Paul Polak Shares Tips For Finding ‘The Business Solution To Poverty’

Paul Polak was a social entrepreneur before it became sexy to be one. Polak first joined the global community of “do-gooders” in 1981 as founder of iDE, a social enterprise that pioneered foot-powered pumps for poor farmers in Southeast Asia. The rudimentary irrigation technology has reportedly reached 19 million farmers in the world thanks to iDE’s efforts. Polak went on to create D-Rev, the Bay Area-based design company that concocts new designs (on a budget) for the “other” 90%, he says.

Polak is 79-years-old but still zipping the globe to deliver electricity, water, and other basic needs to the world’s so-called “bottom billion.” His latest book, The Business Solution to Poverty, co-authored with non-profit guru Mal Warwick, looks at the nitty gritty of the social innovation space.

via Paul Polak Shares Tips For Finding ‘The Business Solution To Poverty’ – Forbes.

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René Burri is constantly taking photographs – many of them have become iconic | SWISS REVIEW

René Burri, born in Switzerland but well-travelled throughout the world, is one of the leading reportage photographers of our time. We pay homage to an octogenarian who has remained young at heart.

By Manfred Papst

It is 20 November 1946. Winston Churchill is making a state visit to Zurich. He is being driven through the city in an open-top car. He is sitting in the back of the vehicle wearing a hat and overcoat. With his famously sceptical expression, he is observing the curious onlookers on the Bürkliplatz. One of them is thirteen-year-old René Burri, the son of a chef who has not only brought the unfamiliar taste of lobster, oysters and other exotic seafood to the city on the Limmat but has a passion for music and photography as well. He sent the young boy off with the camera: “An important man is visiting Zurich. You have to be there.”

René Burri has often recounted this anecdote, and none of his biographers has omitted the tale. It marks the beginning of a lifelong passion for his profession as a reportage photographer in the right place at the right time, and it is just as much part of the Burri legend as his most famous photograph – Che Guevara in Havana in 1962. The nonchalant, self-assured army commander with cigar in mouth became one of the century’s iconic images. The Beat Generation reproduced the portrait thousands of times even if it was not quite as famous as the Che portrait by the Cuban photographer Alberto Korda, taken two years earlier, which appeared on countless T-shirts, posters, cups and emblems. The youth of 1968 celebrated the revolutionary like a pop star. Everyone is therefore familiar with Burri’s photograph, even if they have never heard of the socialist experiment in Latin America or the Swiss photographer himself.

via SWISS REVIEW – René Burri is constantly taking photographs – many of them have become iconic.

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Rise and shine: the daily routines of history’s most creative minds

Ayn Rand took Benzedrine. Photograph: New York Times Co/Getty Images

The one true lesson of the book, says its author, Mason Currey, is that “there’s no one way to get things done”. For every Joyce Carol Oates, industriously plugging away from 8am to 1pm and again from 4pm to 7pm, or Anthony Trollope, timing himself typing 250 words per quarter-hour, there’s a Sylvia Plath, unable to stick to a schedule. Or a Friedrich Schiller, who could only write in the presence of the smell of rotting apples. Still, some patterns do emerge. Here, then, are six lessons from history’s most creative minds.

via Rise and shine: the daily routines of history’s most creative minds | Science | The Guardian.

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Photography as a Vehicle for Social Change, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 29, Philly

James E. Marks Multicultural Center, 30 S. 33rd Street (South West Corner of 33rd and Chestnut Streets, Drexel University Campus)

Special Guest Photographer Harvey Finkle will speak to the role photography can play in social change.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Harvey Finkle is a documentary still photographer who has produced a substantial body of work concerned with social, political and cultural issues. His work has been extensively exhibited and published, including four books entitled, “Urban Nomads,” “Still Home: Jews of South Philadelphia”, “Reading”, and “Independent Living: The People Behind the Movement.”

For more about Mr. Finkle and his work, CLICK HERE

via Peace Day Philly.

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Love and War: the photographer who was left behind | Art and design | theguardian.com

Caroline says ... Wearing army uniform for me, Kennesaw, Georgia, 2008. Photograph: Guillaume Simoneau

In 2000, Guillaume Simoneau, a French-Canadian photographer, met an American girl called Caroline Annandale at a Maine Media Photography Workshop. They fell in love – but their “feverish” relationship took a strange twist when Caroline enlisted in the US Army just after September 11, and was shipped to Iraq. Left behind, Simoneau nursed feelings of heartbreak, abandonment and deep anxiety about her safety. Then, things started to fall apart, not least because of what Caroline experienced as a soldier. Later, they reconnected – and a long-distance, but no less turbulent, relationship ensued through emails, letters, text messages and photos.

For more on this story, visit: Love and War: the photographer who was left behind | Art and design | theguardian.com.

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Trayvon Martin, one more among so many black men killed in my lifetime | Alice Walker, The Guardian

… The ache of realization, of what he has done, when it comes for Zimmerman, will be all the punishment he will ever deserve. I remember now, with understanding, that our parents used to say, about things they regretted they had done and that they got away with: “I’d rather take a whipping …”

Zimmerman will wish many times in his life that they had given him 100 years.

For more on this story, visit: Trayvon Martin, one more among so many black men killed in my lifetime | Alice Walker | Comment is free | The Guardian.

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Hemingway revealed as failed KGB spy | guardian.co.uk

Up till now, this has been a notably cheerful year for admirers of Ernest Hemingway – a surprisingly diverse set of people who range from Michael Palin to Elmore Leonard. Almost every month has brought good news: a planned Hemingway biopic; a new, improved version of his memoir, A Moveable Feast; the opening of a digital archive of papers found in his Cuban home; progress on a movie of Islands in the Stream.

Last week, however, saw the publication of Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America Yale University Press, which reveals the Nobel prize-winning novelist was for a while on the KGB’s list of its agents in America. Co-written by John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr and Alexander Vassiliev, the book is based on notes that Vassiliev, a former KGB officer, made when he was given access in the 90s to Stalin-era intelligence archives in Moscow.

For more on this story, visit: Hemingway revealed as failed KGB spy | Books | guardian.co.uk.

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Daily Rituals – Book Review – Truthdig

… I agree with this reviewer that if a successful writer thinks I can be satisfied with two hours of concentrated writing a day, then I shall give that a try!

… Having a day job helps some artists keep a sense of perspective. For much of her career, Toni Morrison worked as an editor at Random House, taught university classes and raised two sons alone. The luxury of a Franzenesque life devoted solely to the craft—if luxury’s the right word—wasn’t in the cards for Morrison. But the limits on her free time had a liberating effect. “When I sit down to write I never brood,” she said. “I have so many other things to do, with my children and teaching, that I can’t afford it. I brood, thinking of ideas, in the automobile when I’m driving to work or in the subway or when I’m mowing the lawn. By the time I get to the paper something’s there—I can produce.”

Of all the artists, I took the most comfort in the remarks of Martin Amis. “Everyone assumes I’m a systematic and nose-to-the-grindstone kind of person,” he told The Paris Review. In truth, he admitted, he typically writes only from 11 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon. “Two hours,” he said. “I think most writers would be very happy with two hours of concentrated work.”

Amen. That’s my new goal.

For more on this story, visit: Daily Rituals – Book Review – Truthdig.

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William Zinsser, Author of ‘On Writing Well,’ at His Work

The written word looms over William Zinsser. The many hundreds of books in his Upper East Side apartment stand at attention, as if awaiting instruction from this slight man in a baseball cap and sunglasses who, for a half-century, has coached others on how to write.

In newsrooms, publishing houses and wherever the labor centers on honing sentences and paragraphs, you are almost certain to find among the reference works a classic guide to nonfiction writing called “On Writing Well,” by Mr. Zinsser. Sometimes all you have to say is: Hand me the Zinsser.

For more on this story, visit: William Zinsser, Author of ‘On Writing Well,’ at His Work – NYTimes.com.

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Harper Lee sues agent over To Kill a Mockingbird copyright

Author of best-selling book alleges Samuel Pinkus took advantage of her failing hearing and eyesight to transfer rights

Harper Lee, the author of To Kill A Mockingbird, has sued her literary agent for allegedly duping her into assigning him the copyright on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

In the lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, Lee says Samuel Pinkus, the son-in-law of Lee’s long-time agent, Eugene Winick, took advantage of her failing hearing and eyesight to transfer the rights on the book, which has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and became an Oscar-winning film.

For more on this story, visit: Harper Lee sues agent over To Kill a Mockingbird copyright | Books | guardian.co.uk.

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Rachel Kushner Reading from her new novel The Flamethrowers 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, at the Beinecke Library


I would totally go to this if I didn’t have to work at my job!

Jonathan Franzen called the National Book Award finalist “a thrilling and prodigious novelist.”

Free and open to the public.

More information about Rachel Kushner: http://rachelkushner.com/

More information about the event:

http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/about/blogs/yale-collection-american-literature/2013/04/03/rachel-kushner-reading

Find Telex from Cuba and The Flamethrowers at the Yale Bookstore

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‘They stole our dreams’: blogger reveals cost of reporting Mexico’s drug wars | The Guardian

The revelation she was female would surprise many, said Lucy. “It’s a strong blow to Mexican machismo and the idea women are weaker, more delicate. There is an expectation for women to always look pretty. But we’re much more than that.”

She tried to relax, she said, with music, coffee and cigarettes. She missed having a normal life. “My only boyfriend is the blog. A whole phase of my life – boyfriends, going to parties, hanging out with friends – I’ve missed it. Getting married, having babies – there’s not been time to think of any of that.”

Lucy hoped the book, which focuses on 2010 and 2011, will stand as a historical record. In addition to stomach-turning photographs, it includes a glossary of terms such as encintado – the binding of a victim with duct tape – and encobijado – wrapping a murdered person in a blanket or sheet. It will initially be on sale only in the US but the publisher, Feral House, hopes Mexican booksellers will stock it.

Lucy said she had recently take a paying job but would continue the blog.

“My plans for the future? To live. That’s my hope for the short, medium and long term.”

For more on this story, visit: ‘They stole our dreams’: blogger reveals cost of reporting Mexico’s drug wars | World news | The Guardian.

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Solar Powered Airplane Plans US Flight | Energy Manager Today

Swiss project Solar Impulse is planning to fly a solar powered aircraft across the United States in May.

The HB-SIA weighs about the same as a car but boasts a wingspan equal to to that of an Airbus A340. On May 1, the airplane is scheduled to fly from NASA’s Moffett Field in Silicon Valley, Calif., to New York City. It plans to make stops in Phoenix, Dallas and Washington, D.C., en route, reports Forbes.

The airplane features a carbon fiber structure and a propulsion chain and flight instrumentation designed specifically to save energy and to resist the hostile conditions facing the aircraft and its pilot at high altitudes.

For more on this story, visit: Solar Powered Airplane Plans US Flight | Energy Manager Today.

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America Under the Gun: Clear link found between high levels of gun violence and weak state gun laws | Center for American Progress

Despite this complex web of factors that influence the rate of gun violence, this report finds a clear link between high levels of gun violence and weak state gun laws. Across the key indicators of gun violence that we analyzed, the 10 states with the weakest gun laws collectively have an aggregate level of gun violence that is more than twice as high—104 percent higher, in fact—than the 10 states with the strongest gun laws.

  • Download the report:
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    Scribd

The data analyzed in this report relate to the following 10 indicators of gun violence:

Overall firearm deaths in 2010

Overall firearm deaths from 2001 through 2010

Firearm homicides in 2010

Firearm suicides in 2010

Firearm homicides among women from 2001 through 2010

Firearm deaths among children ages 0 to 17, from 2001 through 2010

Law-enforcement agents feloniously killed with a firearm from 2002 through 2011

Aggravated assaults with a firearm in 2011

Crime-gun export rates in 2009

Percentage of crime guns with a short “time to crime” in 2009

For more on this story, visit: America Under the Gun | Center for American Progress.

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Armenian-American Artist Wins Posthumous Fame

Pinajian’s work hangs on the well-lit walls of a SoHo gallery. Leading art historians say that, at his best, he ranks among America’s finest abstract expressionists. His estate has been appraised at $30 million. After several kind twists of fates, Pinajian has been vaulted out of obscurity and is now gaining improbable posthumous fame.

The first twist came with a real estate venture by a man named Thomas Schultz. It was 2005 when Schultz stumbled upon the cottage in Bellport, New York that was the longtime home of Pinajian and his sister.

“I came into the house to look at it with the purpose of figuring out if it was a good house to flip i.e. to buy and resell for profit and I walked among all of this art. I was intrigued by it because it was so vast. I knew what I was looking at was someone’s life’s work.”

For more on this story, visit: Armenian-American Artist Wins Posthumous Fame.

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University of Arizona App Warns Drivers of Dust Storm Danger

Springtime is near, and with it the start of dust storm season in the southwestern United States.
Arizona experiences some of the worst dust storms in the country during the spring and summer months, leading to poor visibility and potentially dangerous driving conditions on the state’s highways.
To help protect drivers from dust-related dangers on the road, the University of Arizona has created a mobile application for iPhones that provides dust storm alerts and safety tips.
Available for free download on iTunes, the app uses a person’s geographical location anywhere in the country to determine if there is danger of a dust storm, or any other type of storm, in the area. The warnings come directly from the WeatherBug service.
An Android version of the app is expected to be released later this month or next month.
In addition to storm alerts, the app provides a list of specific tips for what to do when a dust storm hits, such as:
  • Do not drive into or through a dust storm.
  • Do not stop in a travel lane or in the emergency lane.
  • Look for a safe place to pull completely off the paved portion of the roadway.
  • Turn off all vehicle lights, including your emergency flashers.

The app also offers a place to list emergency phone numbers or insurance policy numbers drivers may want to have readily available in a storm, as well as a list of things people should keep in their cars as part of a Dust Storm Survival Kit. Some of those items include water, snacks or energy bars, a basic first aid kit, flashlight, dust mask and a whistle or pocket siren to signal for help.

The Dust Storm app was the brainchild of Kirk Astroth, UA assistant dean of Cooperative Extension and director of the Arizona 4-H Youth Development program in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Developed by University Information Technology Services’ web/mobile services team, with support from Student Affairs Marketing, it is among a group of mobile apps designed and developed by members of the University community as part of the UA’s Mobile Matters initiative. The forthcoming Android version of Dust Storm is being developed with additional support from the University’s SBS Technical Services group and UA computer science senior David Celaya.

Astroth said he got the idea for the app after seeing something similar in North Dakota that provided tips for staying safe in a blizzard.

“Dust storms are so common in Arizona, and so many people are killed on the road because they don’t know what to do,” Astroth said. “We wanted to help.”

According to a report by the Arizona Department of Transportation, 193 crashes in 2011 occurred in weather conditions that included blowing sand, soil or dirt, resulting in two deaths and 140 people injured.

Astroth hopes those numbers will go down with education, noting that many people simply don’t know the proper action to take in a dust storm, especially out-of-state visitors who might not be accustomed to those types of events.

One of the most common mistakes, he noted, is simply attempting to drive through the storm, even when blinded by a curtain of dirt.

While dust is a fact of life in the desert Southwest, Arizona’s ongoing drought makes for even stronger dust storm conditions, said Mike Crimmins, UA Cooperative Extension specialist and associate professor of soil, water and environmental science.

With little moisture or vegetation to hold dust in place, high winds can quickly lead to blowing dust, said Crimmins, who was not involved in the development of the Dust Storm app.

There are two dust storm seasons in Arizona, Crimmins said. During the spring season, which typically starts in March, large-scale weather systems with lots of wind can kick up enough dust to close major highways including I-10 and I-40. Those storms may last for the better part of a day, with 20-30 mph sustained winds and gusts up to 50 mph.

A second round of dust storms typically appears during the summer monsoon season, when thunderstorm conditions create shorter-lasting, but more intense, dust storms known as haboobs, which can see winds gusting up to 100 mph, Crimmins said.

Officials statewide are working to address the dangers of dust.

During a recent dust storm workshop in Casa Grande, Ariz., organized by the Arizona Department of Transportation and the Phoenix and Tucson offices of the National Weather Service, officials said they have gotten more aggressive about monitoring dust storms and shutting down the state’s highways when visibility is poor.

Astroth hopes the Dust Storm app can also be part of the solution. He encourages drivers to check the app before they get on the road so they can avoid dangerous weather conditions in the first place.

“This seemed like an easy and good thing to do,” he said. “It’s free, and it could save people’s lives.”

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This years $1 million TED prize winner: Suguta Mitra. His wish: School in the Cloud.

“My wish is to help design the future of learning by supporting children all over the world to tap into their innate sense of wonder and work together. Help me build the School in the Cloud, a learning lab in India, where children can embark on intellectual adventures by engaging and connecting with information and mentoring online. I also invite you, wherever you are, to create your own miniature child-driven learning environments and share your discoveries.”

For more on this story, visit: Sugata Mitra.

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We Found Our Son in the Subway – NYTimes.com

The story of how Danny and I were married last July in a Manhattan courtroom, with our son, Kevin, beside us, began 12 years earlier, in a dark, damp subway station.

Danny called me that day, frantic. “I found a baby!” he shouted. “I called 911, but I don’t think they believed me. No one’s coming. I don’t want to leave the baby alone. Get down here and flag down a police car or something.” By nature Danny is a remarkably calm person, so when I felt his heart pounding through the phone line, I knew I had to run.

When I got to the A/C/E subway exit on Eighth Avenue, Danny was still there, waiting for help to arrive. The baby, who had been left on the ground in a corner behind the turnstiles, was light-brown skinned and quiet, probably about a day old, wrapped in an oversize black sweatshirt.

Peter Mercurio is a playwright and screenwriter whose latest screenplay is “Found (a True Story).”

For more on this story, visit: We Found Our Son in the Subway – NYTimes.com.

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