The Examined Life

Remember cloth napkins?

Inspired by Bea Johnson (Zero Waste Home) I began using cloth napkins. Different napkin rings for hubbie and me. I've had these sitting around for 40 years.

Grace Suarez
Sent from my ��� iPad 2
San Francisco CA

The Examined Life Begins

Discovering Bea Johnson's Zero Waste Home yesterday was a revelation. Today I looked at each item I touched (toothbrush, toothpaste, razor) and realized none of them could be recycled. Almost everything I touched was plastic and intended eventually for the garbage dump. I decided to make changes. No, we won't be going to Zero Waste anytime soon, but that doesn't mean we can't take baby steps in the right direction.

I started by making some of my own cleaning products:

• Tooth powder. A variation of Bea's formula. I placed fresh mint leaves in the bottom of a small lidded container, then I added a layer of baking soda. I simply touch a wet toothbrush on the baking powder and brush my teeth. No more toothpaste tubes in the trash.
• All purpose cleaning liquid. Into an empty spray bottle, I put water, a small amount of vinegar, some Castile soap (Dr. Bronner's) and some drops of tea tree and eucalyptus essential oils.

Instead of using my Swiffer WetJet, I wrapped a microfiber cloth around the head of a Swiffer floor duster. I sprayed some cleaner on the floor and then rubbed with the cloth. Works better than any mop I've ever used.

 

The iPad as vade mecum

Just finished reading A Book of Secrets by Michael Holroyd. One of the (many) things I liked about the book is the description of Eve Fairfax's vade mecum (Latin for "go with me"), in this case a heavy blank journal that Fairfax ends up carrying around the rest of her life, filling it with comments, autographs and drawings of the interesting people she meets.

It made me think that my iPad, filled as it is with books, journals, databases, photos, is becoming my vade mecum, except that no matter how much stuff I put in it, it doesn't get heavier. A fun thought I will explore further.

Trying out BloPress

Determined to find an app to blog from, now trying BlogPress. It feels like sending an email.

Yesterday we went to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose. The larger pieces are casts from the British Museum, but still worth seeing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Write "letters" in Bento

Create a form using the Printing theme (it's a very plain theme, with no background or lines). Place whatever fields are usual in a letter. I use the Date Created and the Main Note fields. You can then print out the "letter" and send it either on paper or as a PDF. You can create text fields for a letterhead and a signature line if you like.

What's the advantage? The letter becomes part of your database. No need to change applications or attach a document to the database entry.

What is Lifelogging and why do it?

It is a life where all the information needed for living is stored outside the head, in a readily accessible format. (See Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things and David Allen, Getting Things Done.)

I want to go a step further than Allen’s brilliant reduction of the entire GTD ethos, “What’s the next action,” and cover these additional areas:

where have I been
what did I do
when did I do it
who was there
what did I get
where did I put it

We spend too much of our time trying to remember stuff. The brain of Homo Sapiens was not designed to hold the information the 21st century demands we store. Until we evolve to the next level, we need to store this information somewhere outside of our heads; we need to offload it.

Everything we need to remember must be offloaded into what Allen calls a trusted source. And it should only be in one location, though obviously it should be copied (backed up), unless we have the time and patience to transfer the information or the systems sync with each other automatically.

Legal malpractice insurers generally require attorneys to keep at least two calendaring systems. This rule is probably well meant, but in practice results in missed dates and sanctions.
Most trial lawyers enter court dates into paper calendars while trying to listen to what the judge is saying and juggling papers. Then they have to transfer the information to the second system, usually a computer-based application, when they get back to the office. That’s when the trouble begins. Either the lawyers or the assistants to whom they entrust the task invariably forget or transpose a date.

Why? Because the task of remembering to transfer the information is left in the brain. It’s entrusted to your memory. That violates Allen’s first law: nothing must be entrusted to memory.
Can we set up a system that reminds us of everything? Yes.

Blogging by email

One of the chief reasons I have stopped blogging is that I can't find an application that will let me save my blog entries. I don't like typing in the web-based entry form of Typepad. So I'm going to experiment with email.

I'm going to start by talking about my favorite productivity and life organizing tool, Bento. More about it in a couple of days. But here's a screenshot of one of the forms, LifeCentral.

Probable cause to investigate Governor Walker?

I'm assuming everyone has heard about, listened to, or read a transcript of, the conversation between Governor Scott Walker and gonzo journalist Ian Murphy, who pretended to be David Koch, regarding the Wisconsin teachers' strike.

The question some people are asking is whether Governor Walker committed one or more crimes during the conversation. Let's leave aside the question of his ethics in discussing these issues with a political contributor, or his idiocy in talking with someone who just said he was David Koch.

I want to focus on one part of the conversation:

Koch: [Laughs] Well, I tell you what, Scott: once you crush these bastards I’ll fly you out to Cali and really show you a good time.

Walker: All right, that would be outstanding. Thanks for all the support…it’s all about getting our freedoms back…

It would be fair to say that "Koch" promised Walker a free trip and more "once you crush these bastards" and Walker accepted. Is that evidence of a crime?

Once possibility would be a violation of the honest services law (18 U.S.C. sec. 1346), which forbids "a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services."

Convictions for honest services fraud have been upheld when either bribery of the official or failure to disclose a conflict of interest resulting in personal gain was found. See United States v. Isaacs, 493 F.2d 1124, 1149-51 (7th Cir.) (public officials received bribes intended to induce special favors and preferential treatment for certain racing interests), cert. denied, 417 U.S. 976, 94 S.Ct. 3183, 41 L.Ed.2d 1146 (1974).

The conversation between "Koch" and Walker raises at least some suspicion that Walker was to be rewarded to taking certain action, or at the very least, had a conflict of interest that had to be disclosed.

Is this enough to convict him of honest services fraud? No. Is it enough to warrant a federal investigation of his communications with the Kochs? I think so. It does not take much smoke to launch an investigation into a fire. There is more than enough here.

Using BlogPress to post blogs

Lately I've been thinking about blogging more, but I like to use my iPad as much as possible, and the web interface for Typepad just wasn't cutting it for me. Today I read about an app called BlogPress, $2.99 at the App Store.

I installed it and that's what I'm using to create and post this entry. I think I'm going to like it.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

POTUSonSCOTUS: did the President go too far in his criticism of the high court?

As many of you probably know, President Obama, in his 2010 State of the Union speech, criticized the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United. Most of the justices were present, and at least one, Alito, seemed upset by the criticism.

The President was himself criticized, and some rose to this defense, arguing that past presidents have also criticized the high court in their State of the Union addresses. I tweeted about this, relying on secondary sources. I in turn got called out by @JustPlainBill, who read the primary sources and challenged my conclusions. This led me to do some additional research, and this is what I found.

In 1922, Warren G. Harding said:

"Closely related to this problem of education is the abolition of child labor. Twice Congress has attempted the correction of the evils incident to child employment. The decision of the Supreme Court has put this problem outside the proper domain of Federal regulation until the Constitution is so amended as to give the Congress indubitable authority. I recommend the submission of such an amendment."

In 1923, Calvin Coolidge said:

"The Supreme Court needs legislation revising and simplifying the laws governing review by that court, and enlarging the classes of cases of too little public importance to be subject to review. Such reforms would expedite the transaction of the business of the courts. The administration of justice is likely to fail if it be long delayed."

In 1937, Franklin Roosevelt said:

"The Judicial branch also is asked by the people to do its part in making democracy successful. We do not ask the Courts to call non-existent powers into being, but we have a right to expect that conceded powers or those legitimately implied shall be made effective instruments for the common good.

The process of our democracy must not be imperiled by the denial of essential powers of free government."

In 1953, Dwight Eisenhower said:

"The Food and Drug Administration should be authorized to continue its established and necessary program of factory inspections. The invalidation of these inspections by the Supreme Court of December 8, 1952, was based solely on the fact that the present law contained inconsistent and unclear provisions. These must be promptly corrected."

In 1988, Ronald Reagan said:

"To those who say this violates a woman's right to control of her own body: Can they deny that now medical evidence confirms the unborn child is a living human being entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Let us unite as a nation and protect the unborn with legislation that would stop all Federal funding for abortion and with a human life amendment making, of course, an exception where the unborn child threatens the life of the mother."

In 2010, Barack Obama said:

"With all due deference to separation of powers, last week, the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections. I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests, or worse, by foreign entities. They should be decided by the American people. And I'd urge Democrats and Republicans to pass a bill that helps correct some of these problems."

There may be more comments made by presidents during their State of the Union addresses, but these are all I was able to find.

My conclusion is that President Obama was much more direct in his criticism, though Reagan, who was referring to the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade, probably was the most outspoken in his condemnation. In any event, I thank @JustPlainBill for challenging me to look into this issue further, and I concede that he was correct in his criticism of my initial comments.

For the full text of these addresses, and more information than you ever wanted on the American Presidency, see The American Presidency Project.