Bill McKibben Interview on Worldchanging.com site

Bill McKibben, who has written "Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future" was interviewed by the folks at the worldchanging.com site. Here is a link to the interview:
http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006451.html

Here also is a link to Bill McKibben's home page:
http://www.billmckibben.com/

Of particular interest to me in the interview is the discussion about the changes taking place in China and whether China will follow a European or American model regarding energy consumption.

My friend, Rudy DiGilio, is just back from China and he has said he will be happy to participate in the RR when the time comes: either virtually or in person. His perspective will be one that will be very interesting as he has travelled extensively in various parts of China and I think that he will be able to address perhaps some differences even within the country. I think we tend to think of China as "one place" perhaps the way we view a city or a state, but saying that all of China is alike is like saying that Miami, Florida, USA is the same as Juneau, Alaska, USA.

Blog Usability, Commencement at RPI and SU's Mark Rupert

Here is a link by Jakob Nielsen about the top ten mistakes people make in creating a blog:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html

Found out this weekend that Thomas Friedman will be the commencement address speaker at RPI for my son Evan's graduation. We had been hoping in the initial stages of planning the Regional Read to get him as a speaker as we were able to do with Ray Bradbury but Mr. Friedman was too expensive and also booked solid. I will take good notes and report here.

Also, on my Library 2.o Ning page received a webchatter from Marcus Elmore about Syracuse University Professor Mark Rupert's critique of Thomas Friedman's work on globalization. Here is the link to that site:
http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/merupert/Anti-Friedman.htm

He also recommended the following book:
William Greider's _One World, Ready or Not_ (Simon & Shuster, 1998)

Also, for those curious, here is a link to my Nin Library 2.0 page:
http://library20.ning.com/profile/BeverlyCD

Interesting tidbits about religious rituals and globalization

While researching information about Chinese calligraphy and characters for a personal event yesterday, I came across a website which features a Anglican minister, Rev. Elyn MacInnis, in Shanghai, China who uses Chinese characters as part of her Lenten ministry with a webpage titled Brushstroke Mediations. East meets west in the clearest sense and she has been awarded the Harvard Divinity School, Katzenstein Award. The calligraphy lessons are wonderful-for example this past week's lesson was on the character for "compassion." I was tickled at the synchronicity of this discovery as I was bestowing a blessing on a friend's new grandchild at a blessing ceremony and my wish/blessing for the beautiful baby was that she grow with the compassion of Kuan Yin, the Chinese bodhisattva of compassion.

The whole concept of Christian ministry/missionaries, however, in countries where Christianity is not normally practiced is one that I wrestle with, because some part of me thinks that it hearkens back to the colonialization, imperialist imposition of western cultures and belief systems that European and Americans have been guilty of for centuries.

I do think however it is not one-sided as I am also reminded of communist China's "missionary" zeal in imposing their religion of "no religion" on Tibet.

In any case, this reverend's website gives a nice description and "etymology" of the Chinese characters. Her sensitivity in integrating the concept into her "sermon" are insightful and each meditation ends with a number of quotations about the concept from leaders and thinkers and philosophers from around the globe.
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79706_22210_ENG_HTM.htm?menupage=73980
http://tinyurl.com/27yh36

Additionally, the New York Times this morning has a lead article on how a new method for the the collecting and purchasing of palm leaves for Palm Sunday has gone "green" and takes into account the principles of ecological soundness and fair trade practices.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/world/americas/01palm.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
http://tinyurl.com/2k2tzt