Perhaps distinction should be made of fact and truth. That task is left as an exercise of understanding and not an exercise in bloating commentary. Rather than illuminating all variances, consider that truth has emotional context. Misinformation abuses fact or truth.

My partner says "I am hot", and I say at the same time and in the same place "I am cold"; these announcements are merely truths and the fact that the temperature is 290 Kelvin is not relevant. Even constantly at 290 Kelvin, my partner will complain of being too cold during waking hours and too hot for falling asleep. That both of us are cold when the temperature is 290 Kelvin is misinformation — abusing truth.

The idea has been around for ages and we just started doing something about it - "it" being the promotion of local commerce. By local commerce we mean the exchange of goods and services between members of the local community. That includes individuals, groups, businesses owned by local people, etc. but not chains and big box stores owned by non-local corporations.

The first seeds can be seen at http://downtowngalax.com/. We are pretty sure the eCommerce module will be replaced. Auctions are difficult. I envision a system where local people can publish "goods" and other people can contact them with an offer. The seller can accept or reject any offer, make a counter offer, publish the best offer and see if anyone wants to make a better offer. Settlement will probably be off-site; remittances look like a nightmare.

Sabbath Work

I have a soft spot in my head and heart for George Ryan. He recently arrived (November 7th) at Oxford Prison, convicted of corruption (the evidence is considerable even though the principal prosecution witness said he had his head in a vise). Oxford was built during my residence in Adams County Wisconsin in the 70s.

In abandoning a read of Philip Hensher's "The Mulberry Empire" (the larger premise is intriguing but much or the detail is not worth repeating), I poked a bit into the history of Afghanistan.

In an attempt to install a government friendly to their interests, the British sent 50,000 people into Afghanistan. Although a few were rescued later, only one escaped a massacre during the withdrawal - William Brydon. The Brits repeated this excellent adventure twice more and the US twice again.

The second to last US adventure in Afghanistan was to install the Taliban to displace the Soviet client Najibullah and the last was to install Hamid Karzai to replace the Taliban.

I've been reading "Seeking Peace" by Johann Cristoph Arnold which prompted me to search for background on the web. The author is a member of the Bruderhof, a 20th century creation in the Anabaptist family (Amish, Mennonites, Quaker ...). The history of the Bruderhof is an intriguing story in itself. Their publishing house - Plough - has placed over 40 of their books online as PDFs. A link has been added to the "Books" page.

Recently we learned that forcing water into people's lungs was "simulated" drowning even though sometimes those "simulations" result in "real" deaths. We also learned that convincing someone they are about to drown was not torture - merely "aggressive interrogation".

Few today have seen war and violence on such a broad scale and intimate perspective. Anti-war but not exactly pacifist. A Harvard Divinity School graduate with an evolved view of Christianity. Fundamentalists of any persuasion should avoid reading anything by or about Chris.

• Wikipedia
• Truthdig
• The Nation
• PBS
• Now

Background

This analysis was performed as part of preparing the "Strategic Plan for the Bangladesh National Family Planning Program 1995-2005", Abul Barkhat et al, Technical Review Committee, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh. The data for the analysis was derived from the "Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 1993-1994", S. N. Mitra et al, Macro International Inc. (BDHS94). Perhaps unique in this regard, all of the parameters used in the model were obtained from indigenous data. No reliance was placed on international sources.