Be Careful How You Define Heroism

Nothing enlightens my lunch hours quite as much as my frequent visits to the Guerrilla News Network web site. While reading there today, I was struck by a particular article that explored (or rather, exploded) the reasons John McCain is considered an American hero. I'm not a McCain fan; in fact, I'm really hoping he'll be forced into retirement this November. Any arguments about his heroic validity are inconsequential to me, but the underlying concept of the article did capture my thoughts:

What is the fabric of heroism? How can we safely define heroic actions? Does participation in war grant individuals heroic status?

Difficult questions, to be sure, especially due to the fact that heroism is highly subjective. Labelling someone a 'hero' is a presumptuous practice at best, stripping less thoughtful individuals of their chance to form individual opinions. What makes someone a hero, anyway? I would be able to answer this question for myself, but I don't pretend to have the right to answer it for you. The question is far too subjective.

Take the current U.S. president, George Bush, for instance. I don't think he's a hero, I never have. Quite the opposite really: I think he's an idiot who has spent his presidency pounding nails into the U.S.'s national coffin and plundering helpless nations. However, circumstances COULD exist that might make me feel differently. He is, after all, a man (or reasonable facsimile) who's judgement has been instrumental in driving the price of oil up $60 per barrel. IF I owned a large oil company, I might feel pretty good about the work he's done.

See. Subjective.

And this is exactly one of the reasons why the media chaps my derriere so much; the way they unilaterally label people is scathing, to all of us no less. Please, think for yourself. The media does not have a conscience, the only have sales statistics, so when people like John McCain get called heroes, think first before believing.

As for John McCain, here's what Michael Moore notes:

<quote>

John McCain flew 23 bombing missions over North Vietnam in a campaign called Operation Rolling Thunder. During this bombing campaign, which lasted for almost 44 months, U.S. forces flew 307,000 attack sorties, dropping 643,000 tons of bombs on North Vietnam (roughly the same tonnage dropped in the Pacific during all of World War II). Though the stated targets were factories, bridges, and power plants, thousands of bombs also fell on homes, schools, and hospitals. In the midst of the campaign, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara estimated that we were killing 1,000 civilians a week. That's more than one 9/11 every single month -- for 44 months.

</quote>

Hero? In my books, not a chance. Participation in murderous bombing campaigns isn't on my personal hero ingredients checklist. I'd be more interested to know how many hours he's spent in a soup kitchen.

I digress, but before you go and read something else, be sure to check out the article at alternet that spawned this whole discussion.

Trouble With My Clutch Master Cylinder

Yesterday I accidentally put the part circled in red into my master cylinder backwards. Bad idea!

Craving A Peaceful World

Friends,

I write today over-shadowed by the darkness I feel in this world. Where is the peace? Where is the love? Where are you, my friend?

In recent days, we've seen the situation in the Middle East deteriorate to a new low. If this isn't a big deal to you, think again, because the level of conflict we are seeing now is pivotal. "Alert Status Red", as they say, has come and gone; more peaceful times are sinking into the almost-forgotten depths of our memories.

The media might have many of us believe that such conflicts are far away and outside the realm of real concern. Why should we care for those who are so far away? What loss is a child dying in the crossfire of a distant battle?

Ask yourself this: In the infinite complexity and breadth of this world, why should someone else's life matter any less than your own? We all share this Earth; literal brothers and sisters in our common quest to preserve and perfect the human race.

The battles that rage these very moments are real, and they're shattering lives. Why turn a blind eye and a deaf ear? A life lived in ignorance to the injustices that occur is hardly a life at all. Awareness and positive action is the road to freedom for all, if only it would become our common goal.

It starts with you, it starts with me. Lend a hand to those in need.

Something big is going to happen soon; I can feel it. The Israel-Lebanon conflict is a very serious matter, as is any war in any place. Educate yourself about this and other conflicts. See if you can ease the pain in some small way.

Some of us ought to be ashamed (myself included) for the way our countries have been behaving as of late. Make no excuses for the wrong-doings on those who supposedly lead you. What good could ever come from following those who lead with the sword and the fist, rather than an outstretched hand.

I digress.

It starts with a smile, my friends. Don't be fooled into thinking that hate, war and injustice will write favorable history of these times.

My weapon of choice remains my heart and a helping hand.

What's yours?

Poor GTI

I feel genuine sorrow for the owner of this car. He even had the sense to carry a fire extinguisher. I think he probably should of also unhooked the battery because this looks like it may have been an electrical fire. What a loss.

Who Needs a Porsche. Get a Fiat

No explanation necesarry.

Parkour (Free Running) At Its Finest

I've been watching Parkour videos for a while now, but I have never seen anything like this. For those of you who don't know, Parkour is the sport centered around moving through an environment at high speed in the most efficient way possible. It fascinates me because to be good at it you need a mix of extreme strength, coordination, flexibility, agility and good ol' fashion guts.

There are a lot of Parkour videos, but this most recent one I found is particularily impressive. The Russian fellow performing executes this sport with a level of control that I haven't seen in a lot of videos.

Enjoy.

Road and Track

I don't have a subscription right now, but I do enjoy reading Road and Track magazine whenever I can. Usually they have insightful articles and showcase some great vehicles. Occasionally the magazine will even have a little humour built right in.

But now this:
When I first saw this issue (June 2006) I had to look twice at the cover. I was absolutely floored that they would put a picture of the Saturn Sky next to a BMW M Roadster (in this case, a Z4).

Now I know that I may be overly hard on the Saturn brand, but c'mon, they make cars with plastic body paneling. I hope this comes back to haunt Road and Track. They should have put a picture of the BMW romping all over the lowly Saturn.

Google Trends

Wow. Google has just released another tool that will be very handy for web site owners. Google Trends reports Google search statistics from around the world. As you can guess, this has serious implications for anyone who wants to target the content of their site based on what people are often looking for.

I'm certainly interested in this information. Previously I had been using the Google Zietgeist to get a brief overview of what the world is searching for, but this is way better. Thanks Google!

Read more at www.google.com/trends