DAYTON — Every time you buy a pair of TOMS shoes, a poor kid gets a pair for free.

That’s not a business model most companies would employ, successful companies anyway. But it’s worked for the Los Angeles-based TOMS Shoes for four years now and for its founder, Blake Mycoskie, who visited the University of Dayton on Tuesday, April 13, as keynote speaker for UD’s Stander Symposium, an annual event that recognizes student research and creativity.

Mycoskie’s message: “Business and philanthropy don’t have to be mutually exclusive.”

“You can follow your heart and your passion and do something you feel really proud about and impact the world,” Mycoskie said prior to his lecture. “At the same time, that doesn’t mean you have to be in the Peace Corps or a missionary; you can actually build a business and be part of something that’s a sustainable job at the same time. I think a lot of kids are graduating from school with that kind of conflicting world view, that it’s an ‘either-or’ situation. TOMS does both.”

TOMS are casual shoes, canvas slip-ons mostly, that are popular across age groups, said Mycoskie, who appeared on the “Today Show” last week. But the shoes are mostly associated with younger crowds because of “the movement.” Some high schools and colleges have clubs dedicated to the cause.

Mycoskie, 33, said he founded TOMS after vacationing in Argentina and observing a shoe giveaway by a local charity. He said he didn’t want to “just make a donation, a one-time thing; these kids didn’t need shoes just one time.” So he sold an online business he founded and used the proceeds to start TOMS.

Today, the private TOMS has 73 employees. The company is turning a profit, Mycoskie said. It has sold and given away 600,000 shoes to date, with most of the kids who benefit living where the shoes are manufactured: China, Ethiopia and Argentina. Mycoskie said he’s also given shoes to kids in New Orleans, Mississippi and Florida, and he’s headed to Haiti in two weeks. “My official title is ‘chief shoe giver,’ ” he said.

The physicist Richard Feynman, who famously dunked a little O-ring in ice water and broke it to demonstrate why the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986, was fond of saying, “Don’t fool yourself; and you are the easiest person to fool.”

Lately in America it appears that our so-called leaders, with the possible partial exception of the erstwhile political redeemer Barack Obama, believe it is their duty to fool as many people as they can. Is manipulation a given in politics? For a politician in America, and presumably most other countries, telling the truth as one sees it is seen as political suicide.
The American people, on the other hand, seem to want to be fooled, as long as gas stays below four dollars a gallon, and it’s only the neighbor down the block who loses her house.

Humankind faces the greatest crisis since the emergence of ‘modern man’ 100,000 years ago, and yet the debate revolves around the minutia of militias, foreign and domestic. Is Iran building a nuclear weapon? Will Israel attack before the US election? Will Americans be able to carry concealed weapons into public places?

It’s stupefying to hear both conservatives and liberals blather on about ‘incremental change attuned to particular circumstances’ when the old order has so undeniably collapsed, and the human prospect itself is in question.

It may well be that ‘human nature,’ whatever it actually is, and whatever people really mean by it (which are two very different things), is the most resistant beast to change in all of nature. But without doubt, human nature is at issue. And yet the ‘issues’ of the day that the best minds give their focus and energies are this age’s equivalent of arguing over how many angels dance on the head of a pin.

At the moment of humanity’s greatest peril, a nation founded on a completely non-incremental, revolutionary break with the past, a nation that rose to greatness precisely because its founders strove to articulate universal premises and laws of human governance, has become a beacon of conformity, and a light of mediocrity.

Thomas Jefferson’s truism cum cliché that “without vision a people perish” no longer applies in America. Because now we are faced with the question, what do we do when the people have perished?

By more and more measures, and by fewer and fewer denials, America has lost its soul. And when a nation loses its soul, it is compelled, before it can regain it, to find out both what ‘soul’ means, and how it came to lose it.

I define ‘soul’ as the essential intactness, integration, integrity, and passion of a person, a people, or a sentient species (of which humankind is the only one on this planet in my view). And at a time of crisis and collapse, people are also compelled to examine their assumptions.

Premises are tentatively held views that have been thoroughly examined, and are open to scrutiny and testing. Presumptions are strongly held ideas that have not been examined or tested. And assumptions are rigidly held notions, mostly subconscious, that rarely see the light of day.

Philosophers are needed in times of crisis as much as they are dismissed when things run relatively smoothly because assumptions and presumptions no longer hold, and are thrown forth, falling to the ground like rotten fruit.

One of the biggest subconscious assumptions in the West is of progress. Progress is an assumption that has risen to the level of presumption, where it can at last be questioned. As a premise, the idea of human progress, except scientifically and technologically, does not hold up at all.

In nature evolution works the opposite of ‘progress.’ Environments change, pressures build up in species; and a leap is made or isn’t made. If it’s made, a new adaptation or even a new species emerges. If not, extinction results.

It’s human hubris to think we are exempt from this process, that we stand outside of nature and have mastered the laws of nature.

Consciousness, as we know it, is very recent, even by human evolutionary measures. ‘Modern humans,’ with all their prodigious powers of technological innovation and cultural invention, are probably no more than 100,000 years old.

Homo sap appears to have reached the end of this evolutionary line. Outwardly, the destruction of a diverse, livable earth is one certainty if man continues on this path. Inwardly, the flattening of emotional and spiritual response will go on unabated, and few individuals will survive inwardly intact.

A leap has to be made, and feelings of fear and helplessness are no more an excuse for not making it than conservatism and incrementalism.

ATLANTA — Josh Smith would have preferred that Joe Johnson make the shot.

It worked out fine for the Atlanta Hawks.

Smith swooped in to dunk Johnson’s miss just ahead of the buzzer as the Hawks pulled out another close one, finally beating the Orlando Magic 86-84 Wednesday night to clinch a third straight trip to the playoffs.

The Hawks bounced back from an early 15-2 deficit and overcame going 8:45 in the fourth quarter without a field goal against a division rival that had routed them three times this season. For Atlanta, it came down to the final shot of regulation for the fifth game in a row.

“I knew it was close,” Smith said. “I just crashed it. I looked and the ball was there. Joe’s a good shooter, and I knew it wouldn’t be much off.”

After Vince Carter hit a long 3-pointer with 9.9 seconds left to tie it at 84, the Hawks — out of timeouts — rushed down the court to set up Johnson for the potential winning shot. He drove the baseline and put up a one-hander, which bounced off the far side of the rim.

But the Magic failed to block out Smith, who soared through the air for the slam just before the red light went on. The officials checked the replay to be sure — it clearly showed him dunking with 00.1 seconds remaining.

“I knew (Johnson) was going to shoot the basketball,” Smith said. “He’s made some big shots for us. I was hoping he would make this one. But I had his back.”

Smith blew past Rashard Lewis and dunked over Dwight Howard, who had a season-high 24 rebounds but wasn’t there at the end because he came out to help defensively against Johnson.

“On the weak side, we just stood and watched,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “The guys on the court are doing the same thing the guys on the bench are doing: just standing there watching.”

The Hawks may have benefited from having used all their timeouts before Carter made his game-tying shot from at least 3 feet beyond the arc.

“I think it was pretty good we didn’t have a timeout,” Smith said. “They were kind of discombobulated on defense. They didn’t know who to guard, and I was able to get the rebound.”

The teams combined for only nine baskets in the final period, with Atlanta enduring a drought that didn’t end until Smith hit a baseline jumper with 1:38 remaining and the shot clock running down. Orlando, after hitting six of its first 10 shots, finished 27 of 72 for a dismal 38 percent.

Carter led Orlando with 20 points, while Howard chipped in with another monster performance: 19 points and his domination of the boards. Johnson led six Atlanta players in double figures with 17 points, while Smith scored 15.

Atlanta thought it had wrapped up a long-expected trip to the postseason with an overtime victory against San Antonio on Sunday night. Then, an extremely remote scenario was discovered that could have kept the Hawks out: a possible four-way tie for the final three spots, with Atlanta losing on a tiebreaker.

But everyone knew it was just a matter of time. Besides, the Hawks have bigger goals than just making the playoffs, such as getting farther than they did a year ago, when Cleveland swept them in the second round.

Atlanta had hoped to make a run at Orlando for the Southeast Division title, but the Hawks will have to make up a 3 1/2-game deficit with only 10 games remaining. They remained tied with Boston for third seed in the East.

Hawks sixth man Jamal Crawford will be heading to the playoffs for the first time in his decade-long career. He came into the night having played 666 games without making it to the postseason, the third-longest drought in NBA history.

“I finally got it,” Crawford said, breaking into a big smile.

Orlando had dominated the season series, winning the first three meetings by an average of more than 23 points. It looked like more of the same when the Magic raced out to a 15-2 lead. The Hawks missed 11 of their first 12 shots and were outrebounded 11-2 during that span.

“It’s good for our confidence to know we can actually beat this team,” Smith said. “They have the best center in the game. They have outstanding shooters. But we were able to play ‘em full court every minute.”

Howard picked up his second foul less than 10 minutes into the game with Orlando leading 20-10, knocking over Crawford while trying to set a pick out beyond the foul line. With the big man on the bench, the Hawks quickly made up ground.

When Howard was on the court, the Hawks came at him with one defender after another — and often more than one. Backup center Zaza Pachulia picked up four fouls in the first 1 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter trying to guard Orlando’s massive center.

“You don’t want him shooting layups,” Pachulia said. “I’d rather him shoot free throws.”

NOTES: Atlanta coach Mike Woodson celebrated his 52nd birthday. His wife gave him a cigar case, and his office was filled with balloons before the game. … Orlando’s Mickael Pietrus aggravated a sprained left ankle and played only nine minutes. … Atlanta snapped a six-game losing streak against the Magic dating back to the opener of the 2008-09 season.

INDIANAPOLIS – University of Vermont men’s basketball senior Marqus Blakely (Metuchen, N.J.) won the 22nd annual State Farm College Slam Dunk Competition on Thursday night at the Indiana Convention Center. Blakely becomes the first Catamount to win the dunk contest, after he defeated Bradley’s Chris Roberts in the final on ESPN.

ESPN announcer Brad Nessler opened the show by picking Blakely to win the competition and the senior started off with a 360 in the first round to earn a 45 out of 50. In his second dunk in the first round Blakely had teammate Evan Fjeld (Durham, N.C.) start off with a dunk that he then picked out of the net and also slammed. The dunk earned him a perfect score of 50 as he ranked second going into the semifinals. It also came it at No. 3 on ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10.

Blakely brought Fjeld out for his third dunk as well. This time the two started on the baseline with Fjeld tossing the ball off the side of the backboard, which Blakely caught and turned it into a windmill dunk for a score of 47.

In the finale Blakely called out fellow competitor L.D. Williams for an assist. Blakely had Williams stand in the lane approximately five feet from the basket and toss the ball off the glass, as he then hurdled the 6-foot-4 Wake Forest guard during his two-handed dunk to earn a 41 and just beat out Roberts who recorded a 40.

Blakely was only the second Catamount to take part in the NCAA slam dunk contest, as he joined Tobe Carberry �00, who finished second in 2000 when the competition also took place in Indianapolis. Blakely finished his collegiate career with 163 dunks in 129 career games.

The physicist Richard Feynman, who famously dunked a little O-ring in ice water and broke it to demonstrate why the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up in 1986, was fond of saying, “Don’t fool yourself; and you are the easiest person to fool.”

Lately in America it appears that our so-called leaders, with the possible partial exception of the erstwhile political redeemer Barack Obama, believe it is their duty to fool as many people as they can. Is manipulation a given in politics? For a politician in America, and presumably most other countries, telling the truth as one sees it is seen as political suicide.
The American people, on the other hand, seem to want to be fooled, as long as gas stays below four dollars a gallon, and it’s only the neighbor down the block who loses her house.

Humankind faces the greatest crisis since the emergence of ‘modern man’ 100,000 years ago, and yet the debate revolves around the minutia of militias, foreign and domestic. Is Iran building a nuclear weapon? Will Israel attack before the US election? Will Americans be able to carry concealed weapons into public places?

It’s stupefying to hear both conservatives and liberals blather on about ‘incremental change attuned to particular circumstances’ when the old order has so undeniably collapsed, and the human prospect itself is in question.

It may well be that ‘human nature,’ whatever it actually is, and whatever people really mean by it (which are two very different things), is the most resistant beast to change in all of nature. But without doubt, human nature is at issue. And yet the ‘issues’ of the day that the best minds give their focus and energies are this age’s equivalent of arguing over how many angels dance on the head of a pin.

At the moment of humanity’s greatest peril, a nation founded on a completely non-incremental, revolutionary break with the past, a nation that rose to greatness precisely because its founders strove to articulate universal premises and laws of human governance, has become a beacon of conformity, and a light of mediocrity.

Thomas Jefferson’s truism cum cliché that “without vision a people perish” no longer applies in America. Because now we are faced with the question, what do we do when the people have perished?

By more and more measures, and by fewer and fewer denials, America has lost its soul. And when a nation loses its soul, it is compelled, before it can regain it, to find out both what ‘soul’ means, and how it came to lose it.

I define ‘soul’ as the essential intactness, integration, integrity, and passion of a person, a people, or a sentient species (of which humankind is the only one on this planet in my view). And at a time of crisis and collapse, people are also compelled to examine their assumptions.

Premises are tentatively held views that have been thoroughly examined, and are open to scrutiny and testing. Presumptions are strongly held ideas that have not been examined or tested. And assumptions are rigidly held notions, mostly subconscious, that rarely see the light of day.

Philosophers are needed in times of crisis as much as they are dismissed when things run relatively smoothly because assumptions and presumptions no longer hold, and are thrown forth, falling to the ground like rotten fruit.

One of the biggest subconscious assumptions in the West is of progress. Progress is an assumption that has risen to the level of presumption, where it can at last be questioned. As a premise, the idea of human progress, except scientifically and technologically, does not hold up at all.

In nature evolution works the opposite of ‘progress.’ Environments change, pressures build up in species; and a leap is made or isn’t made. If it’s made, a new adaptation or even a new species emerges. If not, extinction results.

It’s human hubris to think we are exempt from this process, that we stand outside of nature and have mastered the laws of nature.

Consciousness, as we know it, is very recent, even by human evolutionary measures. ‘Modern humans,’ with all their prodigious powers of technological innovation and cultural invention, are probably no more than 100,000 years old.

Homo sap appears to have reached the end of this evolutionary line. Outwardly, the destruction of a diverse, livable earth is one certainty if man continues on this path. Inwardly, the flattening of emotional and spiritual response will go on unabated, and few individuals will survive inwardly intact.

A leap has to be made, and feelings of fear and helplessness are no more an excuse for not making it than conservatism and incrementalism.

New Zealander James Blick’s debut short film ‘Us’ has made the cut for the Slamdance Film Festival.
‘Us’ will screen in competition at the prestigious international festival in January 2006. The emotionally honest and confronting short was selected from over 3000 entries.
Blick, who wrote and directed the film, is currently working in France, but he will travel to Park City, Utah for the Slamdance Film Festival. He had this to say, “Slamdance is one of the top independent film festivals in the United States. I am obviously rapt!”
The film was produced by his brother Johnny Blick who also produces for Republic Films. The pair have another project lined up to shoot next year.

‘Us’ begins its festival run this week with its world premiere in competition at the Tirana International Film Festival. Immediately following Slamdance, the film has been selected to screen at the Victoria Independent Film Festival in Canada.

Blick is looking forward to returning home next year to continue working on his next project. He is currently writing and will again direct.

‘Us’ stars award winning actors Alison Bruce (‘An Angel at my Table, The World’s Fastest Indian’) and Alistair Browning (‘Rain’, ‘Lord of the Rings’).

A film about loss; ‘Us’ explores the fragile nature of trust and intimacy and how easily they are broken.

Two Hyundai vehicles have received top marks in their class from drivers assessing them on performance, comfort and safety.

The 2006 AutoPacific Vehicle Satisfaction Awards have recognised the Hyundai Santa Fe as the top mid-size SUV, the fifth time the vehicle has claimed top spot. The Hyundai Azera, or Grandeur in New Zealand, has been recognised with first place in the large car category.

The Grandeur also earned the highest overall satisfaction rating among cars from owners
To determine rankings in the vehicle satisfaction awards AutoPacific examines data collected from 24,000 people buying or leasing vehicles between September and December 2005.

The ranking for the Santa Fe applies to the previous model. Hyundai is confident the latest model will easily maintain the SUV’s ranking as number one.

“There are so many improvements and new features on the latest model from the ground up we are sure there will be thousands of very satisfied customers in coming months and years,” said Hyundai New Zealand Managing Director, Philip Eustace.

He said the satisfaction ratings for the Grandeur were particularly pleasing, given the esteemed company the car competed in.

“In its first year on the market it achieves not only a class win, but the highest scoring passenger car ahead of such esteemed luxury brands as Lexus and Mercedes S-Class.

“These are vehicles that are up to twice the price, so it really is quite a feat to fulfil the role of a luxury vehicle of such high quality without the stinging price tag.”

CHARLOTTE — The Bulls took care of business, beating Michael Jordan’s Bobcats 98-89 to secure the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Raptors 131-113 win over the Knicks Wednesday was meaningless in the end.

The Bulls get the consolation prize of facing LeBron James and top-seeded Cleveland in the first round. The teams split the regular-season series 2-2.

Derrick Rose delivered with 27 points Wednesday, including a crucial 3-point with 8 minutes, 57 seconds remaining that gave his team enough cushion to coast the rest of the way. Noah had 21 points, 13 rebounds, and four assists
It helped that the Bobcats had little to play for after securing the seventh seed in the playoffs. But they didn’t exactly fold, with coach Larry Brown playing his starters for at least part of the game with owner Jordan sitting with ex-Bull teammate Charles Oakley next to the Bobcats bench. Brown said he wanted to protect the integrity of the game by allowing his starters to play, but Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace and Raymond Felton weren’t on the floor in the final quarter. Former Bull Tyrus Thomas led the Bobcats with 16 points, while Wallace scored 15 in 24 minutes.

The Bulls absorbed a third-quarter charge by the Bobcats, sparked by a Wallace dunk, and still lead 75-65 after three quarters. The Bobcats climbed to within five in the quarter after trailing by 14 at halftime.

On a side note, former Bull Tyson Chandler, now with the Bobcats, exited in the second quarter following a collision with Bulls rookie James Johnson and did not return. Chandler suffered a right hip pointer and a bruised left elbow, and X-rays of his elbow was negative.

The Swoosh continues with their social awareness initiatives via this latest release of a PRODUCT(RED) Dunk Low. A white and metallic upper offers a backdrop for a lace pattern running from the collar and wrapping around the back heel. Red accents the Swoosh, collar and tongue lining, outsole and heel tab. These Dunks are limited. So head out to Nike Sportswear in SoHo if you’re in the New York area and support a rather worthy cause.

“We have just received a limited run of the Dunk Low iD Red here at 21 Mercer. As a proud sponser of (PRODUCT)RED, we will be contributing 8% of the net retail sales from the Dunk (PRODUCT)RED Low iD Shoe equally between the Global Fund (www.theglobalfund.org) and football-based community programs to help fight AIDS in Africa.”

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The Swoosh continues with their social awareness initiatives via this latest release of a PRODUCT(RED) Dunk Low. A white and metallic upper offers a backdrop for a lace pattern running from the collar and wrapping around the back heel. Red accents the Swoosh, collar and tongue lining, outsole and heel tab. These Dunks are limited. So head out to Nike Sportswear in SoHo if you’re in the New York area and support a rather worthy cause.

“We have just received a limited run of the Dunk Low iD Red here at 21 Mercer. As a proud sponser of (PRODUCT)RED, we will be contributing 8% of the net retail sales from the Dunk (PRODUCT)RED Low iD Shoe equally between the Global Fund (www.theglobalfund.org) and football-based community programs to help fight AIDS in Africa.”

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Today, Pacific Islanders waded out into the sea and hung 350 T-shirts, each printed with the name of a different island, on a series of giant washing lines to highlight the insufficient action being taken to combat climate change. ‘350 Islands for Change’ was organised by Oxfam as part of the ‘350 International Day of Climate Action™, involving over 4200 events in 170 countries.

Jane Filemu, a 9-year-old Samoan girl, walked through knee-deep water to hang the final T-shirt, then turned and recited a poem. She told the crowd: “I have a choice to be one of many, to make a better world for the future of Aotearoa, Pasifika, our planet. Everyone has the power to choose wrong or right. Family, we can work together, we can make a change. Alofa, Aroha, Peace!
Pacific people, who have caused almost no historical climate change pollution, are already struggling with the effects – worsening droughts, salination of fresh water supplies, food shortages, eroding coastlines, and the very real threat of being displaced. They need support and leadership from developed countries who have caused the problem. Instead, New Zealand is behaving like a laggard in the international climate change negotiations and our Pῡcific neighbours are being hung out to dry.

“The outpouring of support after the recent tsunami has been inspiring,” says Oxfam spokesperson Jason Garman. “New Zealanders have shown such compassion and generosity towards our Pacific neighbours and our family members. What a disappointing contradiction that our Government is showing such blatant disregard toward them with itῳ behaviour on climate change.

One of the major roadblocks that must be overcome in order to reach a new global agreement in Copenhagen this December is the issue of funding to help developing countries protect themselves and adapt to climate change. The money must be considered payment to cover the costs of the damage done. It is not aid and should not be taken from existing aid commitments.

Even now, with 44 days until the Copenhagen conference starts, the Government has yet to announce that it will contribute new funding for climate change adaptation. New Zealand recently received two more ‘Fossil of the Day’ awards at the UN climate change meeting in Bangkok, given to those countries preventing progress in the negotiations.

“Do we really want to be a country that blocks this urgent global deal from happening because of short-sighted self-interest?” asks Garman. “It’s time for New Zealand to take responsibility for our fair share – both of the necessary emissions cuts and the costs to help people on the front lines of climate change. What we are doingᾠnow is simply not good enough for our Pacific neighbours or the Pasifika community here.

“With 4200 events taking place throughout almost every country on Earth, this is the largest environmental action the world has ever seen,” says Garman. “People should be inspired. It’s an historic movement driven by concerned citizens calling for justice, responsibility and collective sanity.”