at mgreaney [at] cesj [dot] org.
• Michael Brennan recently returned from Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he was working with Father William Christensen, S.M., Ph.D. of the Institute of Integrated Rural Development, "IIRD." While IIRD's most innovative project to date is the organization of "JBM Garments, Ltd.," which will compete with the ubiquitous sweatshop operations, "Brother Bill" and his helpers — such as Mike Brennan — have quietly been lifting thousands of people out of dire poverty and transforming lives by orienting the economy toward the Just Third Way. Mike is now working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
• Since we installed a "statistics counter" on the blog last Thursday (August 28), we've seen readers (anonymous, of course) from across the spectrum, from Argentina to (New) Zealand. So far our most popular postings have been "Saving Notre Dame," 15.97%, "INTO Chaos: Power Struggle in Ireland," 4.18%, and "The High Moral Ground," 3.42%. Two of the three most popular postings relate to Ireland in some way (the Irish of Notre Dame), which might explain the sudden increase we've noted in readers in Belfast, Northern Ireland, although not Éire. Please feel free to take advantage of the ability to e-mail individual postings to your network, and, of course, post your own comments on your favorites and particular items of interest.
• On Wednesday, September 3, members of the CESJ "Core Group" (Norman G. Kurland, Dawn K. Brohawn, and Michael D. Greaney) participated in a "webinar" on building an ownership culture sponsored by the National Center for Employee Ownership, featuring speakers from Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation, originators of "the Great Game of Business." Of particular interest was the discussion on "critical numbers," by means of which workers identify target numbers and integrate their efforts for the benefit of the company as a whole.
• Brian McDonald of "The Irish Catholic" blog linked to the posting on saving the University of Notre Dame by organizing to bring it back into conformity with its religious traditions and the natural law. Brian also has an interesting link to a 47-minute video on "money as debt," which might profitably be compared with Norman Kurland's paper, "A New Look at Prices and Money," published in The Journal of Socio-Economics, Vol. 30, 495-515.
• Dr. Robert Crane has been publishing numerous articles related to the Just Third Way on The American Muslim web site, run by Sheila Musaji. The latest article is "McCain for President: A Call for a Second American Revolution." Read it, and offer comment in the com box to this posting. The American Muslim is strong in its condemnation of terrorism and false interpretations of the Q'uran.
• Norman Kurland and Ulysses James Montgomery, P.E., of Kwanza Systems, LLC, met over the Labor Day weekend to discuss a number of Just Third Way projects in the San Francisco area and in Africa, particularly Jim's "Eco Village" concept, which is intended to raise the quality of life at the local level in a way that benefits everyone, not just a few wealthy developers.
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