Pininfarina Dardo (The Premier Dardo Blogger Award)

Renegade Eye has honored me with an award that has, to be rather honest, many bloggers who received it before me rather stymied. Some have no idea what it means at all. Some think it has to do with a dart and they would be correct...but I believe it, or at least its inspiration, has more to do with the finely crafted car above named Pininfarina Dardo. Dardo, the Italian word for Dart. (The Dardo is Alfa Romeo's interpretation of form and theme.) I mean I'd rather receive an award for a finely crafted automobile than for the dart one throws. Either way, Renegade, thank you for the honor.

The Premier Dardos Award is given for recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing. These stamps were created with the intention of promoting fraternization between bloggers, a way of showing affection and gratitude for work that adds value to the Web."

Let me just say that I am humbled and follow that by saying that I'm not so good at the award thing, receiving or giving. Receiving one makes me feel as if I've done something extraordinary, when in truth, my own truth, I have not. I know many talented bloggers and blogging artists, etc, who so easily, perhaps unbeknownst to them, make me feel inadequate with their knowledge, outstanding abilities and the many with their finely crafted artistry that seems to leap off the electronic page and personally speak to my conscience. My dear friend and associate, Ben Heine, certainly comes to mind. There are some blogs that I visit for the first time and think I've found the one in an arch memory, then the next day or so I'll come upon another and think, "No. This is the one for my puzzled mind."

Sometimes I feel that by offering a blogger award, let's say to Adgita Diaries or to say a group of respectable negroes, that I'm somehow being dishonest. I, as of late, do not visit even the blogs I find worthy in my ignited identity more than once or twice a month and I feel that they could, in all honesty, not give a care what I think of their work, not because they're concieted or anything of that nature, but because I do not frequent their blog to give them a sense of who I am and why I find their blog worthy of an award. These are probably just my personal insecurities manifested here, but there was a time that I didn't even accept "blogger awards" as I felt they were silly. Don't get me wrong, this award doesn't seem to be nonsensical or a backslapping tribute brought upon by a need for acceptance due to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of blogs on the net, but I find the "award concept" to be the same as Oscar night, full of blathering windbags and egomaniacs being fawned upon for their chosen work so that they too can fawn upon those they find worthy or that speak to their particular set of values or what have you and then the next and the next. I'd rather worship the work of mothers and fathers and grandparents and the working class and those not seeking anything other than to make ends meet, those who give everything of themselves while struggling to make sense of this award-addicted society we call the USofA. Don't get me wrong. I am grateful when I am honored by those I consider my friends on the net and I am ultimately introduced to bloggers whom I would otherwise probably not find, but I'd rather produce work and let it touch those willing to read my blog(s) and join in on the atmosphere of kinsmanship and let that be enough. Then I feel as if I'm being rude or too uptight about the whole thing and I do not like those feelings so I choose (chose) to not participate.

You're probably asking yourself, why, if he's choosing to accept the award, is he writing what ammounts to a damned concession speech? I can't tell you. I do not know. My muse is with me and she's making me do it and she wouldn't tell you even if my life depended on it! If you've a problem with it, might I suggest you take it up with her?

Anyway, I'm rambling and you could probably care less. So, with that, let me again thank Renegade Eye, a longtime "virtual" friend on the blogospere, for honoring my work.

Let's talk about The Pininfarina Dardo, shall we? It may indeed not have been the inspiration for the blogger award and if it is not, then I join the horde that is lost as to its meaning, but I do love the look of the car, which I would never have heard of if it had not been for this award, so why not let you know all that I know about it, right?

~

The car was inspired by the Alfa Romeo 156, the new saloon from Alfa voted 1998 Car of the Year...

The Dardo's realization is born out of a Pininfarina initiative in the spirit of the long tradition of co-operation with Alfa Romeo, which began in the early 1930s with the construction of one-off models for individual customers and continued through the years, extending to all the most important aspects of Pininfarina's activities: from advanced stylistic research (18 prototypes and research studies developed since the 1960s) to the design of mass produced models destined for manufacturing by Alfa Romeo (one example will suffice, the Alfa Romeo 164 of 1987), and the design and production by Pininfarina of what are now known as niche models (considering the most meaningful productions, over 160,000 units of the Giulietta Spider and Duetto were built)...

...Dardo. The Italian word for a dart, a slender shaft of wood or metal with a sharp point, a swift, aerodynamic object whose strongest element is the triangular, pointed front end.
In Pininfarina's intentions the name "Dardo" is well suited to the form study, presented at the 67th Turin Motor Show, which is an innovative interpretation of the theme of the two seater open car, whether it be called a "spider", a "barchetta" or a "roadster". (More)

America, It's Time To Say Goodbye To Wall Street: An Interview With Author David Korten

The topic below was originally posted on my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal. I had planned on posting this interview yesterday here at the Peace Tree on my scheduled day but technical reasons prevented me from doing so. My apologies for posting on Monday evening - especially to "Case" who is typically owns Monday evenings here at the Peace Tree.

“We face a monumental economic challenge that goes far beyond anything being discussed in the U.S. Congress or the corporate press. The hardships imposed by temporarily frozen credit markets pale in comparison to what lies ahead.

Even the significant funds that the Obama administration is committed to spending on economic stimulus will do nothing to address the deeper structural causes of our threefold financial, social, and environmental crisis. On the positive side, the financial crisis has put to rest the myths that our economic institutions are sound and that markets work best when deregulated. This creates an opportune moment to open a national conversation about what we can and must do to create an economic system that can for work for all people for all time.”

Internationally renowned social scientist and historian David Korten wrote those words in the introduction of his new book, Agenda For A New Economy: From Phantom Wealth To Real Wealth, scheduled to be released by Berrett-Kohler Publishers tomorrow.

Some of you may have previously read Korten’s 1995 international bestseller, When Corporations Rule the World. Longtime readers/listeners of the Intrepid Liberal Journal may also recall my August 2007 podcast interview with Korten about his book, The Great Turning: From Empire To Earth Community. You can learn more about Korten’s background by clicking here and reading the introductory text to that podcast.

Korten’s current book is organized in four parts: Part I, The Case for a New Economy; Part II, The Case for Eliminating Wall Street; Part III, Agenda for a Real Wealth Economy and Part IV, Change the Story, Change the Future. Essentially, Korten divides the economy into “Wall Street” and “Main Street.” The first half of Korten’s book is dedicated to indicting Wall Street for generating “phantom wealth” at the expense of society’s quality of life. In the second half, Korten promotes twelve concepts to empower a “Main Street” economy that facilitates the exchange of tangible goods and services among citizens living within their means.

His diagnosis and prescriptions are jarring. Korten postulates that Main Street is far closer to the original vision of Adam Smith while Wall Street capitalism is the antithesis of a free market economy. Reform-minded liberals, who believe we can work within America’s established financial credit markets banking system and stabilize our economy with band-aids and bailouts, will likely be just as opposed to his book as Wall Street apologists. Conservatives will likely dismiss Korten’s solutions because he believes in government regulation to ensure that businesses and citizens behave within agreed upon social norms.

As Korten sees it, corporations in a Wall Street economy are given incentives to destroy the planet’s environment and inflate its financial statements by taking a wrecking ball to the middle class. In a true market economy, business entities that inflict harm on the environment and their community’s overall quality of life could not survive. Hence, Korten writes that under a Wall Street economy, corporations,

“If it were a real person, it would fit the clinical profile of a sociopath.”

Sadly, in American society, sociopathic behavior was rewarded as the proper spoils of capitalism. Hence, one of Korten’s twelve concepts to empower a Main Street economy is to “Reclaim the corporate charter” so that the public has a means of ensuring accountability and social responsibility.


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The future that Korten envisions is a community ethos in which citizens and businesses have a stake in the health, infrastructure and overall quality of life in their local community as well as the world at large.

Vicki Robin, coauthor of Your Money or Your Life and cofounder of Conversation Cafes issued the following praise for Korten’s book:

“Once again David Korten has provided us with a clear understanding of why the old economy is driving us and nature to ruin - and a framework for transforming it. Especially in this time of economic meltdown it's crucial for caring people everywhere to get that patching the tires of a vehicle that's going over a cliff is neither sane nor acceptable. The financial crisis is a healing crisis and Korten gives us prescriptions that could actually give us a thriving and just economy that works for people and the planet. I hope every reader feels, as I have, a sense of relief at hearing the truth and a renewed passion for civic engagement, now knowing what direction we need to steer our ship."

Korten agreed to a podcast interview with me over the telephone yesterday afternoon about his latest book, why he believes the Wall Street economy is irredeemable and his solutions for the future. Our conversation was approximately forty-two minutes. Please refer to the flash media player below.



Either searching for “Intrepid Liberal Journal” or “Robert Ellman” can also access this interview at no cost via the Itunes Store.

Fleetwood Morning