Monthly Archives: September 2004

The Core and The Gap

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Thomas P. M. Barnett, author of the Pentagon’s New Map makes sense of our Iraq strategy:

The only way America can truly achieve strategic security in the age of globalization is by destroying disconnectedness. We fight fire with fire. Al Qaeda, whose true grievances lie wholly within the Persian Gulf, tried to destroy the Core?s connectedness on 9/11 by triggering what I call a system perturbation that would throw our rules into flux. Its hope was to shock America and the West into abandoning the Gulf region first militarily, then politically, and finally economically. Al Qaeda hoped to detoxify the region?s societies through disconnectedness.
But the president decided correctly to fight back by trying to destroy disconnectedness in the Gulf region. We seek to do unto al Qaeda as it did unto us: trigger a system perturbation that will send all the region?s rule sets into flux. Saddam Hussein?s outlaw regime was dangerously disconnected from the globalizing world?from our rule sets, our norms, and all the ties that bind the Core together in mutually assured dependence.

Immelt’s Dartmouth Commencement Speech

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GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt gave this useful commencement speech at Dartmouth this past spring. Immelt formerly ran Waukesha based GE Medical, prior to replacing Jack Welch.

This is the second graduation I have attended at Dartmouth, and here is what I remember from the commencement speaker at my graduation. Hmm, hmm, see, so I know my role today is to be brief and I promise to pay more attention this time…
[T]o be honest I’m a little intimidated [giving this speech]. You know The Dartmouth quoted students calling me an uninspiring and uninteresting choice for commencement speaker. You would have preferred Bono or Jon Stewart or Colin Powell and you have every right to expect that the fortune your parents paid for your education should get you a world leader. But do you really believe that an aging rock star would speak to the class that created Keggy, a human beer keg, to be the new college mascot?

Via Powerline.

Buffalo: Three “New” Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings!

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Fred Bernstein on Buffalo’s plans to add three new Wright “inspired” buildings, in hopes of capturing more architectural tourists. (Monona Terrace is mentioned – along with comments on “executing” the designs of the long dead Wright:

Mr. Puttnam, 70, is best known for “executing” another Wright-designed building, a convention center in Madison, Wis., called Monona Terrace, which opened in 1997. Theodore Marks, the president of a nonprofit organization that hired Mr. Puttnam for one of the Buffalo projects – a boathouse on the Niagara River – described Monona Terrace as stunning.
Stunning perhaps, but not wholly accurate. “We used Wright’s exterior religiously,” Mr. Puttnam said, “except we made a six-inch mistake in height. There were hand-done drawings, and we thought we saw a zero. Years later we blew up the drawing for an exhibition, and we said, ‘Whoops, it’s not a zero, it’s a six.’ ”
Robert Twombly, a Wright biographer, has accused the architect’s former apprentices of muddying his legacy with mediocre “Wright” buildings.

A drive west on Highway 14

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James Dannenberg takes us west on Highway 14:

U.S. Highway 14, known as the Frank Lloyd Wright Memorial Highway, begins due west of town and winds through beautiful countryside, past some of the pieces of the puzzle that make up the self-professed “world’s greatest architect.” I drove this bucolic byway last September, on a perfect autumn day when the deep greens were just beginning to turn to gold in anticipation of the long Midwestern winter.
You could cruise the 120 miles in a few hours and revel just in the Wisconsin landscapes. But there’s a reason it’s called the Frank Lloyd Wright Memorial Highway: This fascinating, complex architect was born, lived and worked within a figurative stone’s throw of U.S. 14, and much of his spirit remains along the way, in his buildings, including Taliesin in Spring Green, and in the hills and fields of western Wisconsin, the inspiration for Wright’s conception of “organic architecture,” which emphasized the synchronicity of structure and nature.

Tim Michels, Brats & The Induce Act

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I spoke briefly with Tim Michels, Republican candidate for US Senate at today’s bratfest. I asked Tim what his views were on the pending Induce act and similar hollywood backed anti-consumer legislation (the Induce Act would outlaw the iPod…).
Michels was not familiar with this legislation.
Rather than pushing the Patriot Act (not sure it’s working all that well, given this information), Michels would be better served to focus on issues that affect our economic future.

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, Brats & City Wide Wireless Internet

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Mayor Dave took my order today at the semiannual bratfest. I encouraged him to make city wide wireless internet (WiFi) happen. He said that they hope to have it in place by next summer.
I further encouraged him to make sure it was fully 2-way, not the poor upstream performance that the cable services offer. High speed 2-way access means that all users can publish text, audio and video (including VOIP), from anywhere in the city. The service should also be scalable so that we can take advantage of new, faster technologies (802.11g, for example) as they become available.
Email mayor Dave at: mayor at cityofmadison.com or call: (608) 266-4611