Adventures with a palm

Dear Consilience Forum Members and Friends!


"Greetings from Jerusalem Ave" (Warsaw, Poland) by Joanna Rajkowska

We would like to invite you to to exchange your opinions about the topic of our current CF presentation - public art. For an intro to some key ideas about public art, there is a good article by Jack Becker.



For a good place to start to read about contemporary thought on Public Art, check out the Public Art Review.

What is public art for you? What are your expectations towards an art piece displayed in the public space? What do you think about public art displayed in Warsaw so far? Have you heard about any famous presentations and happenings in the other cities?

There has been abit of support from around Poland for the Palm.

Share your views with us and other readers. Comment on others' opinions, as well as the content of the presentation.

Our Guest - Joanna Rajkowska - presenting

Read about different art projects at Community Art Network (CAN).
Check out Arts Journal and Public Art Research Archive.

Your opinion is important - share it!

The Consilience Forum
A JOINT, NON-PROFIT VENTURE IN ENLIGHTENING ENGLISH THOUGHT CONVERSATION.
Stay Consilient!
www.consilienceforum.org
Blog-in at: consilience-forum.blogspot.com

First Post

Iraq (Steven Bitner/USA)


I just wanted to post a short intro to let the Consilience Forum participants know that I am available to continue the conversation that we had last Thursday at the Embassy. I'd like to thank those of you that were there for your questions and participation. If you have anything additional that you'd like to ask or say, this is the place to do it.

Regards,
Steve

The Consilience Forum
A JOINT, NON-PROFIT VENTURE IN ENLIGHTENING ENGLISH THOUGHT CONVERSATION.
Stay Consilient!
www.consilienceforum.org
Blog-in at: consilience-forum.blogspot.com

"Keep Talking! - In the Green Zone(17/03/05)

The Green Zone, Iraq (Hussein Malla / AP)


Welcome to the Consilience Forum Blog

The following discussion is devoted to the subject of the 17. of March US Embassy's American Thursday presentation: “Living and working in the Green Zone of Baghdad”, by Ms. Bonnie L. Weaver and Mr. Steven R. Bitner.

We invite You here to continue the opinion exchange started in the Q&A part of the presentation. If You havn't had a chance to ask Your question to the presenters, or would like to add something more - here's an opportunity for You to do so. As most of You are probably non-native English speakers, the written form of this discussion may allow You to express Yourselves more fully. Share Your thoughts and impressions about the presentation with fellow participants. Comment on other people posts. You can include links to sites containing related info.

Read more about Iraq Reconstruction
View the Photo Gallery

Here are some Iraq internet resources:
Iraq Weekly Status Report by US Department of State (pdf)
UN news focus
Council of Foreign Relations
Amnesty International Iraq news and reports
International Red Cross in Iraq

The views expressed during this blog discussion are not necessarily those of the USA Embassy.

Keep it in English (of course) and related to the presentation subject, and enjoy blogging!

The discussion will be opened since the end of the presentation and will last as long as there is an interest - max. 3 weeks ahead.

The Consilience Forum
A JOINT, NON-PROFIT VENTURE IN ENLIGHTENING ENGLISH THOUGHT CONVERSATION.
Stay Consilient!
www.consilienceforum.org
Blog-in at: consilience-forum.blogspot.com "

Transcript of Online Chat with Professor Stephen Szabo on Rebuilding the Transatlantic Relationship

Last month Professor Stephen Szabo was the guest speaker at the monthly American Thursday held at the USA Embassy in Warsaw. The topic was relations between Europe and USA after this past re-election of President Bush. Due to the success of the presentation, the Embassy organized an online chat with Prof. Szabo this week...here is the info and the link (I hope) to the transcript of the chat...Poland is discussed a few times, so please read and add your comments...

USA Embassy announcement -
U.S. Embassy Warsaw is pleased to announce a live Internet chat with Professor

Stephen Szabo on Rebuilding the Transatlantic Relationship Tuesday March 15, 2005 at 1:00PM. From February 24-26 Professor Szabo was in Warsaw and Lodz, Poland speaking to students, academics and policy makers about U.S. Transatlantic Relations. This is a unique opportunity for individuals to continue the discussion and ask questions about this important foreign policy topic. If you would like to sign up for the discussion please email americanthursday@state.gov by Monday March 14th. Read Professor Szabo's bio. You can also read Professor Szabo's recent remarks made in Warsaw.

Please stay tuned, the transcript should be available shortly...

Library of Congress Unites Work of Alan Lomax - Radio Show

This in from National Public Radio:

"The Library of Congress unveiled today its latest acquisition: the archives of legendary folklorist Alan Lomax. The collection had been housed at a college in New York. Now -- as NPR's Felix Contreras reports -- it is united in Washington, D.C. with the work Lomax did with his father for the library in the 1930s and '40s."

To hear a 2002 radio interview with Alan Lomax - there are other good links as well.

Keep Talking! - Blues Program (3/10/05)

Welcome to the Consilience Forum Blog.

The following discussion is devoted to the subject of the 10. of March US Embassy's American Thursday presentation: "The Land Where the Blues Began", by Donald G. Fleming and Michael E. Taft.

We invite You here to continue the opinion exchange started in the Q&A part of the presentation. If You havn't had a chance to ask Your question to the presenters, or would like to add something more - here's an opportunity for You to do so. As most of You are probably non-native English speakers, the written form of this discussion may allow You to express Yourselves more fully. Share Your thoughts and impressions about the presentation with fellow participants. Comment on other people posts. You can include links to sites containing related info.

Read more about:
Alan Lomax Archive NYC
American Folklife Center (Library of Congress)

Keep it in English (of course) and related to the presentation subject, and enjoy blogging!

The discussion will be opened since the end of the presentation and will last as long as there is an interest - max. 3 weeks ahead.

The views expressed during this blog discussion are not necessarily those of the USA Embassy.

Here are some Blues internet resources:
Feelin' The Blues (Polish)
Blues Slang

The Consilience Forum
A JOINT, NON-PROFIT VENTURE IN ENLIGHTENING ENGLISH THOUGHT CONVERSATION.
Stay Consilient!
www.consilienceforum.org
Blog-in at: consilience-forum.blogspot.com

They're in the White House Press Corp - But Are Bloggers Journalists?

Here's the news connected with my post yesterday...

"A California judge issued a preliminary ruling on Mar. 3 that three bloggers who published leaked information about an unreleased Apple (NasdaqNM:AAPL - News) product must divulge their confidential sources. If the ruling holds, it will set a precedent certain to reverberate through the blogosphere because this means under the law bloggers aren't considered journalists."

"According to court papers, the company [Apple] says the people who run these sites aren't "legitimate members of the press," and therefore it has the right to subpoena information that will reveal which Apple employees are violating their confidentiality agreements. In most cases, journalists are protected under the First Amendment and don't have to reveal their sources."

For more, click here

Watch the media on this ...especially in USA...it's just getting started! The judge will provide the ruling soon....

So, the question is: Is a blogger a journalist?

UPDATE [3/12/05]: And the winner is... Apple!

Just in from NYT:
Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge James Kleinberg ruled in Apple's favor, saying that reporters who published ``stolen property'' weren't entitled to protections.

What underlies this decision is the publishing of information that at this early stage of the litigation fits squarely within the definition of trade secret, Kleinberg wrote. `The right to keep and maintain proprietary information as such is a right which the California Legislature and courts have long affirmed and which is essential to the future of technology and innovation generally.'

The case has been widely watched in the fast-growing world of Web logs -- or blogs, Web sites that contain articles or diary entries and that recently have propelled stories into the mainstream.

International Women's Day - 2006 to be declared European Year against Violence against Women

We would Like to wish Our Readers, regardless of their gender, a good Women's Day.

From the United Nations publication:
"8 March is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development."

Learn more about A History of International Women's Day

Check out this month's "Zoom In on America", a newsletter by American Embassy. Read more about events connected with celebrations of IWD in the USA: The Women's History Month

UPDATE [3/10/05] -- International Women's Day 2005: is the role and perception of women in the European Union changing? Click here

UPDATE [3/10/05] -- The Daphne Toolkit -- combating violence in the home, and EU project, click here

White House Credentials First Blogger

Here is a very interesting announcement:

"White House Approves Pass for Blogger
Published: March 7, 2005
Garrett M. Graff, who writes a blog about the news media in Washington, has a pass for the daily White House press briefing today."

For more, click here

The original source

It seems blogging has now become part of the mainstream -- oh no, time to create something new! Or maybe the blogstream is taking over the mainstream? But how significant is this? Who's wagging the dog? Better B-Log-in to find out.

UPDATE: Well, here's the first White House blogcast

UPDATE [3/8]: Hold on! But are they really journalists? A pending ruling by a judge in California is about to set off a serious discussion about the legal status of bloggers.