Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Have a "civilized" Earth Day
I’ve been listening to Doug Dowd lately (you can download his classes and book from his website), and (incidentally) I was listening today and he said:
“Not ever accepting the fact as a fact that it was hopeless, out of that resistance to the notion of hopelessness rose whatever progress has been made in the world in the past century.”
Considering recent conversations, I thought I’d share that, insomuch as I agree so strongly with it.
Posted by Jeremy on from Taipei, Taiwan 04/22 at 06:13 AMOn having hope in a ‘hopeless’ situation my personal role model is Ernest Shackleton. His leadership and unwavering faith in his crews ability to weather the antartic was amazing. His sense/perception of reality must have been quite profound, in that he did not succumb to his fears but chose to use every available opportunity as it presented itself. 500 miles across the Weddell sea in a dingy in the middle of winter...absolutely amazing.
Posted by frances on from bc, canada 04/22 at 06:36 AMHello Jeromy...“Not ever accepting the fact as a fact that it was hopeless, out of that resistance to the notion of hopelessness rose whatever progress has been made in the world in the past century.”
Your statement reminds me of the title, ‘The psychology of man’s possible evolution’, P.D. Ouspensky...on optimism..
That sounds like an amazing story Frances...I capsized in my kayak 2 years ago...I’ve been frightened ever since...doesn’t say much for my courage…
Posted by Joe of Maine on from 04/22 at 09:32 AMKurt Vonnegut (1922 - 2007)
Hurricane Online (subscription), FL - Apr 20, 2007
Kurt Vonnegut died at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital at 9:45 PM at the age of 84. He had been hospitalized for weeks after sustaining brain injuries ...Posted by phil-o-sofa on from b.b. but toxic earth 04/22 at 09:43 AMYeah Joe, most of the men went back with him a few years later! I am a wimp when at sea myself.
Mickey, the links on the front page really put ‘Earth day’ in perspective. I mean how does recycling plasic bags or whatever in any way confront the massive damage these criminals are doing everyday in every corner of the planet.
Everyday is earth day.
The one good thing I can see about the income disparity is that when you got nothing to lose you’re more likely to take on the power structure.
I feel more doom and gloom commin on…Posted by Frances on from bc, canada 04/22 at 09:53 AMJeremy...I apologize for the mispelling of your name. joe
Posted by Joe of Maine on from 04/22 at 10:36 AMI am so glad you like the Doug Dowd lectures Jeremy!
Attending those classes was the best thing I did last year. Doug didn’t like to be called “professor” or “Dr.”
I loved to hear his stories about learning how to be an activist, his battle with depression after losing his first wife, how he once learned to dance hoping to get into show business (which led to becoming a cheesy performing swimmer)... just a few of the colorful stories that come out in the lectures.
Dowd is a “quality individual"-- Erich Fromm said the most important thing we can do in life is to choose our friends and aquaintances wisely--
One I didn’t choose but for whom I am grateful:
I cannot ever forget a high school teacher who I loved. She graduated summa cum laude from Radcliffe. Her father was an investor who committed suicide after the ‘29 crash. She married a man who became the most highly decorated U.S. general of WWII. She had two sons, one was killed in Vietnam, the other in a NATO training accident in Europe. She often said that one loved T.S. Eliot and hoped to become a scholar.
Next to my grandmother, Mrs. Corley (http://tinyurl.com/2vxxud) most inculcated in me a love of literature and reading. Among many books required in her classes, we read The Red Badge of Courage, All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Guns of August. I credit her for placing in me the seed that would help me become a fierce pacifist.
(Possibly my two favorite scenes in literature: I hope my memory isn’t too hazy now, but in All Quiet on the Western Front, a wounded soldier throws a shoe across the room in a hospital because he proudly carries a certification that he is insane. In Les Miserables, Jean Valjean foils villains by picking up a red hot poker.)
Mrs. Corley always smiled and listened. She always leaned forward in her chair and took careful notes even when students rose to give a presentation. I can remember her always treating everyone with respect and full attention.
I can truly say that she radiated love (with no visible impatience) to everyone she encountered: she was an incredible force.
She was never a fool.
It is heartbreaking when I think of the horrors that befall our [sic] troops. Do they choose to go and fight for our leaders’ lies? I would say no: only the truly insane would freely choose such things.
Mrs. Corley’s most important lesson to her students came on her last day of class. She told us that we would likely never know where life would lead us or what we do are where we would go. She told us that we must make the best of whatever life holds for us and try to do what is right.
Are there any ribbon colors left for “Support Humanity?”
Doug Dowd liked to say: “Piss on all flags!” He is a wag, but a very wise one.
Posted by Robert B. Livingston on from San Francisco, California 04/22 at 10:55 AMHello Expendables. Another warm sunny day in Astoria.
Good question Robert: Are there any ribbon colors left for “Support Humanity?”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/22 at 12:45 PMPeriwinkle or chartreuse?
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/22 at 02:49 PMHello RMJ. Did you find the Fisk photos in today’s post?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 04/22 at 03:53 PMHello RMJ...Chartreuse...is it true the name of the town and the liqueur were named after the color..?
Posted by Joe of Maine on from 04/22 at 04:31 PMThanks, Mickey. Fisk photos, Page 1, photos # 8, 9, and 10...the photos that changed my life. The first time I saw those photos was when someone delivered a large manila envelope to my house. I sat on my porch steps and opened the envelope. It was filled with Fisk photos. I started to look through them. When I came to the one of the little girl I was captivated by her face and wondered why it was mixed in with the photos of the dead children. Then I saw that the back of her head had been blown off. In that moment I changed from being a total pacifist to one who believes that civilians, especially children, should be protected by any means necessary.
Joe # 11...good question. I will have to look into that.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/22 at 05:08 PM
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