Heroes of the Day
Might as well start the morning off on a positive note… so let’s talk about some people who are actually doing good in the world, or at the very least, are trying their damnedest to make it happen:
William Kamkwamba and his Windmill
First off, we have William Kamkwamba, a Malawian high school student and inventor who helped his people and his entire village by building them a working windmill from pictures in a book. Kudos to the Daily Show for having this brilliant and dedicated kid on their show to talk about it.
(sigh)
Now if only the rest of us could overcome our apathy and perverted sense of entitlement in order to help our own communities… think of what we could accomplish if we truly cared.
Speaking of caring… Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) cares for her constituents more than the political machine. When foreclosures went up 94% in Toledo and she learned that J.P. Morgan Chase was Bad Guy #1, she jumped at the chance to go to a “dinner” with Chase (i.e. them lobbying for easy politicians) and confronted them about their practices, hounding them until they finally starting working with people regarding their mortgages.
Not only that… but she proclaimed on national television that people being screwed by these foreclosures should become squatters in their own houses, because half the time the companies trying to kick you out can’t even find the paperwork to prove they have a right to do it (and thus can’t make you leave).
And finally, yes, we have President Barak Obama with his Nobel Peace Prize win. At first, yes, I was surprised too… because as one who watches the news it seems a lot of his hope-filled agenda is…well… still in the ‘hope’ stage. But let’s look at the bigger picture, shall we?
“I do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments, but a recognition of the role of American leadership in the world. To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who won in the past.
“I will accept this award as a call to action, a call to all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st Century.”
For the past eight years, I could never imagine something so eloquent or humble coming from our President, and neither could the rest of the world. We are still slowly crawling our way out of a slippery cesspool of hate, darkness, ignorance and greed…and if you think about what the world had been subjected to for the past eight years… perhaps… perhaps having a President who stands up against the lies, who visits New Orleans to see what help is needed, and who goes to Egypt to extend a peaceful hand to the nation of Islam instead of to create another war over oil is enough.
“It is easier to blame others than to look inward, to see what is different about someone, than to find the things we share.”
All jokes aside… perhaps President Obama really did win it because he wasn’t George W. Bush. It’s for the rest of us to remember the dark times and realize what that really means.
