Tuesday Slap of Reality

     Now, I'm no communist mind you. But I don't see why the banker can't give the worker two cookies, the immigrant one and STILL go to Maui for the winter.

Good-bye Jon Stewart

     This is a tough day for me. I have been a Jon Stewart fan for a really long time. Before he scored his gig on the Daily Show, I remember seeing him on MTV on some game show I forget the name of. I remember the "Jon Stewart Show", short-lived but smart and hilarious. For the past 15 years, I rarely missed the Daily Show because, well, Jon always slapped us in the face with truth. He echoed the incredulity and anger that we all shared when it came to the things wrong with our country and the world. He pushed us all to use common sense and logic when addressing issues, while calling for the other media outlets to do the same. That voice was like a beacon of hope, a light in the darkness, the laugh when we needed it. Without his humor, I am convinced that I would be suffering from severe depression and hopped up on untold number of anti-depressants.

photo from: http://media.salon.com/2012/07/stewart_rect.jpg

     The truth is, Jon Stewart inspired me to write this blog. Good or bad, smart or dull, funny or boring, I do this every week (mostly) to try and reach those of you out there who are distressed about the state of our world, who need a laugh sometimes, who need to see a different perspective on things. A perspective that shows you how ridiculous the news-spin can be and how common sense and logic will always show the way. I owe that to Jon Stewart. He made it okay to question, challenge and push all that bullshit to the side and demand honesty and truth. Who else could take a subject as serious as the war in Iraq, the fight for Gay Rights or the hypocrisy that is Citizens United and lay it all out for us, all while still being able to make us laugh? How are we supposed to go on with out him to keep us all honest?

     I always had this fantasy that I would hit it big one day. When I was a kid, it was as a hockey player. In my 20's, it was as an author and a writer. For the past 5 years, as I finished my degree, joined the Climate Reality Project and the Watershed Stewards, I figured it would be for my Environmental and Climate Activism. With my witty and funny blog posts, future books and the fact I will be a hilarious interview, I had this dream of making it onto "The Daily Show", sitting across from Jon and discussing the climate crisis, the environmental issues facing our world and saying "fuck" a lot. The thought scared the crap out of me, of course, because Jon is so smart and his BS meter so sensitive. But I wanted the chance! I wanted to just talk to him. To pick his brain. To pick things apart, dissect idiot comments from idiot public officials that don't know what the hell they are talking about. To say something witty enough to make Jon Stewart laugh.

     That would help me reach more people, would help me make more of a difference in combating our current climate and environmental issues and the ones that face us in the future. It would signal that I was truly making a difference in the world, reaching people, inspiring others to stand up and make their voices heard. I would be making the world a better place, not just posting unread blogposts for my own entertainment or piece of mind. It was a goal I wanted to strive for, but was unsure how to do it. Except to just keep plugging away. Maybe I would make it on "The Daily Show" one day. Maybe not. But having a goal is the first step to attaining it. Who knows what the future holds?

      Sadly, my future does not include sitting across the desk from Jon Stewart on his daily show. I wont get that chance now. I may make it big one day and become a world renowned Climate Activist, but I won't get to walk onto to that stage, make sarcastic comments about the dolts in Congress or pick his brain about environmentalism and what he thinks we should do or be asked to stay past the 30 minute mark to discuss things further and have it thrown up on the internet for viewers to check out after the show. I won't get to turn on the TV and flip to Comedy Central when I feel that despair that can set in when everything seems so overwhelming. I wont get to hear his take on the inequities of the world. Every week for almost 15 years I had that chance. After today, we all won't have that chance. I don't like when tv shows end that I am emotionally invested in. But this, this is different. Saying good bye to this "Daily Show"...this will be extra hard. Why? Because it was real. It was true and it was good for all of us.

     Thanks Jon. I will truly miss you.

 

The Difference Between Fact and Opinion: Take 2

     Do you want to know the true difference between a Climate Change Alarmist and a Climate Change Denier? I will use this simple example to illustrate.

- A man sitting in a house looks out the window, sees that it is raining and suddenly remembers that he left the newspaper on the front porch, the windows down in his car and the patio door open. He thinks about all of these things and realizes that the newspaper will probably get ruined, his car seats will get soaked and water will blow in through the patio door.

- Another man sitting in the same house listens to the first man tell him what is happening outside. Without looking, the second man says "Its not raining." When questioned by the first man why he won't get up and look to see it for himself, the second man replies, "Because its too much work to look outside. Besides, its against my beliefs. So, in my opinion, it is not raining."

     And I wonder why I am always pulling out my own hair.

Study Pollution, Go to Jail

Photo by: John D Murray May, 2013

     Did you hear the one where the state legislature that ensured people's rights by taking away their freedom?  The State of Wyoming recently passed a law that makes it a crime for citizens to take pictures of waterways or land, take samples of water or soil or to collect any other type of data that is considered pollution data from any public or private land. Only people granted special and specific permission will be allowed to do so. FREEDOM!!!!

     So, Wyoming, the home of Devil's Tower, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and  the head waters of the Missouri River has taken away the rights of their citizens. All this talk about freedom and liberty and putting an end to the government conspiracy to take away people's rights, and no one in Wyoming stood up to stop this? So now, in order to discover if a company is polluting a river or the State is not adhering to environmental regulations, a person has to get permission from the government to take water samples, take soil samples...shit, even take photos? Sorry, but that does not ring of freedom to me.

     Wyoming is a conservative state, with  a large group of people who are fighting to maintain gun ownership rights, to reduce government regulations and government influence on their everyday lives, as well as to ensure freedom for all their citizens. So for them to pass such a law that gives the government more power over the lives of their citizens is contradictory and hypocritical.

     And people wonder why we are falling behind the rest of the world when it comes to leadership, innovation and education?