For the last months, living as a tourist in Spain, I've gotten to know Valencia quite well. The heart of Valencia. I saw las Fallas, the grand tradition of a week long party of fireworks and countless other Catholic and cultural traditions, culminating in the torching of giant paper mache scuptures - makes me wonder if the burning man is a cheap rip off. I don't care if it's a rip-off. I like American ingenuity and artistic license. But, I do like Valencia. I have no Spanish heritage, but being in Valencia is like gaining an extra grandmother, who is really cute, witty, and talkative.

Friendly, polite - very temperate, a reflection of the weather perhaps. Traditions, and the artistic athletic youth. Grand architecture, and rice fields. A city which diverted a river, an converted the trough into a very pleasant park, with trees from around the world. There's plenty of beauty in the in the Mediterranean, but this has been similar to an extended stay in a village. Imagine a successful little village from 400, 600, 1000 years ago - and the same people live here, and are expanding. Valencia is like it's famous oranges - blooms consistently and sweetly.

Question:
There are many diverse Arab cultures - and opinions. However, in general, the voice of the moderate and educated Arab is made illegitimate when there is a minority oppressed, arguably to the point of extremism. Whether the US and African Americans, China and Tibet; I would suggest there needs to be open dialog with the "other". In a polarized Arab world... how can you envision healing internally?

That's my question for the Queen. Bravo for tackling such a sensitive subject. From the YouTube page on Middle East dialog.

And the video:

Questions last until August 12. Hope this is big. Reminds of me of the gentle approach of the One Voice movement to empower moderates.

This is an open letter to China - if it is possible to write such a letter.

When I traveled to China (Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Hong Kong) in 2001, I found the towering density of the country breath taking. One country, but another world, filled with cultural diversity, coordinated for production.

In Beijing, the Chinese New Year celebration had just finished, and the coal which fueled the city had created a layer of lingering smoke over the city which I could see from the plane, along with a section of the Great Wall, on approach to landing.

When you work on something really hard for really long time - you have learned a lot. But, you might not be achieving the goals you set out to achieve. Something near the end is holding you back from success; invisible and powerful.

Over time, it's easy to loose track of your goals. To more accurately describe that process for me, I pursue my goals stubbornly, with each subgoal towards achieving a larger goal becoming its own journey. I enjoy the journey, and my ethics, my principles and imagination keep me oriented in that process.

This is from May of 2001. The speed of the economy, the omni-presence of corporate media, and the complexity of our personal lives, has made many existing institutions of change (like education, our government, and even cultural norms) increasingly ineffective. Morality, the frame of reference for living, our paradigms, are being outpaced by technological changes.    

The last six months I've worked about 80 hours a week on my startup. Soon I'll be going from the dark corners an artisan's workroom into the real world. That's a deeply personal journey. While this blog is intended to be personal outlet for my thoughts on topics outside my work, work has dominated my life for years now. I don't thnk I'm alone in this regard. (more later)

After setting up this webpage, with new software, I'm ready to continue my personal blog. There are many voices on the interent now, compared to when I first started in 1996, and I'm optimistic that the voices will change politics, since it seems that I agree with the Internet majority, while in traditional media I feel a minority. That's progress.