Isegoria

Logistics experts from the private sector are lending their expertise to non-profit relief organizations. From In Year of Disasters, Experts Bring Order To Chaos of Relief:

The first change was simple but crucial — halting the practice of unloading the planes directly into trucks. That’s a classic recipe for tarmac tie-ups: It blocks the landing strips so other planes can’t touch down. ‘They think it’s the most efficient way, but it’s actually the slowest,’ he says. He directed the planes to taxi off the runway to an area where they could be unloaded in a more orderly fashion — their contents transported into organized holding areas for later distribution. The other improvements amounted to the relatively prosaic inventory and warehouse management methods practiced by large shippers.

In The Mayor of Ar Rutbah, James A. Gavrilis describes how his company of Special Forces soldiers established a functioning democracy in one Iraqi town:

As an alternative to Saddam’s regime, the particular form of democracy was not as important as the concept of a polity that provided for the individual. That was really what Iraqis missed under Saddam. Good governance had to precede the form or type of democracy. Because we were effective in providing services, were responsive to individual concerns, and improved their lives, the Iraqis gravitated toward us and the changes we introduced. However, we didn’t have to change much. Ar Rutbah already had a secular structure that worked. We just put good people in office and changed the character of governance, not the entire infrastructure.
[...]
In the end, I spent only about $3,000. This sum included the salaries of the police, the mayor, the army colonel, and a few soldiers and public officials. We paid for the crane and the flatbed trailers to move the generators to the city for electricity, and for fuel to run the generators. And we picked up the tab for other necessities, such as painting, tea, and copies of the renunciation form. But the change did not depend on the influx of funds; the Iraqis did a lot themselves. The real progress was the efficient and decent government and the environment we established. Without a lot of money to invest, we made assessments and established priorities, and talked with the Iraqis, exchanging ideas and visions of the future.

Ann Hulbert’s The Prodigy Puzzle looks at the search for “genius” and how young prodigies have been discovered, researched, and trained over the years.

The Wall Street Journal‘s latest “Eyes on the Road” column, Surf Lessons, has a great line:

Polite Americans no longer indulge in stereotyping. Now, we call it marketing.

Where the Bets Are looks at the state of venture capital:

The technology world is revving up again as venture capitalists seek out a new batch of young start-ups they hope will become the next Yahoo or eBay.

Through the third quarter, venture capitalists have poured some $16.2 billion into 1,605 deals, according to VentureOne, an industry tracker owned by Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal. That’s a far cry from the $95 billion that flowed into start-ups at the height of the tech boom five years ago. But it’s on par with the $21.5 billion invested in 2004 and in keeping with the industry’s historical norms.

This time around, the VCs aren’t looking just to Internet start-ups or biotech firms for hot growth. Many are exploring new markets overseas, as well as underserved sectors such as alternative energy. Many also are placing their bets on more mature companies — start-ups that weathered the tech downturn and now boast a cool new product or, better yet, a profit.

Some trends playing out in VC:

1. The China Strategy
2. Clean Tech
3. Digital Living Room
4. New Kids on the Block
5. Rock Stars
6. Web 2.0
7. Older and Wiser
8. Adopting Orphans
9. Telecom Comeback
10. Late Exits

David Werner originally wrote Where There Is No Doctor as “a village health care handbook” for rural Mexicans without access to modern medical care.

It has since been translated into English — making it a hit with survivalists preparing for The End of the World as We Know It.

Now it’s available in its entirety on-line — but you’ll probably want a paper copy in case of total social collapse.