DEMOS

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• Bonjour Paresse 1. You are a modern day slave. There is no scope for personal fulfilment. You work for your pay-cheque at the end of the month, full stop.2. It's pointless to try to change the system. Opposing it simply makes it stronger.3. What you do is pointless. You can be replaced from one day to the next by any cretin sitting next to you. So work as little as possible and spend time (not too much, if you can help it) cultivating your personal network so that you're untouchable when the next... from : jameswilsdon 15th August 2004
• SLEEPY SUNDAY Our new project on sleep, which Charlie Leadbeater is leading, gets two mentions in today's papers. Read the Sunday Times story here. The Observer mag features the well-slept society and the pro-am economy as two of its '20 big ideas' for 2004. from : jameswilsdon 28th December 2003
• BBC Eyesores I love those message board things you get on BBC News Online. There's a brilliant one today inspired by a Country Life poll about Britain's worst eyesores, which apparently include wind farms (I quite like them). My favourite responses so far... "Birmingham" and "Conjunctivitis". from : paulmiller 13th November 2003
• The Progress Paradox Yet another major tome wondering about the "Paradox of Progress" - ie, why we in the developed West are less happy than you'd predict, from our levels of prosperity - written by US critic Gregg Easterbrook. I'm always interested in the solutions proposed in these arguments - there's been quite a few recently - which always tend towards liberal-left policies. Easterbook's list of unhappiness triggers - envy, lack of sleep, future-shock, "bad news" media - might be remedied, he suggests, by a... from : alistairdavidson 12th November 2003
• "It takes a nation of museums..." Last night I went to City Hall to witness the launch of ?Holding up the Mirror?, a report by the London Museums Agency into cultural diversity in the capital?s museums. The report makes for a scathing indictment on equitable representation amongst the employees of some of our flagship cultural institutions. There was a definite consensus that, if we want a substantial portion of London to view the term ?cultural institution? as anything other than a rather oxymoronic, un-holy welding of two... from : charlietims 28th October 2003
• Blainely offensive David Blaine's forthcoming stunt of starving himself whilst suspended over the Thames at Tower Bridge is morally repugnant. Voluntary starvation for entertainment looks pretty sick when there are so many people really starving in the world. But is there something more sinister at work? Are the broadcasters who will televise this stunt unaware that Blaine's act debases the currency of one of the most extreme forms of political protest? When the next political prisoner decides to go on hunger... from : johnholden 29th August 2003
• Hypochondriacs anonymous? The New Yorker (via aldaily.com) has a story about the rising costs of hypochondria on the health system."Studies show that at least a quarter of all patients report symptoms that appear to have no physical basis, and that one in ten continues to believe that he has a terminal disease even after the doctor has found him to be healthy. Experts say that between three and six per cent of patients seen by primary-care physicians suffer from hypochondria, the irrational fear of illness." Read more... from : paulmiller 12th August 2003
• Model town? Not sure whether it cuts the mustard under our definition but Bourneville in Birmingham is getting recognition as Britain's 'nicest place to live' today. According to researchers, "Bournville's success comes down to a seamless mix including quality homes, neighbours from different backgrounds, services and open space. Factors like these (and perhaps the sweet smells of a chocolate factory) encourage residents to more actively commit to an area's prosperity, creating a virtuous circle of... from : paulmiller 9th July 2003
• Colonizing space - the solution to overcrowding Next time you're crushed in the tube or navigating the tides of tourists around Westminster, remember: there is a long-term solution to the problems of overcrowding. Melissa and I met yesterday with Brian Chase, Executive Director of the National Space Society, a small but influential lobby group in Washington. In the short term, their goal is to promote human space flight and get the Shuttle programme restarted. But longer term, they are more ambitious. As their founding statement of... from : jameswilsdon 25th June 2003
• Network Governance US-style Day 2 in DC. Melissa and I met yesterday with Rob Atkinson, the Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute. Amongst the items we discussed is a report they've just published called 'Network Government for the Digital Age', which echoes many Demos themes around systems, complexity and public service transformation. Jake Chapman's work is cited in the report, so good to know we're having an influence on debates over here!Check out the report here. from : jameswilsdon 25th June 2003

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