Jonathan Miller's Blog, page 25

Liz Roach: Post Election Pick Me Up

Now that the ballots have been counted and the concession speeches have been delivered, it’s time to rest those campaign-weary feet and kick back for that age-old tradition: the post-election martini. Whether your candidates of choice emerged triumphant or disappointed, we can all breathe a sigh of relief at the end of another grueling election cycle. There were highs and lows, from inspiring policy ideas to soul-depleting ads. Nonetheless, it is always an affirming sight to see friends and n...

Lauren Mayer: Bipartisan Nostalgia

In this hyper-partisan era, many writers wax nostalgic about when politics were more civil, when Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan could work together despite their differences, when people disagreed politely. That’s the great thing about nostalgia – you only have to remember the good parts (like how I love 1930s clothes and music but wouldn’t want to restore that era’s sexism, racism, or economic inequity). Likewise, there was plenty of political ugliness in the past – but I do think the op ed p...

Rod Jetton: How Campaigning Works

While walking driving the highway one day an old Senator was tragically hit by a semi-truck and died.

Surprisingly, his soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the pearly gates.

“Welcome to heaven,” says St. Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a powerful politician around these parts, you see, so I’m not sure what to do with you.”

“No problem, I understand,” says the Senator. “Just go ahead and let me in.”

“Well, I’d like to, but I’ll have to check w...

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Things to Do Before I Die

Things to do before I die…

Finish scraping off the sales sticker on the coffee maker in my office that I bought on clearance almost 5 years ago.

But not today.

Maybe next week. Or in November.

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Funerals got invented, I suspect, because years ago a group of people couldn’t be content saying “I don’t know what we should do now.” after somebody died.

So one of them made up the idea of a funeral.

And here we are. Probably not a bad idea. But funerals will always feel to me like we still really don’t...

Election Day Thoughts from an Anonymous RP

Hey, I wanted to let you know what I am hearing. There is a lot of buzz in the air that it’s heavy in the suburbs. Or the cities. Or both.

But I think it’s going to come down to who is able to get their vote out, because the only poll that matters is on Election Day. Or what the people are telling me on the street. Or both.

I think this weather is really going to help the Republicans with their GOTV. Or the Democrats. Or both.

And I don’t believe the polls anyway, because I’ve never been polled....

Erica and Matt Chua: A Wedding to Remember

I love weddings, so when we got the invitation to attend our friend’s Indonesian wedding we couldn’t pass up the opportunity, considering we would be in Asia anyway. We arrived in Jakarta happy to see the familiar faces of friends Adrianne and Tom. However, with all the details of an Indonesian wedding, they were busy much of the time with rehearsals and last minute preparation. Lucky for us we were welcome to tag along for a first-hand cultural experience, one I couldn’t resist.

All the plann...

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Bad Ass

This is my facial expression that I just had to use at Starbucks which says, “Would you please hurry heating up my Michigan Cherry Oat Bar because I am running late for my meditation meeting.”

This is not an easy message to communicate and is a nuanced combination of “East end haggard bad ass” and “New agey metrosexual hungry.”

But I think I pulled it off.

Saul Kaplan: The Splendid Exile of the Genius Richard Saul Wurman

This is the fifth of a series of conversations originally published on theTime website, authored by myself and Nicha Ratana,with transformational leaders who will be storytellers at theBIF10 Collaborative Innovation Summitin Providence, RI, on Sept. 17-18.

Richard Saul Wurman, best known as the founder of the TED conference, has made it his job to produce clarity out of the complex. In Newport, RI, lives an old magician in splendid, self-imposed exile.

His eclectic body of work boasts over 80 b...

Mona Tailor: An Independent Voter’s Take on the KY Senate Race

My friends have been asking for my opinion on the KY Senate Race this year. “Who do I vote for?” Frankly, I am not a fan of either candidate at this point. A Courier-Journal tweet yesterday shared a poll saying that KY Voters are mostly pleased with their candidate options this year. I’m really curious as to who they talked to for this poll.

Now, let’s be serious, the state of KY really has only 1 senator working for our state, whose identity will be determined with this election. Like Ted Mos...

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Car Talk

Phew!!

Getting into my car this morning after grabbing coffee and noticed the ominoua 5-5-5 on my car clock

I gasped for a split second and then remembered it was 6-6-6 I want to avoid.

That was a close call.

Looks like it’s going to be an okay new week after all.

And one more reason it pays to get up an hour earlier than usual.

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I don’t like rainy days

Because how good a parking space I can find will have far too much bearing on how I feel about the rest of the universe today.

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In my experience...