Josh Claybourn blogs that the article on a report I cited is just one of a zillion think tank white papers and doesn’t represent the Bush administration’s views.

I think he’s right that the article that cites the report imputes a close tie to the administration that may not be there. On the other hand, the new, official Bush Doctrine statement at the White House site reflects the ideas in that initial report all too closely.

Mitch Ratcliffe does a good job blogging about why the the Bush Doctrine is immoral, scary and impractical. Hey, I knew it was going to be bad, but I wasn’t expecting a trifecta!

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Common Cause has a page where you can fax a message to your Congressional representatives.

Here’s what I faxed this morning to Sen. Kerry, Sen. Kennedy and Rep. Barney Frank:

Please do not make the historic mistake of giving the executive branch a free hand to start and prosecute a war against Iraq.

Especially not this executive and his oil administration.

Especially not this war that is opposed by almost the entire world, that is being “marketed” to us in a propagandistic way, that is ill-defined in its goals, and that would occur without exhausting all alternatives.

Please have the courage to oppose President Bush’s call to have a free hand in attacking Iraq.

[Thanks. Chip, for the link.]

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InformationWeek’s “Secret CIO,” who writes under the pseudonym “Herbert W. Lovelace,” in the September 9 issue takes aim at enterprise blogging because it takes time away from real work, and if successful, it’s hugely distracting:

The last thing you want are uncontrolled and ever-expanding records of individual activities.

The column puts well what I expect the corporate response to blogging to be. I imagine talking with a CIO who straightens his rep tie and says:

“Let me see. You’re telling me that each of our 150,000 employees will have a weblog. And you say people typically spend a half hour a day writing and reading weblogs. So, you’re trying to sell me software that will drop my company’s productivity by 1/16th? Security, we’ve got an intruder!”

Here’s what I want to say to The Secret CIO:

Much of what you say is right, although you’re ignoring the benefits of discovering a handful of people who start writing incredibly useful blogs that are full of ideas and that crystallize unarticulated opinions and feelings. And you’re ignoring the ability of blogs to pull together groups and preserve much of their intellectual value. But maybe you’re right. Maybe giving every employee a blog isn’t the right way to get to these goals.

But even if you were 100% right, you’re missing the point. Don’t think shooting down the proposal from an enterprise blogging company shoots down blogs. We don’t need the proposal and we don’t need your permission — if we’re not allowed to blog in the corporate space, there’s still a might big Web out there. Blogging is happening whether you want it to or not. Your best employees are already setting up weblogs — and mailing lists, and discussion boards, and web pages — to talk about what matters to them, in their own voice.

Weblogs are a done deal. The question is whether there’s additional business value to be had by aggregating, mining (yech) and nurturing the blogging community that’s already created itself under your nose and under your radar.

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The transcript of a chat I did at spirituality.com on the topic “The Spirituality of the Web’s Architecture” has been posted here.

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That’s the title of an article in “The Integration Survival Guide,” the “Official Publication of Business Integration Conference Services.”

Oy veh! What were the titles they threw out? “Heil Integration”? “Integration: The Final Solution”? “Integration Macht Frei”?

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This morning I made it all the way to the final boarding line at Logan Airport in Boston without once having to show any ID. After swiping my credit card to get my printed boarding pass, I went through the security checkpoint without anyone asking to see my ticket or ID. The only time I had to whip out my wallet was when they were doing the meet, greet and ticket-rip at the entrance to the jetway. This contrasts with the last time I was at Logan a couple of months ago when I had to show ID every 10 minutes.

Of course, what could possibly happen at Logan Airport?

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I have a one-day trip to NJ tomorrow, beginning with a 6:30AM flight and returning in the evening. Thus, depending on the state of Wifi in the Garden State I may not be blogging. Do try to carry on without me.

BTW, I’m trying out a new presentation for these CIOs: Messiness as a Virtue.

But I’m still gonna iron my pants and put on a clean shirt.

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I don’t know about you, but most of my dreams aren’t nightmares and most aren’t particularly delightful. Usually, stuff just happens. Why then do we use the word “dream” as if it meant “delightful” or “perfect”?

My theory, based on nothing: When “dream” was first associated with “ideal,” it made sense because our dreams were better. Our dreams have been in decline ever since.

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Katriel Richman, and old e-acquaintance in Israel, writes:

On a personal note from my end, I’m trying to change the terms of my response to the Palestinian intifada by bicycling to Eilat on the Wheels of Love bike ride to benefit the children of Alyn. Over the last two years we’ve been reacting on the bombers’ terms, meeting the evil of the homicide terrorists with fences, closures and military force. The Alyn ride is a chance to respond to the intifada on our terms, meeting malevolence with benevolence.

It’s a 5-day bike ride from Jerusalem to Eliat to raise money for the Alyn Pediatric Hospital in Jerusalem, “Israel’s only rehabilitation center for disabled children and young adults that offers a full gamut of medical, paramedical and educational services seasoned with love and dedication.”

Katriel doesn’t mention that of course Alyn is open to Palestinian children as well as Israeli kids because that’s taken for granted.

You can give online at Network for Good. Katriel would appreciate if you were to fill in the “Designation” line with the words “Wheels of Love” and the “Dedication” line with the name of the rider you wish to sponsor (Katriel Reichman), but he’d appreciate it more if you just gave something.

Emily Skarzenski reminds us about The Hunger Site where simply clicking causes sponsors to donate to projects to reduce world hunger.

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Yang Jianli, a resident of Brookline, MA where I live, is being held by the Chinese government. He was a Tianamen protestor who , after being refused a passport many times, traveled back to China for a visit using a false one. He was caught and has been kept incommunicado.

The following letter has been signed by a number of US Congresspeople. If your representative’s name isn’t at the bottom of this message, could you please write or call him/her to urge him/her to sign?

There’s more information here and here. You can get the address of your Representative here.

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

September xx , 2002

H.E. Jiang Zemin
President
People’s Republic of China

Dear President Jiang:

As you prepare for your meeting with President Bush in Texas in late October, we respectfully ask for your assistance with an urgent humanitarian matter. We hope that your government will respond to the concerns expressed by many Members of Congress regarding Dr. Yang Jianli, a legal U.S. permanent resident who has been detained incommunicado in the People’s Republic of China since April 26, 2002.

We believe that a prompt and successful resolution of his case would help to improve the climate between our two countries and to demonstrate the PRC’s commitment to internationally recognized principles of human rights.

We understand that Dr. Yang’s brother was told by the local authorities that on June 2, 2002, Dr. Yang was arrested and was being held somewhere in Beijing. In apparent violation of PRC and international law, none of Dr. Yang’s family members has been allowed to meet with him or has received written notification of his arrest and place of confinement. These factors have prevented Dr. Yang’s family from obtaining legal counsel for him.

Dr. Yang’s wife and children are American citizens residing in Massachusetts. His detention is a cause of growing pain and anguish to his family. We urge your government to assure that Dr. Yang is given a prompt and fair trial, permitted to meet with his wife and U.S. government representatives, and allowed to return to the United States to rejoin his family as soon as possible. This positive humanitarian gesture would be strongly welcomed by Congress.

Thank you for considering our requests, and for taking the time to address this important matter.

Already signed:

REP. CHRISTOPHER COX
REP. NANCY PELOSI
REP. TOM LANTOS
REP. SANDER M. LEVIN
REP. ED ROYCE
REP. DAN BURTON
REP. JOHN W. OLVER
REP. STEPHEN F. LYNCH
REP. MARTIN T. MEEHAN
REP. BARNEY FRANK
REP. FRANK WOLF
REP. DANA ROHRABACHER
REP. CHRISTOPHER SMITH
REP. EDWARD J. MARKEY
REP. WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT
REP. JAMES P. MCGOVERN
REP. MICHAEL CAPUANO
REP. CONSTANCE A. MORELLA

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