Fix The World: The Power of Goals

Goals: it's been said before, but it bears repeating.

Setting goals - defining exactly what it is that you want to accomplish - is a tremendously powerful tool for getting the job done.

You can get away with a tacit goal-setting excercise in your subconscious when it's just you doing something, but in my experience I've found it's absolutely critical when you need many people to cooperate in the work to make an explicit statement of where you want to end up.

Bill Gates spoke to the UN General Assembly about progress on the Millennium Development Goals a few days ago. I heard some of it on the radio, and just watched his entire talk (only a few minutes long, I recommend it).

Here's a few key excerpts:

It is crucial to evaluate our performance in both areas, but I also think it’s important at this point to evaluate the goals themselves as a force for change. So here’s my evaluation: I love the Millennium Development Goals. I think they the best idea for focusing the world on fighting global poverty that I’ve ever seen. With all the mountains of measures and studies and reports in the world—these Millennium Development Goals have broken through and grabbed broad attention.

Thanks to these goals, not only UN agencies but the world at large knows the key measures of poverty, hunger, health, and education. Some of the numbers are good and some are not. But the fact that the world is focusing on the numbers is excellent.

It means people see where things are going well, and understand how we can spread those successes. They see where we’re falling short, and they see the need to apply more effort and do things differently.

[...]

There is more power in these goals than we ever imagined. Now that we’ve seen it, we want to work with you to intensify it – and push the day when all people, no matter where they’re born, can live a life filled with health and opportunity.

Yes! Define goals! THEN work to achieve them! Like Bill Gates, I've had the experience of being surprised by just how well this works, and how the benefits of goal-setting are far broader than might be expected.

The greatest bass player of all time

Jaco | MetaFilter

21 Years ago today Jaco Pastorius died.

Jaco plays with Joni Mitchell.

Jaco plays with Weather Report

Jaco plays The Word of Mouth

Joni Mitchell on Jaco

Pat Metheny on Jaco

And the MeFi crowd has even more links in the comments.

Btw, no disrespect intended to James Jamerson.

Because it works

Why McCain is going so negative - Jonathan Martin - Politico.com

“Every day not talking about the economy, the war and how to fix a broken system is a victory for McCain,” said John Weaver, a former top strategist to the nominee who left the campaign last year. “They’re going to ride it as long as they can and as long as the mainstream media puts up every ridiculous charge.”

The negative and often exaggerated or misleading claims being made about Obama and Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, especially those playing on Palin’s gender, are just too irresistible for the process-consumed online and cable news media that now drives the campaign conversation, Weaver said.

“Unless there is a hurricane, they’re going to cover it,” he observed.

Talking Stocks: "

Over the years I have written about the stock market several times. I thought given the up and downs of the market, now would be a good time to replay some of those posts

(Via Blog Maverick.)

I like what Mark Cuban has to say about stock markets, and his belief that stock prices are much more about buzz than about any underlying financial reality.

I'm not saying I agree completely, but I do like including that way of looking at stock markets.

Today's links and ideas: "I've been impressed with how thoughtful and competent Obama is. That's why he's got my support. I also think our country is up shit's creek unless we can upgrade our economy, and to do so we need health and education, and that means public spending. It's not as if the Republicans don't believe in public spending, they do -- they just waste the money on destroying communities overseas. I want us to borrow to build strength here at home. I don't see it as a liberal vs conservative thing, rather a smart vs dumb thing. "

(Via Scripting News.)

Everything that Happens Will Happen Today

David Byrne and Brian Eno's new album isn't available on Rhapsody yet, but that's OK because you can stream the whole thing from their website. Heck you can stream it from my website!



I'm enjoying it quite a lot.

How to never run out of music to listen to

I finally updated my shortcuts page with links to the music sites I've been using. Now I'll surely be using them even more...

Rhapsody •  Last.fm  •  Pandora  •  Muxtape  •  HypeMachine  •  Critical Metrics  •  iLike  •  Internet Archive  •  Wolfgang's Vault  •  KEXP  •  KCRW •  Songbird  •  Paste  •  Rolling Stone •  Monitor Mix

I'm certain there are other great music sites out there I don't know about...what am I missing?

Where do I sign?

I'd put my John Hancock on this in a second. Endorsed!

Declaration4Independence - Lessig Wiki

But nothing will save Congress. Without fundamental change, the institution will remain despised and increasingly irrelevant. Power will continue to shift—as it has for the past fifty years—to the President and the Court. The core institution of the Framers’ democratic design, the institution that many of them were most proud of, will remain essentially bankrupt.

That’s a strong term. But it predicates well of Congress. If the credit of any public institution is trust and respect, then Congress is, as Websters would define it, “discredited, having forfeited all credit.” Not because of any particular decision, or failed vote. Most couldn’t name one thing Congress did or didn’t do that they object to. Not because anyone believes its Members (or most of its Members) are bribed, or evil people. To the contrary, Congress is filled with souls with an extraordinary commitment to the public. These are good, not evil, people.

Rather, Congress’s “credit” is “forfeit” because of a profoundly deep sense among most that the machine that Congress is is simply bent. Like a rigged slot machine at a casino, or a balance sheet by the Enron accounting department, the vast majority of Americans don’t believe that the answers Congress gives are the right answers for the right reasons. Most believe that they track something else entirely: not sense but dollars.

iPhone Apps I'd like to have

Nice iPhone UI for SeAttle public library.

Cool Tools blog and the Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments

I love the Cool Tools blog!

This post is just one reason why. (Normally they review tools, not books, but this book is so great - I am SO happy there's a torrent of the Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments!)

Cool Tool: Best home chemistry lab book

The very best chemistry experiment book for kids is the legendary and long-out-of-print book, the Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments. Published in 1960 during the heyday of home chemistry, it was meant to accompany the millions of chemistry kits that were sold each year to typical American kids. You got real experiments with real chemicals. Not like the so-called chemistry sets today which boldly (and insanely) advertise they contain "No Chemicals!"

Among many other things, the Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments told you how to make chlorine gas from bathroom supplies, hydrogen from flashlight battery parts, and rayon from scrap paper, etc. You can see why it was not reprinted in the decades following because of concerns about safety. I used my copy, which is now worth $200 on eBay, to do all the experiments in the book when I was 12, and went on to build a chem lab in my basement. As many kids did.

Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments, 1960.

You can get a decent free PDF version of the Golden Book on BitTrorrent.