Pepsi Refresh Project

-We're looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact. Look around your community and think about how you want to change it-

Check out the following link I came across the other day. I haven't had time yet to look too much into it, but maybe we could put some of our good ideas to work through this project! Pepsi Refresh Project

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
...But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,
If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much,
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And--which is more--you'll be a Man (or a woman!), my son (daughter)!

--Rudyard Kipling

More Info On James J. Lee

Here's some more, hard to find, info on James J. Lee. Guess what? It seems like he was a human being at one time! (meaning: not the crazed eco-terrorist he was portrayed as in the news). I remember kids like this in school, picked upon, and I've always wondered what ever became of them. I also remember a few of the bullies too, and wonder too what became of them, but I always thought that with them, some were destined for the penal system, and some were probably dead of their own doings, not long after they had finished/left school. A more youthful James J. Lee. I'll see if I can find any other relevant life information on the man.

Me Write Book

Well, me finally decided write book!

It my memoirs! Me think like it you will.


Who am I for heaven's sake, Yoda or Bigfoot?

No, not really! I didn't write a book, but I came across this one while web surfing, and it looks pretty good! Anyone who knows me knows that I've been looking for Bigfoot for a longtime now, so a work like this is a real treasure. I didn't know such a thing even existed. The book, that is, not Bigfoot. Bigfoot, Area 51, Loch Ness, China UFO's, oh, it's all real, baby! And now, one of these guys speaks his mind, for the first time, in print.

I thought this day would never come.

James Lee and The Discovery Channel

Did you hear today about the hostage-taking at the Discovery Channel headquarters in Silver Springs, Maryland? Well, I guess that the police just shot and killed the hostage taker outside of the building, and apparently some of the explosives he had wired to his body went off in the process. I was trying to learn more on this guy, and no doubt more will come out soon, but his name was James J. Lee, Asian, 43 yrs. old, and as of recently he has been it seems a sort of do-it-yourself environmental activist. Here are some links with more info on/about him: Suspect's blog, Manifesto, Interview with Relative.

In looking through his manifesto or list of demands to the Discovery Channel, I found that I could in many ways identify with some of the "big picture" views of this guy; saving the environment, ending war, issues of population, and so on. However, if you read a little more closely into his writings, there are some odd references which lead me to believe (as if what he did wasn't enough) that the guy was perhaps a bit mentally unstable. The ideas are large and basic, but not really well-developed, in terms of real-life approaches to these issues that could have some or any real potential for success. Perhaps he was always this way, or maybe he changed over the course of his life, but his writings are indicative of someone who has taken generally positive (for the most part) beliefs, and had become obsessed by them to the point that he did what he did. There are other clues as well, such as the vague demands that "people" invent things and find immediate solutions to overpopulation and environmental pollution and degradation. These are issues that have been struggled with for many years, and his frustration may be understandable, but the complexity of these issues requires much more than simple demands for solutions. As well, there are a few just bizarre references in his manifesto, such as in the following: "Saving the environment and the remaning species diversity of the planet is now your mindset. Nothing is more important than saving them. The Lions, Tigers, Giraffes, Elephants, Froggies, Turtles, Apes, Raccoons, Beetles, Ants, Sharks, Bears, and, of course, the Squirrels".

First of all, what about meerkats or say, lemurs? Don't they count for anything?

And then we have, "...and, of course, the Squirrels". Well, of course, the Squirrels! Isn't that just evident all on its own?

It's some little things like this that lead me to believe that the guy was, maybe of good intentions, but probably someone with some serious issues needing help. It's just too bad that no one noticed beforehand, or noticed enough to the point that they stepped in so that in some way this man could get the help that he probably needed.