Blog posts by Al

The fingers? Yes.  Obviously, but… What about the spaces in between?  The hand is a system comprised of fingers and the spaces in between.  The fingers don't exist without the spaces in between.  Without the spaces in between the fingers … Read More

According to David Eaves, one of the world's expert on open data and open government there are more than 300 different data sets in the federal government alone! How are they able to 'talk' to each other let alone to … Read More

Here's a positive footnote to the recently completed G-20 Summit in Seoul, South Korea.  The G-20 leaders committed more than half a billion dollars to support social finance. That's serious money for sustainable and socially responsible businesses.   While critics and … Read More

I didn't even see it coming.   A big, slow, deliberate set-up.  How could I miss it?  My adrenalin was gushing.  Our campaign to get the Minister to close down a children's facility providing sub standard care was picking up momentum.  … Read More

A foolish question perhaps.  How about Task Force? Advisory Body?  Expert Panel?  Regardless these forms have been around for a long time.  Now a new vehicle or container is emerging simultaneously in many parts of the world. It's generic description … Read More

"Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying. So free men and women are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities and uphold the disciplines … Read More

Poverty is a tough, gnarly, complex problem.  It has been resistant to countless efforts, strategies and expenditures over decades, even centuries.  It has befuddled many many sharp, smart people.  The poverty activists I pay attention to are those who start … Read More