#ProjectDoBetter

[shiradestin]

Protéger la Science et l’éducation, c'est Protéger la Démocratie

Attaques contre la science aux Etats-Unis : “C’est d’une gravité inédite dans une démocratie“, alerte Valérie Masson-Delmotte, qui appelle à la mobilisation. Elle ‘a raison. Elle dit aussi que “Il est important de montrer en quoi les connaissances scientifiques, produites avec de l’argent public, sont utiles à la société, avec une recherche qui peut publier, communiquer, enseigner et rendre…

[shiradestin]

Lutter Contre la Précarité

“Il espère aussi que l’augmentation du budget de la défense face à la menace russe ne fera pas passer la lutte contre la pauvreté au second plan. “Nous avons eu de telles augmentations de fréquentation de nos centres, de plus en plus de gens, des familles avec enfants vivent dans des tentes ou dans leurs voitures, que c’est impensable pour nous que la lutte contre la pauvreté ne soit pas encore…

[shiradestin]

Even The Dead are No Longer Safe

Not only are we going back in time, but we are also allowing the erasure of lessons learned, and the burning of bridges that we built between people of good will and courage over 50 years ago. And if the laws and policies built by the blood sweat and tears of those who came before us are destroyed, soon their legacies and work will also be undone. And it is happening right now: “After a recent…

[shiradestin]

"Penser contre soi-même"

“C’est traquer les illusions, les préjugés…” et, dit l’écrivain philosophe, Nathan Devers, aussi d’explorer la subjectivité, comment l’article de France Inter au titre de Conscience et subjectivité nous invite de faire, publié le vendredi 28 février 2025. Je crois qu’il est important de prendre le temps de penser a nos préjugés sur tout ces jours celles-ci. La contemplation fait partie de la…

[shiradestin]

Element*s: Euclid**

Euclid/Euclides: Elements/Elementos Western mathematics is based solidly on Euclid’s Elements, and the Encyclopedia Britannica tells us that “Euclid’s contemporaries considered his work final and authoritative; if more was to be said, it had to be as commentaries to the Elements.” and also that “the Elements exerted a continuous and major influence on human affairs.” But my question is this:…

[shiradestin]

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.ś Legacy

This is the first post I have written in ´25, as I am finally starting to run out of Scheduled Posts, so I may miss days, soon, being tired, in convalescence from a bad throat/sinus and double ear infection, and my remaining 52 Scheduled Posts are mostly on Wednesdays, if I recall correctly. Today is Dr. King’s birthday, when we need to remember to rededicate ourselves to The Common Good,…

[shiradestin]

קהלת/Kohelet 1:10, Lo Que Dicen No Es Cierto...

יֵ֥שׁ דָּבָ֛ר שֶׁיֹּאמַ֥ר רְאֵה־זֶ֖ה חָדָ֣שׁ ה֑וּא כְּבָר֙ הָיָ֣ה לְעֹֽלָמִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָיָ֖ה מִלְּפָנֵֽנוּ׃ “Hay una cosa que dicen Mira, es nueva, … pero, eran ahi frente a nosotros todo el tiempo.” (mi traduccion…) Parece que todo lo que creemos ser nuevo, realmente. Y el Proyecto Do Better, tambien dice que no hay nada nueva, pero podemos y debemos usar las herramientas que ya tenemos para…

[shiradestin]

קהלת/Kohelet 1:9, Nuevos Tiempos, Nuevas Maneras

“מַה־שֶּֽׁהָיָה֙ ה֣וּא שֶׁיִּהְיֶ֔ה וּמַה־שֶּׁנַּֽעֲשָׂ֔ה ה֖וּא שֶׁיֵּעָשֶׂ֑ה וְאֵ֥ין כׇּל־חָדָ֖שׁ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ” “Lo que ha passado va a passar otra vez, y lo que ya hemos hecho, har’emos de nuevo. No hay nada nueva bajo el sol. / What has happened, will happen, and what will be done has already been done, and nothing new exists under the sun …” (mi traduccion…) Claro, no hay nada,…

[shiradestin]

Tired of Being a Human Being?

Sometimes, being a human being is like being trapped in a gilded cage. Each one of us has the ability to think, to feel, to hope, and to dream. Some also have the ability to make plans and to carry out the work of bringing those dreams to fruition. But not all us us have that privilege. Have you ever felt tired of everything, especially of being a human being? The annoying need to eat, wasting…

[shiradestin]

Watch Night Service, and The Blue Room: 1863

NPR cites Elizabeth Alexander, First Lady Dr. Biden’s Director of Communications, as explaining that “in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln greeted visitors hours before heading to his office to sign the Emancipation Proclamation.” What got left out of this conversation is the fact that not very far away, Frederick Douglas was also, at that very moment, still sitting up, as he had been all night…

[shiradestin]

Some Categories To Learn On Public Transportation?

     One of the ideas I had while writing about Project Do Better (link below…) was for special Study Compartments on mass transit, like the roomettes on Amtrak, I guess, but just a small space with a desk for students/educators/lawyers/business people, etc to get work done during their travel time.  This new category, alongside free “standing passengers” and other categories of free or reduced…

[shiradestin]

Am I an Adult? Part 1 : A new definition of Adulting...

Consideration for the common good,  not to mention common sense, and the on-going legal and financial, aka Consumer, or public Financial, education needed to advance the common good, not to mention avoid having all of us drown in debt, are crucial to the health of any funcioning democracy or even a semi functioning republic.  Therefore, I suggest a new definition for the word Adulting, more to…

[shiradestin]

Bury me where I fall

Una matina, mi son alsato One morning, I awoke  Oh, Bella ciao, Bella ciao, Bella, ciao, ciao, ciao  So, so, very tired  E o truvato l’invasor. And found there was no man to stand in the gap. O partisano, porta mi vía; Siblings in arms for peace, companions in The Work; Qué mi sentó di morir. Bury me where I fall. “Somos La Resistencia…” As Toni Morrison reminded us, The Work of the…

[shiradestin]

Individual Actions vs Government, and Rule of Law

It is easy for someone who lives in a reasonably safe country, where the likelihood of violence being committed upon a person is low, to take for granted the role of government in making other things possible, like protesting for human rights, or even neglecting to support that government. In a reasonably safe country, such as most of the European Union member states, it may be easy to forget…

[shiradestin]

Approval Voting: Even Better than IRV?

Excellent, this sounds really interesting as a method of voting, and is even simpler than Instant Runnoff Voting (IRV, aka Ranked Choice Voting, or RCV…). New York City, the state of Maine and the state of Alaska both use IRV, but there were some complaints , at least in NYC, about RCV being complicated for first time voters. Approval Voting, where you simply mark as few or as many candidates as…

[shiradestin]

Why Organizing and Advocacy are So Important

I was, af ter the 2022 midterm elections in the United States, so bitterly disappointed in my fellow Californians when I lived there, because they turned down two ballot measures for which I had practically moved to the state that I grew up hearing was the most progressive state in the Union. They chose to give no protection for gig drivers like Uber and Lyft as employees rather than independent…