The Words of a Hero

In times of trouble it's essential for well-meaning humans to cultivate their sense of Hero. After hearing him speak in this and a few other contexts, I have found a hero in the Democratic Rep. from Ohio Dennis Kucinich:



Send me your heroes, political and otherwise! Tell me about the people that you admire, the people who inspire you to put more into your life. Tell me what makes them so dear to you, and what you have taken from the examples they've set.

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Readers' Heroes
Post a comment about a hero of yours, and I will add him/her to this gallery.


Lloyd Doggett


Al Gore


George Lakoff


Dennis Kucinich


Robert Scheer


Studs Terkel


Jim Wallis


Matthew Willis

MoveOn.org-ers, show how much you care about a unified Democratic Party!

I posted this comment on the MoveOn.org ActionForum today:

Unify the Party and Strategize

It's nice to talk about all the issues we care about and wish we could address, but we're competing with a party (the GOP) that prioritizes retention of power over legitimate consideration of issues. While we shouldn't adopt these twisted priorities ourselves, we can at least learn enough from our esteemed opponents to realize the importance of refining and focusing our platform, conveying our noble stances to the country in irrefutable layman's terms, and employing thoughtful and effective psychology when we debate with those who disagree with us.

Check out George Lakoff's Think Tank! I think he has the right idea. http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org

So far the comment has been very well-received. At the time of my writing this, it has received 4 votes, all of which agree with my view as strongly as possible.

Help me spur the Democrats into a better-focused approach to the game that is American politics. Go to the ActionForum now and put your support behind my comment!

You may have to search a little to find my post. The links I'm giving you should get you close, but you might have to hit "Next 50" once or twice. Refer to the Update below for more details that may help you in find it.

Once again, here is the link.

Thank you!
Ryan

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Update:
21/21 voters agree!
Average importance assigned: 4.5/5

Recent Comment #3475 as of 3:14 AM on Saturday, August 26th.
Go there and give me your support!

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Strong Words

An Excerpt from the 2004 Republican Party Platform

Our Party’s 2004 platform addresses the major issues facing America in the first decade of the 21st century:

Winning the War on Terror …
because our government’s most solemn duty is to keep its citizens safe.

Ushering in an Ownership Era …
because a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit will keep our economy strong and provide more opportunities for workers and families.

Building an Innovative Economy to Compete in the World …
because America can compete with anyone, anywhere, thanks to our entrepreneurs and risk-takerswho keep us on the cutting edge of technology and commerce.

Strengthening Our Communities …
because our children deserve to grow up in an America in which all their hopes and dreams can come true.

Protecting Our Families …
because we respect the family’s role as a touchstone of stability and strength in an ever-changing world.

      This platform makes clear that the American people will have a choice on November 2nd.

      A choice between strength and uncertainty.

      A choice between results and rhetoric.

      A choice between optimism and pessimism.

      A choice between opportunity and dependence.

      A choice between freedom and fear.

      And a choice between moving forward and turning back.

      The 2004 Republican Party Platform makes clear:

      We choose strength.


      We choose results.


      We choose optimism.


      We choose opportunity.


      We choose freedom.


      And we choose moving forward with President Bush. A man of courage and compassion, of integrity and action.


The GOP writes some strong stuff, huh? I bet none of you Democrats out there realized you were choosing uncertainty, rhetoric, pessimism, dependence, fear and turning back.

And now, a terrifying message from Al Gore.

Hear me roar!

"I am a machine powered by spiritual energy."

These are the words I've recently found to explain my current take on life. I am propelled through the activities of each day by the spiritual harmony in my life: my positive view of myself, my ability to be good to and care for my friends and family, the affirmations of my beliefs that I find each day in the words and actions of my heroes. Without this everpresent harmony, I would very quickly collapse, and cease to live an enjoyable and productive life. My evil twin, Wurftown, is here to help me explore this further:

Wurftown: So you care about making money, right?
Murftown: Yes.
W: You care about having lots of friends and having a good love life?
M: Sure.
W: You want people to like you and admire you!
M: Guilty as charged!
W: I bet you even want a lot of power! You want to influence people, and, in certain cases, you want people to start acting like you.
M: Fair enough.
W: (Whispers guiltily) I want those too!
M: That's ok.
W: Well, it's hard to get those things...seems like so much work! And you have to be pretty...tricky!
M: (Surprised) Tricky!
W: (Smiles slyly) Yeah, tricky! You know what I mean: If you want to get rich, maybe you have to learn how to be a tricky stock-player or a shrewd businessman. If you want lots of friends and girls you need to alternately flatter them and make them feel insecure and needy, not to mention come up with lots of jokes so they'll think you're smart! To be admired you have to put up an admirable front. And don't get me started on power! You have to bribe and shmooze people night and day!
M: Really...
W: It's so frustrating! I can't be bothered with this oppressive daily grind! But still, sometimes I really want all those things.
M: You want them pretty badly?
W: Yeah!!
M: Hmmm. So the hope of achieving those goals is a pretty strong motivating force in your life?
W: I guess...
M: Huh. Well what else could be motivating you?
W: I dunno...
M: Ok...well, why don't you walk me through a typical day in your life.
W: Ok, so I get up--and it's really hard to get up, because it feels better to lay in bed. But I force myself up, slog to the shower, etc., etc., sometimes I eat some stuff, and I go to work. (I work in a button factory.) I work really hard and do a really kicka** job pushing buttons--that really knocks the socks off my colleagues and my boss! It feels so great to impress people like that! But lately there's this guy Stan who's been cheesing me off, big time! He thinks he's so great because he pushes more buttons than I do, and sometimes he even throws levers. He's not even that smart! But everyone loves him anyway. I hate it.
M: Ok...
W: Basically, life's a big drag! I do all this hard work, and I'm not even getting anywhere.
M: Yeah, it sounds like a drag! You do all that work, and then Stan effectively undoes it.
W: Exactly.
M: Because you're just trying to make money, win friends and influence people, and it doesn't seem like you really care about anyone, including yourself.
W: In real life, I'd get really upset at this point, but luckily this is a blog entry.
M: Right! So, you don't care about anyone, and you don't care about your work. And that makes me really sad, because you're my brother, and I love you and want you to be happy. You can't be happy if you don't care about anything.
W: Uh-huh...
M: In a certain way, you're a lot stronger than I am. If I had your outlook on life, there's no way I could even drag myself out of bed, let alone do all that exemplary buttonpushing you do every day. I'd be like an SUV running on fumes. And a guy can't fume forever.
W: So you're saying I need fuel?
M: Damn right you do!
W: Where do I get it?
M: You clean up your life! You start caring about yourself! Then you start caring about your friends! Then you start caring about your work! Once you, your attitude and your life are things you're proud of, you'll have no end of energy!

We are machines powered by spiritual energy.

Not greed. Not fear. Spiritual energy.

How do people like Thomas Edison, Teddy Roosevelt, Mohandas Ghandi and Steve Jobs accomplish so much in their lifetimes? By not caring about anything, and brute-forcing themselves through? By caring only about themselves, and, even then, only deeply enough to pursue surface goals in respose to surface needs?

I don't think so. Throughout their lives, they let the river of their love and spiritual energy flow.

And in letting the river flow, they moved mountains.

Global Warming Adventure

I recently saw An Inconvenient Truth, which I recommend to everyone. For those of you who don't know anything about it, it is a documentary that discusses global warming. The title refers to the idea that global warming is an inconvenient truth, and that, because of the inconvenience, many people are denying, ignoring or questioning the truth. Al Gore is the star of the film, and I think he did a wonderful job communicating this important message in an honest and clear way.

Roger Ebert, the film critic, wrote in his review:
"In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to."

Please see the film as soon as you can, and bring all your friends. Also go to www.climatecrisis.net to see how you can help out in this most important of all efforts.

But I wouldn't have called this entry an "Adventure" if it were just a movie recommendation. I have a story to tell.

Reading about the film on Wikipedia, I learned that there is an organization called the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), and that they have aired 3 ads in an effort to discredit the film and its claims. The ads can be found here:
http://www.cei.org/pages/co2.cfm
"They call it pollution--we call it life!"

Particularly watch the one about the glaciers. Someone on YouTube felt strongly enough to record a video response. I felt strongly too: what were these people talking about? What are these scientific reports they are referring to? Well, I checked them out. CEI was kind enough to link to the articles from their website. Here is the one I was most interested in:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1115356v1

Now, I don't know much about Science magazine (the journal in which the article appears). I gather from Wikipedia that it is quite a reputable publication. But the article seems strange. (Granted, I've only been able to read the abstract.) I had this reaction, which I emailed to one of the co-authors of the report, Ola Johannessen:

Dear Ola Johannessen:

Thank you for your research and publication on www.sciencemag.org, regarding the Greenland ice. Below is a link to the publication:

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1115356v1

I have some questions I'd like to ask to help understand this publication better.

Your paper says that that the average measured altitude of certain "already high" regions of Greenland is increasing, while the average measured altitude of certain "already lower" regions is decreasing, but not by so much. The "spatially averaged increase" is positive, which to many readers of your report indicates that Greenland is growing and not shrinking.

My understanding of the alleged melting of Greenland is as follows: Pools of meltwater are appearing in many areas of Greenland. These pools have a tendency to "burrow" to the bottom of the ice, but the presence of a given pool of melt water should not affect your average measured altitude until it has burrowed all the way through to the bottom, allowing melted ice a way to run off of the glacier. Avalanches are occuring, especially near the shores of Greenland; ice is running off of Greenland and into the ocean. This decreases the mass of Greenland, but does not decrease your average measured altitude of your "low" (below 1500 m) region of Greenland, since the "lower" avalanched ice is not measured after the avalanche due to being in the ocean. In fact, since the lowest regions are the ones that tend to slide off into the ocean and cease to be measured, I would expect said average altitude of the REMAINING region below 1500 m to INCREASE as a result of avalanche.

Is my understanding sound? To me this means that, even as you make these truthful observations about measurements, Greenland may still be losing mass at an arbitrarily high rate. Do you think Greenland is losing mass?

Thank you for your considerate and speedy response.
Ryan Murphy

I will be sure to keep you all posted on Ola's reply, if any.

The importance of intense truthfulness regarding matters of our planet's health is so obvious that it shouldn't need mentioning. I wish I felt that the situation is in good hands, that the people in charge care about the Earth as much as I do, and that at the very least they won't deliberately deceive me. But right now I don't feel that way.

I'll appreciate your reactions and comments! Thanks for joining me in exploring this strange and important mystery.