Rapt in awe

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.”

-Albert Einstein

Monday Melee 7/2

The Monday Melee is a Fracas project. You’re invited to participate. Get details and see the participant list here.

The Misanthropic: Name something you absolutely hate.
The sense of entitlement that seems to run rampant these days. I’d like to see more personal accountability, a stronger work ethic, and an increased willingness to take action to benefit people beyond our immediate circle. ‘Me, me, me’ isn’t an attitude that’s going to work out well in the long-term.

The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent, or bogus.
A website has been brought to my attention. I will not provide a link, on principle. An anonymous couple states that they’re expecting and are trying to decide whether to have the baby or get an abortion. They are asking for money and claim that unless they raise $50,000 in 3 months, they will abort. Whether true, or a scam, it’s shameful on many levels.

The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with.
It is incredibly hot, and dry. Fire danger is very high. Yet fireworks are still going to be allowed. I guess this would have worked for ‘meretricious’.

The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.
I applaud countries that are actively working on alternate and renewable energy solutions. Brazil’s ethanol program has replaced about 40 percent of gasoline use in the country. Denmark generates 20 percent of its electricity from wind. There are solutions; we just need to concentrate of finding and/or developing them.

The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.
I’m good at research and planning. I’m patient and thorough, and I pay attention to details.

The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.
This is frivolous. But that’s what make-believe is for, right? I’d like to be able to radically alter my appearance in the blink of an eye. Shape-shift, if you will.

Polar Bear SOS

The message below urges concerned Americans to come to the rescue of the polar bear, which faces extinction as a result of global warming. You can send a copy of this letter to your friends by visiting www.polarbearsos.org.

Dear Friend,

By speaking out today, you could help save polar bears from extinction.

The Bush Administration has proposed listing the polar bear as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act because its Arctic sea ice habitat is rapidly melting from global warming. This proposed protection comes after successful legal action by NRDC and its partners to protect the imperiled bear.

However, this proposal won’t become reality without a huge outpouring of public support.

Please send a message to the Bush Administration today by going to: www.polarbearsos.org/takeaction0607

Polar bears live only in the Arctic and are completely dependent on sea ice for survival. But 80 percent of their summer ice could be gone in 20 years and all of it by 2040. They are already suffering the effects: birth rates are falling, fewer cubs are surviving, and more bears are drowning.

Time is running out. Without protection, polar bears could become the first mammal to lose 100 percent of its habitat to global warming.

Please speak out now.

Thank you for speaking out at this critical time.

Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President, Natural Resources Defense Council

Monday Melee 6/4

The Monday Melee is a Fracas project. You’re invited to participate. Get details and see the participant list here.

The Misanthropic: Name something you absolutely hate.
The ‘us against them’ tendency. Put a large enough group of people together and they’ll fragment into opposing groups. Clans, nations, religions, political parties, genders, ages: people always seem to find characteristics and criteria to use in order to unite and hold themselves apart from others. I wish we could be more harmonious.

The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent, or bogus.
New research reveals that sodium benzoate, a preservative commonly found in soft drinks (and other food products) can lead to cirrhosis and Parkinson’s. It has also been found that sodium benzoate, when combined with Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) under certain conditions, creates a carcinogenic called benzene. Let’s get safe ingredients in these products or get them off the market. source: Organic Consumers Association

The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with.
Aging. I’m trying to do it gracefully, but it really bums me out sometimes. I’d like to be 25 again, in body if not in mind.

The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.
My oldest is learning to drive a stick shift, and he’s handling the challenge with uncharacteristic patience and good humor.

The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.
I frequently carry out random acts of kindness.

The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.
I’d like to have a Farmers’ Market that’s open every day within walking distance of my home.

It’s not all about us

“The most important scientific revolutions all include, as their only common feature, the dethronement of human arrogance from one pedestal after another of previous convictions about our centrality in the cosmos.”

-Stephen Jay Gould

Monday Melee 2/26

The Monday Melee is a Fracas project. You’re invited to participate. Get details and see the participant list here.

The Misanthropic: Name something you absolutely hate.
War. Time and again, diplomacy fails (or is never attempted) and war erupts, blazing a trail of destruction, violence, and death. Why must we resort to killing each other?

The Meretricious: Expose something or someone that’s phony, fraudulent, or bogus.
At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, political appointees, not researchers and scientists, have the last word on standards recommendations for air pollutants.

The Malcontent: Name something you’re unhappy with.
I am highly distressed by the situation in the Middle East.

The Meritorious: Give someone credit for something and name it if you can.
During a recent school-sponsored food drive, a student asked for canned goods as her only birthday presents so that she could donate them.

The Mirror: See something good about yourself and name it.
I am creative and resourceful.

The Make-Believe: Name something you wish for.
I’d like to be able to successfully divide my attention between two tasks; for example, read a book while having an interesting conversation. Multi-tasking on steroids.

The year in green

It has been a busy year for environmental issues. Visit the Sierra Club online to review a collection of ‘green’ stories from 2006 and cast your vote for the most significant.

Know-it-alls

There are two very interesting articles on Reuters today that proved an enjoyable reminder that we (contemporary human society):
a) aren’t the only ‘intelligent’ life on Earth
b) didn’t develop advanced thinking in just the last century, and
c) haven’t even come close to unravelling every mystery

Humpback whales have “human” brain cells

Ancient calculator was 1,000 yrs ahead of its time

Humility: it’s refreshing!