

So, with that said, I want to wish each and everyone of you a good life
filled with love, peace, good health and happiness.

Bye for now,
Steve

豊田北口商店連合会 get your dogs!

Pass the Mic - The Bay - 3 minutes

Ron Dellums - Oakland Ca's new mayor.

Oakland California's homicide count in 2006 was 148. With a population of 400,000 this is a very high murder rate. Oakland has a long rich and interesting history in the Bay Area, with one of the busiest ports in the U.S. and is today a city with one of the worst public school systems in America (which was recently taken over by the state) with drug and crime problems that don't let up.

Ron Dellums was a pro-active congressman who appears to have pursued issues based on his moral convictions, without reserve. He initiated the sanctions on South Africa, worked against the Vietnam war, etc. It seems people are excited to see him come into power in Oakland, replacing Jerry Brown who was considering running for president. Lets see what Ron can do for Oakland. See a list of all of Oakland's mayors since the 1800's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_Oakland,_California
See Ron Dellums in an interview in 2000.

I know I'm not alone

Michael Franti takes his guitar to Iraq, Palestine and Israel during conflict.

Koreans are serious about society, jobs and politics

Ive been to S.Korea twice and both times I saw so many riot police buses parked all over the city with riot police standing by the hundreds along streets, outside buildings etc. From what I understand that is very normal there, part of the reason for the strong police force I think is the strong public reaction to anything the government does that the people do not agree with. Often regarding shrinking labor rights and job security, (and maybe a shift away from a united country during Japanese occupation, pre-war and post war times)towards a more American style big business cut throat take no prisoners every man woman and child for themselves. But the sheer level of political activism is high and the level people are willing to take it is high. I've seen a protest and the people have been more courageous than at any other protest Ive seen, pushing police lines etc. I don't really know why, I'm just guessing, so you see these articles and video clip, and find some more and figure out why they are so fierce and fearless in their stance, and different than many others. this is a 2 min video

Bay area - youth street side show culture - GET IT WHILE ITS HOT!!!

Japanese mochi making, 鏡もち

about making Japanese rice mochi

Japanism

I've added an article about Japan heading into the nationalist direction. It talks about the govt. wanting the young people to embrace and love Japan more than it does now, and it seems the current Japanese administration wants to tell the world that it is not ashamed of it's past aggressions. Now I can see how some people would say how bad that is, and I also feel this is not a path to win friends but more like make enemies while boosting the national pride. At the same time I can't say because I don't know but America does the same, there is an anti-Japanese feeling in Korea and China.

I recently read in J.times opinion that The latest U.S. policy on N.Korea (which may move into a softer negotiation) isolates Abe, doesn't stand as firmly with Japan as previously which can put Abe in a position more likely to pursue his/Japans own independent solution to N.Korea, such as nukes, etc.
see the article on Japans rise in Nationalism

U.S. - India Nuculear deal on Walmart

It looks like the Nuclear deal with the U.S. and India mean a lot for the world in the future. For one, it seems the U.S.'s main political objective is in the long term foreign policy strategy of "containing or balancing" China's rise in power. The Nuclear energy the U.S. is giving or selling to India is for the use of energy, but, with this then India will be able to use their own nuclear energy to make nuclear weapons. The other side affects of this are big as well. For U.S. Wall-Mart or Monsanto share holders, its profitable thing, one part of the deal is that India open up its country to Wall-Mart which will start next year with 500 stores, which could have a damming effect on the way people in India buy and sell and work. Whats bigger than that is the part with Monsanto which owns and sells rights to farming seeds that are supposed to be good, but only harvest one time then the farmers have to buy again every year. India is making its farmers buy them, which binds them to Monsanto.


for that conversation go to about the fifth paragraph of Vandana on this web-page
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/13/1451229

senate controll issue

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6178065.stm

For timely info check out the Mckinney articles of impeachment on Bush for Dec 8th. chances are the news is ignoring it, but I don't know how this type of system actually works. Later Ill upload a full-lenth doc on Cynthia (and the black voting bloc)that my Berkeley boys coped an award for at sundance. Nir Rosen's article on Hizb allah is pretty good, read it and know more than every one else.