We’ve been hearing a lot about Google “going evil” over the last week or so. This is why net neutrality matters to me, in just a few words.
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Is it possible to help save the world by buying “greener” products? I think so, and here’s why…
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Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story is one of the most important films of the year (seriously).
If only he knew the definition of “capitalism”…
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Last night the headline of The Huffington Post, in characteristic bold red letters, said:
CALIFORNIA: America’s first failed state?
California has the eighth largest economy in the entire world. So what could have gone so catastrophically wrong?
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I’ve been trying to make sense of the health care debate for some time now. Turns out, nobody seems to have a bloody clue what’s going on.
Until now.
To date, this is literally the only thing that has made any sense to me, and I wanted to do my small part to spread the word.
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I’ll keep this brief, as I’d love for you to consider taking the next 21 minutes to actually watch this video.
In The Story Of Stuff, Annie Leonard does a completely masterful job of illustrating how we get all our “stuff,” where it comes from and where it goes. To be frank, this might be the most important short film you see all year. Hopefully it will inspire you to pass it along and start the dialogue in your own specific circle.
Feel free to watch it here, below, or there’s a wonderful interactive presentation on the Story Of Stuff website.
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A Future Not Our Own by Josh Allan Dykstra on January 20th, 2007
End Of An Era by Josh Allan Dykstra on January 29th, 2010
Los Angeles, City Of Broken Angels by Josh Allan Dykstra on January 17th, 2007
I don’t suppose there are too many things better to post on Christmas Eve than something about peace.
My friend Greg recently turned me on to this documentary, made by Mark Johnson, called “Playing For Change: Peace Through Music.”
I don’t want to ruin all the fun by telling you the story here; take 18 minutes or so and watch this video above… you’ll be glad you did. (Get a sample song, “Stand By Me,” below.)
Happy holidays my friends!
PBS chat transcript is here.
Playing For Change website is here.
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Must-See: Slumdog Millionaire by Josh Allan Dykstra on January 17th, 2009
American Idol & My Nonexistent NBA Career by Josh Allan Dykstra on December 7th, 2009
“What Would Jesus Do?” From GQ by Josh Allan Dykstra on February 9th, 2007
Now that gas prices are “coming down” (yes, we feel just GREAT about $3.75/gallon… what!?) I don’t sense the same urgency in the American populace to fix this problem that existed when it was $5. Of course, this placation was expected by most and predicted by many, but that doesn’t change the fact that there is still a problem out there that was never solved. And we shouldn’t be fooled: it’s not fixed now just because we are ignoring it.
I fear we are addicted to foreign oil, and maybe just oil in general.
But in the words of the immutable LeVar Burton, you don’t have to take my word for it! Please check out some or all of the links below.
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T. Boone Pickens, the founder and chairman of BP Capital Management (which manages over $4 billion in energy-oriented investment funds) has created the Pickens Plan, which aims to develop clean energy solutions.
Here’s a great article from one of my favorite contemporary revolutionaries, Dr. Ron Paul: Big Government Responsible For High Gas Prices
Newt Gingrich has also thrown his thoughts into this discussion, and although I’m not convinced that more drilling will be a long-term solution, it does seem like a reasonable band-aid, considering our current economic challenges.
If you’re a regular reader, you know I’m a big fan of Chris Martenson; he’s a very level-headed proponent of financial literacy. Check out his very important explanation of what “peak oil” really is — apparently, I had no idea!
In my quest for the truth, I came across a documentary called A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash. This film is so obviously targeted towards proving its premise — namely, that there will be an oil crash — that it’s earned a bit of skepticism from me (as I’m sure you’ve noticed, it is increasingly hard to decipher truth from propaganda). Nonetheless, it is very interesting and quite well-made.
There’s also an interesting intersection of the “climate crisis” with our oil addiction. Check out WE:
There’s no question this is a complex issue with many moving parts, but I think we all know that it won’t be solved by ignoring it. I know I’m not really offering many, if any, real solutions in this post, but awareness is a good start.
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New Social Media Facts! by Josh Allan Dykstra on September 30th, 2009
What’s 3 Trillion? by Josh Allan Dykstra on February 4th, 2008
People: Your LEAST Important Asset by Josh Allan Dykstra on November 5th, 2009
By Tim Ferriss (excerpt from The 4-Hour Work Week)
I had to bribe them. What other choice did I have?
My lecture at Princeton had just ended with smiles and enthusiastic questions.
At the same time, I knew that most students would go out and promptly do the opposite of what I preached. Most of them would be putting in 80-hour weeks as high-paid coffee fetchers unless I showed that the principles from class could actually be applied.
Hence the challenge.
I was offering a round-trip ticket anywhere in the world to anyone who could complete an undefined “challenge” in the most impressive fashion possible. Results plus style. I told them to meet me after class if interested, and here they were, nearly 20 out of 60 students.
The task was designed to test their comfort zones while forcing them to use some of the tactics I teach. It was simplicity itself: contact three seemingly impossible-to-reach people — J Lo, Warren Buffett, Bill Clinton, J.D. Salinger, I don’t care — and get at least one to reply to three questions…
Of 20 students, all frothing at the mouth to win a free spin across the globe, how many completed it?
Exactly… none. Not a one.
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Bigger Goals = Less Competition
There were many excuses: “It’s not that easy to get someone to…”, “I have a big paper due, and…,” “I would love to, but there’s no way I can…” There was but one real reason, however, repeated over and over again in different words: it was a difficult challenge, perhaps impossible, and the other students would out-do them. Since all of them overestimated the competition, no one even showed up.
According to the default-win rules I had set, if someone had sent me no more than an illegible one-paragraph response, I would have been obligated to give them the prize. This result both fascinated and depressed me.
The following year, the outcome was quite different.
I told this cautionary tale and six out of 17 finished the challenge in less than 48 hours. Was the second class better? No. In fact, there were more capable students in the first class, but they did nothing. Firepower up the wazoo and no trigger finger.
The second group just embraced what I told them before they started, which was…
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Doing the Unrealistic is Easier Than Doing the Realistic
From contacting billionaires [here’s how one reader did it] to rubbing elbows with celebrities—the second group of students did both—it’s as easy as believing it can be done.
It’s lonely at the top. 99% of the world is convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre middle-ground. The level of competition is thus fiercest for “realistic” goals, paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-consuming. It is easier to raise $10,000,000 than it is $1,000,000. It is easier to pick up the one perfect 10 in the bar than the five 8s.
If you are insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.
Unreasonable and unrealistic goals are easier to achieve for yet another reason.
Having an unusually large goal is an adrenaline infusion that provides the endurance to overcome the inevitable trials and tribulations that go along with any goal. Realistic goals, goals restricted to the average ambition level, are uninspiring and will only fuel you through the first or second problem, at which point you throw in the towel.
If the potential payoff is mediocre or average, so is your effort. I’ll run through walls to get a catamaran trip through the Greek islands, but I might not change my brand of cereal for a weekend trip through Columbus, Ohio. If I choose the latter because it is “realistic,” I won’t have the enthusiasm to jump even the smallest hurdle to accomplish it. With beautiful, crystal-clear Greek waters and delicious wine on the brain, I’m prepared to do battle for a dream that is worth dreaming. Even though their difficulty of achievement on a scale of 1-10 appears to be a 2 and a 10 respectively, Columbus is more likely to fall through.
The fishing is best where the fewest go, and the collective insecurity of the world makes it easy for people to hit homeruns while everyone else is aiming for base hits. There is just less competition for bigger goals.
(Excerpted from The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss)
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Hope by Josh Allan Dykstra on July 20th, 2005
Never Forget (9/11/07) by Josh Allan Dykstra on September 11th, 2007
Age Has Nothing To Do With How Old You Are by Josh Allan Dykstra on May 5th, 2010
I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Jim Wallis speak at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena last night. He just released a new book called “The Great Awakening,” and has just started a book tour to promote it. (I haven’t read it yet, but I will soon!)
I’m a regular reader of Jim’s work, and almost always love what he has to say. But I gotta admit: he’s even cooler in person. Or as my friend Jon said, “He’s pretty badass.”
We sat in the second row, about five feet in front of Brother Jim, amongst probably 150 grad students, and listened intently as he brought hope to an otherwise rather dismal Super Tuesday. As of right now, 7am “the morning after,” we don’t yet know what will shake out from yesterday’s primaries, but priliminary reports are saying that Mr. Hundred Years in Iraq McCain is leading the GOP (seriously, do we have to still call it that? It ain’t so Grand anymore, folks!), and Obama and Hillary are tied on the other side (does anyone else hate that we have sides?).
But Mr. Wallis gave us some hope last night. Hope that despite whatever madness may occur between now and November, the real winner this year is CHANGE. We hear it everywhere, from the mouths of every candidate, from Democrats and Republicans, from reporters and journalists. And the reason they’re saying it is because they heard it from us, the American people, first.
There’s a social movement going on, and no matter what happens on Capitol Hill, it is US, the true grassroots force for change, that will make the difference.
Jim said that he started his book tour last week at the Bagdad Theater in Portland, and they were showing a movie after his talk. Up on the marquee it said:
J I M _ W A L L I S
A M E R I C A N _ G A N G S T E R
Ah yes, I believe so.
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From The Perspective Of A Volcano by Josh Allan Dykstra on April 25th, 2010
The Courage Of Detroit by Josh Allan Dykstra on January 25th, 2009
The Future Of Publishing by Josh Allan Dykstra on May 20th, 2010
