Through nearly 50 comments and 15-20 emails, you have spoken. You don't want to see politics on Common Craft. I agree that it is the right move - political discussions will not appear on the Common Craft web site. We may make videos about events that relate to government, but these will not reflect personal/partisan views.  A couple of things:

1) First, wow.  We are both so excited to see such amazing comments. The thoughtfulness is inspiring. Thank you so much for being involved - we are lucky to have people like you around us. My Mom even got involved via email (thanks Mom!)

2) I was surprised to see so many responses in email. One of my favorites simply said "Listen to Sachi." It's good advice. As I mentioned in a comment on the entry, it seemed as though people were more open to the idea of talking politics when they emailed me directly. 

3) This discussion highlights the ways in which Sachi and work together. On our "About" page, Sachi is named (lovingly) as the "Chief Party Pooper."  It fits well - Sachi is ultimately reasonable, rational and risk-averse.  In this way, we are a team.  It's my nature to dream and to take risks.  Together, we create a sense of balance.  When I mentioned our "ongoing discussion" in the last post, it doesn't just apply to politics. We have ongoing discussions about everything, all the time.  It's through those discussions that we find middle ground and ultimately the ideas that help us be successful.

I've learned to never underestimate the value of having people in your life that disagree with you and are willing to talk about why. It has helped me keep my feet on the ground when that's where they needed to be.   

Thanks to Mary for making me crack up at this flipchart-based comedy skit by Demetri Martin, a young New York comic that also appears on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Hope it makes your Friday a little funnier.

On a similar theme, you might also be interested in Jessica Hagy's Indexed - a blog that makes clever use of index cards.

Lastly, My ingenious friend Bre Pettis, a Seattle boy and school teacher who is now living in New York, has a pilot TV show coming on the History Channel called Hacking History. His first show is about Tesla. The pilot shows on September 26th at 9pm.  If we all watch, maybe it will be picked up.  Go Bre!

It started with a tweet.  Eddie Codel described Boston's streets as "Kafkaesque."  I found it on Wikipedia (it means disorienting), along with a listing of other name-inspired words. One caught my eye: Machiavellianism. The first line of the Wikipedia entry:

Machiavellianism is the term that some social and personality psychologists use to describe a person's tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain.
It comes from Nicollo Machiavelli, a Renaissance writer, diplomat, etc. known, in part, for principles of conduct that are marked by cunning, duplicity and bad faith. His most famous work is The Prince.

Upon a bit more investigation, I found that there is a personality test called a MACH-IV test that gauges a person's Machiavellianism.  Apparently there are "high machs" (likely to agree with Machiavelli) and "low machs" (unlikely to agree). Most people are in the middle (I'm a low mach).  Take the 20-question test here.

When I first read about all of this, I couldn't help but think about the spammers and blackhats of the web.  Aside from the trash that they produce, I'm fascinated by the people behind the spam.  Who are these people?  How did they get this way?  What motivates them outside of money? Do they know right from wrong? How can they justify their decisions?

Viewed with a Machiavellian lens, I see spammers a little differently. It makes me wonder if spammers are born vs. made. Perhaps this is the source of my fascination - that spammers aren't just unethical, but possibly a bit mental. An insightful article in Salon has this quote:

McHoskey's article argued that high Machs possess, to a greater or lesser degree, the qualities associated with classic psychopaths: a lack of remorse, pathological lying, glibness and superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self-worth.
Sound familiar? Here are a few interesting questions from the MACH IV test that is based on Machiavelli's "The Prince" (on an agree/disagree scale). How do you think a spammer responds compared to you?

5) It is safest to assume that all people have a vicious streak and it will come out when they are given a chance.
8) Generally speaking, people won't work hard unless they're forced to do so.
13) The biggest difference between most criminals and other people is that the criminals are stupid enough to get caught.
16) It is possible to be good in all respects.
9) All in all, it is better to be humble and honest than to be important and dishonest.

If nothing else, I can now start to incorporate this word into my day-to-day life.  Instead of obscenities, spam will now just make me say - oh how Machiavellian! Or, maybe it'll actually be - oh how $#@&ing Machiavellian!

He's 13, his breath smells really bad, he's deaf, he walks like a retired football player, begs with renewed vigor and is increasingly obstinate. 

Indeed, the old dog experience is so different than the young dog experience. He's still the same sweet dog, but with new quirks that keep things new, even in old age. He is not the Frisbee catching dog of yesteryear. He is more like Jabba the Hut. A deaf Jabba the Hut with with a better disposition.

His deafness is sad and amusing at the same time.  When he was younger - he would greet us at the door. A good guard dog, it was impossible to sneak up on him. These days he doesn't hear us come home.  Often, we have to walk all the way to his bed and wake him up to say "we're home!"  You can't help but think his inner dog voice is saying "Ooops. That's not supposed to happen."

There are also the times when we arrive to hear him howling this terribly lonesome howl.  It sounds so sad. "Poor meeeeee", "All  aloooone".  Once we come into the room he gets so excited. We muse that, in his mind, he thinks "It worked!  The howling worked! Again!"

Speaking of howling - we love to convince him to howl on command.  You'd laugh at us - we both throw our heads back in a chorus of human howling to set the example for him. It works.  What we discovered last night is that the actual howling is now optional.  All we have to do is throw our heads back and he gets it.  Dog sign language is now his best way of listening to us.

He commands a little more of us too.  As Sachi would tell you, when she met him 8 years ago, he didn't beg at all.  These days, he's a professional beggar and it's impossible to say no to an old dog.  (Side note: don't you think it's interesting that he's begun begging since meeting Sachi?  Hmmm.)  Anyway, he'll now go so far as to bark at us to say "I want your FOOD!" We don't look kindly upon this, but it's hard to say no.  I dole out leftovers to him in bits, just to spend some quality time interacting.

But don't feel sorry for this dog.  Working from home means we're with him all the time and we know he's sore with arthritis.  Sachi makes sure that he's never cold and keeps him covered with a blanket. Of course, he now expects the blanket and will wait by the bed for it.  Can you believe that? He expects a blanket over him? Anything for Amos.

We've talked about saving some DNA in case cloning was possible in the future - I would take another Amos in a second.  I think everyone should have one, young and old.  We know our time with him is growing shorter by the day and do everything we can to make his old age comfortable for us both, even if that means old dog breath in your face while watching a movie on the couch.  Somehow, it's really, really nice.