Recently I was in Scotland and it was raining.  This is nothing new.  But as forecaster pointed out that the storm had come from the States I realized that I was sitting through the same storm I’d been through just a few days before in Virginia.

Now *that* is a small world.  A small, interconnected, amazing world.

A friend of mine has developed an expertise in climate change impact to resiliency planning (of which disaster management is a part).  She was invited to blog on the topic so she did.  Turns out, the topic was too “controversial” to be posted after all.

I read that blog post.  *I* am an expert in resiliency planning and I know for fact that there is nothing controversial in what she was saying.

Except in the United States.

I told another very smart friend what happened.  She was equally incensed.

Then we headed out for a meeting with a bunch of meteorologists, who are not climate scientists for…well…long term stuff but who deal with this stuff every day.  We told them the story.  They shook their heads in a combination of disbelief and said “yes, we deal with that too.”

Becoming knowledgeable on a topic shouldn’t be controversial.  Moreover, knowledge shouldn’t be restricted just because it makes people uncomfortable.

Hey, I totally believe organizations should be allowed to choose what they want to publish, or not. This isn’t an abridgment of our 1st Amendment rights.  But knowledge should be shared.

Sometimes the seed of knowledge starts with someone asking a question.  Wondering about something.  Having a discussion.  But knowledge should never be feared.  Or controversial.

This event was the impetus to do something I’ve been thinking about for a long time.  Create a place where several smart people can share some information, think out loud, tell a few stories, and maybe…just maybe…become seeds of knowledge sharing.

I’m not going to promise unbiased discussion.  We aren’t a media outlet.  We’re a bunch of people who think. About lots of things.

Come.  Think with us.