So what should all of us say when the foundation run by one of the world’s wealthiest people decides to give $10 billion over the next decade to develop vaccines for people worldwide?
How about, “That’s pretty thoughtful.”
Bill and Melinda Gates, co-chairs of the foundation that bears their name, made their announcement on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
I’ve grown accustom to some people – not all – bellyaching or griping about whatever they have: “It’s not enough. Is this all you have? You should do it this way.”
In the hubbub of huffing and puffing, I think we overlook appreciating what we do have.
I’ve always enjoyed the video work of journalist Dan Chung, who is based in China for the Guardian.
In the Vimeo clip above, he captures the color, sound and activity of last year’s Lunar New Year celebration in Beijing – which he calls the world’s biggest “uncoordinated” fireworks display.
Lunar New Year arrives on Feb. 14 – so get ready to usher in the Year of the Tiger with food, family, friends and fun.
Angel Island served as a stopping point for scores of immigrants, many Chinese and including my relatives, from 1910 to 1940.
Keep in mind that the Chinese Exclusion Acts – which limited the Chinese who could enter the United States to certain categories – existed from the 1880s until the 1940s, just before after World War II started.
Some immigrants were sent back home. Others received the green light from federal immigration officials to move to the U.S. mainland. Many spent long periods of time on Angel Island, not knowing their fate.
While two branches of the federal government have embraced social media, it looks like the Supreme Court is doing what it does best: Hearing cases and issuing opinions. Photo source: Supreme Court of the United States
As I was scanning The New York Times article about President Obama’s State of the Union speech, I came across the part in which Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito apparently disagreed with something that the chief executive said.
The Times reported that Alito, as he was sitting on the House floor, appeared to have mouthed the words, “No, it’s not true.”
Based on the judicial branch’s Web site – which has a blue background, simple navigational buttons and a photo of the Supreme Court – the justices seem to be a pretty sober-minded group of intellectuals.
Which is fine. Being a sober-minded group of people is part of the duty of representing the judicial branch of the federal government.
But isn’t the 21st century about digital transparency and being a hipster, tech geek in the United States?
Where are the Twitter, Facebook and flickr icons? Where’s the YouTube introduction of the justices, say, enjoying a barbecue on the Potomac?
The Apple Lisa was bulky but had a great, spongy keyboard. Photo source: oldcomputers.net
I’ll admit that the hype and hoopla surrounding Apple’s iPad tablet computer turned my head.
I was reading online updates on my BlackBerry as I was shopping at a store.
You can read all you want about it since journalists flocked to Cupertino, Calif. San Francisco to see Steve Jobs introduce the company’s latest creation.
But I am proud to say that I once used the Apple Lisa – my dad brought one home in the 1980s – and it still holds a soft spot for me in the history of computers.
This video of Bill Gates on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is making the rounds, especially in the Seattle area.
My former colleagues, Todd Bishop and John Cook, have posted some entries about it on their Web site, TechFlash.
It’s good to see that one of the world’s wealthiest people and the co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation could laugh.
The Federal Reserve building stands in Washington, D.C. Photo source: David Pollitt's blog, dpollitt.net
I remember the days when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan had so much command of the U.S. economy – and respect - that journalists and observers would attend his speeches or Congressional testimony and parse every single word of his talk.
Did he just raise his eyebrow right after he stated that sentence? Was that a smile or a contemplative movement of the lip?
But when the times are tough (or tougher), questions intensify.
See article in The New York Times about the confirmation of Chairman Ben Bernake. Here’s a 2008 story about him from The New Yorker.
I should start by saying that the behind-the-scenes video from CBS News that you see above is from a bank failure in 2009 – and occurred outside Washington state.
But if you live in the Seattle area and didn’t see the news Friday night, Evergreen Bank has failed and Washington state regulators have closed its seven branches.
Not enough capital and bad loans were cited as the reasons, The Seattle Times reported. Umpqua Bank, based in Oregon, will begin operating the branches.
Flowers rest on Google's sign in Beijing. Photo source: hunxue-er's photostream on flickr
I thought I’d give the Google-China news hours to pass from Thursday’s developments before I typed my thoughts.
My initial ones: The dramatic twists continue, the rhetoric fascinates and with everything in life, it’s best to remember that what you think might be the core of the debate, the center of the action could just be a diversion to the main attraction.
Or it really could be the center.
We also know that much face has been lost in this brouhaha. By the way, senior Chinese leaders don’t like to lose face – that’s why closed-door meetings with them are preferred.
Given that Google brought its charges – that Gmail accounts were hacked and intellectual property was stolen – so publicly how will Google and the Chinese government save face?
The Seattle Public Library and other systems are facing tighter budgets. But city governments and people are, too. Photo source: Seattle Public Library
Since I left my full-time job last year and became a father a few years ago, there is one place that I’ve truly enjoyed visiting: The public library.
My visits to libraries wherever I was have gone up and down, based on my age, interests and point in life.
But I’ve always gone back – even during an era when it’s easy to argue that information is at your digital fingertips with the Internet and especially hipster phones such as the iPhone.
There are many reasons why I’ve returned to libraries over the decades:
They offer a quiet place to read, reflect and study.
I’ve used libraries in Silicon Valley (as a kid), Guangzhou and Beijing (as a foreign language student), New York City (as a graduate student) and Seattle and its suburbs (as a parent and just ordinary person).
Yes, I’ve been fortunate enough to travel in the past.
Here’s a catch: Libraries need money to operate (meaning to stay open at the least)Â - and budget cutbacks have arrived.
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