The environmental analysis is surprisingly complicated, according to an article in Slate, "Public bathroom dilemma: Paper or air?" What is one or two paper towels or 30 seconds of hot air compared to the emissions belched from cars stacked on I-84? But consider the following: So far this year Americans…
I was shown this clip at a conference today. It's already made the rounds, but it's worth a chuckle or two if your haven't yet seen it. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN3MGN899yE[/youtube]
I’m in Washington DC still (I’ve been here most of the week for a business conference). Yesterday was the day of the American flag. You can see flag-waving everywhere these days. Americans do focus on the accoutrements of democracy rather than making sure we have a healthy democracy with active citizen participation (e.g., consider our pathetic voter turnouts compared to many other countries).
We obsess about flags instead of getting our citizens involved in their government. Our persistent failure to correct this situation is mind-numbing. It’s like being a baseball player at bat in the 9th inning. He could tie the game with one swing of the bat, but strikes out. Instead of focusing on putting the wood of the bat on the ball, he’s obsessing about drinking champaign and having his photo in tomorrow’s newspaper. He’s spending his energy at the wrong level. The waving of American flags is like thinking of drinking champaign while at bat. By waving flags instead of educating and empowering the People, we’re waiving real democracy.
For a strong democracy we need fewer flags, fewer Pledges of Allegiance and a lot more participation by informed citizens. This would start with an active and vigorous media.
Did you ever notice how evocative moments of silence are? I’m always emotionally moved when the PA announcer asks for a moment. The silence of tens of thousands of people is powerful, indeed. American culture is usually out-of-control cacophonous. If we aren’t yapping with each other, there’s a TV or radio blaring. We are pummeled with noise everywhere we go, including waiting rooms, stores and airports. We even bring our yapping and music to “quiet” places, such as national parks. We just can’t help ourselves. It is getting much too hard to find quiet places anymore. That’s why it’s such a joy to be reminded to shut up, even for a moment, even if once in a while. I also appreciated this simple attempt to remind the crowd to be quiet out of respect for Abraham Lincoln’s accomplishments. Not that this sign worked very well. People still talked, almost as much as ever. Children ran around unrestrained by their parents. People shouted things like, “Hey Bill! Isn’t it about time to go get some hot dogs?”
Yesterday, Dennis Kucinich wrote this letter to the House Judiciary Committee Chairman: November 9, 2007The Honorable John Conyers, Jr. Chairman Committee on the Judiciary 2138 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Conyers I am writing in support of H. Res. 799, the Articles of Impeachment which were referred to…