Heroes and their appeal

As I anxiously await my trip to see the midnight premier of Spider-man 3, I can't help but think about the success of not only the recent movies but of the comic and the TV shows it has also spawned.

Being a reader of John Eldredge's books, I see a definite case for the idea of Spider-man and many other pop culture &/or literary heroes serving as role models for us in real life.

A great illustration of how this particular social construct works is laid out in an episode of the short-lived but outstanding series Firefly. The crew of the ship Serenity arrived in a town that one of their members does not want to visit. In his last visit, "Jayne" had tried to steal from the local magistrate, but in a foiled get-away, had to dump his loot. The loot happened to fall in a local neighborhood of downtrodden residents. When they visit this town, they find a statue of the town's "hero", Jayne.

Jayne questioned their reasoning at the end of the episode, to which his captain replied that it was not the person that he is but the person they saw him to be that they needed. And we've seen it many times, people idolized as something that they are not, but as the example the community or culture needs.

I see icons like Spider-man filling this role. I doubt I'm the only one to say this and I know I'm not the first. Spider-man and Batman are the two greatest comic book heroes from the 20th century, both because of their popularity and their background, as they both were regular men that achieved greatness (granted Peter Parker had help from a radioactive/genetically modified spider and Bruce Wayne an inherited fortune). Both from a great loss learned a powerful lesson and took on an awesome responsibility for the greater good of all.

They are the kind of heroes we praise because they are the kind of heroes we want.

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: cultural heroes, Spiderman

From the AP Wire

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nebraska hog producer Joy Philippi says livestock farmers "are having jitters" over ethanol, worried there won't be enough corn left for the pigs.
(read the whole thing)

Join the crowd, the beef industry is worried about the certain increase in corn prices that will result from the use of corn as the primary ethanol source. We already have so many staple uses for corn, and the US is the only country that produces corn on an industrial level.

But there is some good news:

A bill expected to win bipartisan approval Wednesday from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee would require 36 billion gallons of ethanol be used annually by 2022, including 20 billion gallons made from feedstock other than corn - such as switch grasses, wood chips, corn stems and leaves.
(read the whole thing)

We can only hope.

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: ethanol, alternative fuels

From the AP Wire

Cheney Draws Protests Even at BYU

Can I just state for the record that Cheney was welcomed on Auburn's campus when he visited to speak at a graduation, with the exception of one comment made by the Alumni Association speaker for that commencement. But the comment in question was an attempt to make Cheney look bad by using the Auburn Creed that ultimately only made the speaker look arrogant and surely removed any invitation to represent the Auburn Alumni Association anywhere else for sometime.

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: Cheney, Vice President, commencement speech

Asian fish found to contain banned chemicals.

With the AP reporting more incidents of melanine in animal feed, this time in chicken feed, it was easy for this to slip through the cracks:

Nearly a half million pounds of imported fish is sitting idle in Alabama warehouses because testing shows it contains chemicals banned in the United States. Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries Ron Sparks said testing done by his department discovered the tainted fish, and he issued a “stop-sale order” on the fish Wednesday.
(read the whole thing)

This is the first incident of tainted fish from Asian being shipped to the US. And with all of the concern over wheat gluten and melanine, the media is missing a greater danger:

Of the 20 samples of catfish from China, 14 tested positive for fluoroquinolones, an antibiotic banned for use in the United States by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The samples represent 214,260 pounds of catfish along with nearly 300,000 additional pounds of fish suspended pending analysis.

Thirteen samples of basa-type fish from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia were tested and five of those samples were positive for fluoroquinolones. The five positive samples were from Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
(read the whole thing)

Like any drug, fluoroquinolones are meant to be taken in a carefully prescribed manner. Unfortunately, some fish farmers in Asia have found it to be a cheap treatment for their crops.

This is why I support the idea of country of origin labeling on all food products. The concern for what goes into the food chain that American farmers have is, unfortunately, not shared by their international colleagues.

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: food safety, fluoroquinolones, country of origin labeling

Bomb threat at Auburn University

This just arrived in my inbox:

Haley Center has been evacuated due to a bomb threat this afternoon and will be closed for the remainder of today. The threat was received at 2:06 p.m. by phone at the 911 Center. Law enforcement is investigating the situation. More details will be announced later about the rescheduling of classes.

Finals start next Tuesday here on Auburn's campus.

I'll post more if I learn anything else.

UPDATE: A text message from a friend of mine that was in class at the time of the call:

All I know is that the alarms went off during my 2 o'clock class and we left thinking it was a fire alarm

Sounds like AU took the approach of getting everyone out in an orderly manner without causing a panic. Smart move.

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: bomb threats, Auburn University

I can't wait!

And I have to comment, this is a genius marketing movie by Disney. What better way to have your advertising for a blockbuster movie being released in the end of May to persist through the melee of advertising for a competing blockbuster in the first week of May? A netroots posting of the trailer on blogs all over the place.

I may not be fond of Disney, but I really have enjoyed the Pirates series, and it seems to have the potential to go out in fantastic style!

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: Pirates of the Caribbean 3

Funny how things work sometimes

So I was going over the traffic for this site (or lack there of, due to my inactivity on here in the last few days) and I came across a referral from a Yahoo! search for "auburn university majorette and dance line tryouts 2007". At the time I checked the link, this blog came up as the second search result.

Guess I'm moving up in the world, though that wasn't really the subject I wanted attention for on here, that's why I created this other blog.

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: site traffic

This is just stupid

I as I surfing through blogs on Blog Explosion, I noticed a sidebar link called PayU2blog.

I was intrigued, so I followed the link. From the homepage of this "enterprise":

Make money blogging. Earn quick money by completing easy assignments in your blog. We pay you to mention products, services and companies, on your blog. (emphasis added)

This is disgusting, but I guess it was only a matter of time before someone started trying to bribe bloggers into "adjusting" their content like this. While from an economic standpoint this could be called smart business, from the standpoint of intelligence and freespeech, this is a cancer that will erode the free and open forum of the blogsphere.

If this practice becomes commonplace, no one will be able to trust the content of blogs as their will always be suspicion that the words used were chosen not to convey the thoughts of the author but to line their wallet.

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: PayU2blog, freespeech

a generational difference

Being in the army is like being in the Boy Scouts, except that the Boy Scouts have adult supervision.
Blake Clark
(from The Quotations Page)

It's funny how something random can trigger a memory. In particular, this quote triggers a memory of a discussion I had with my father over dinner a few months ago. Since I've been in the career search process for sometime now, it often becomes the subject of discussion. Somewhere in the round, my father said, "This my be the failing of my generation: that we didn't teach your generation enough about entrepreneurship; we just taught you how to work for someone else and not how to work
for yourself."

I had never really thought about this until he mentioned it, but it does seem like much of the education my generation received was in the mindset of making us capable for when we go get a job rather than educating us own how to make it on our own. I'm not saying their aren't entrepreneurs in my generation, but I don't think they are as prominent or as highly regarded as in the past.

Maybe my generation sees ourselves as part of a larger system. This would make sense given our embrace of information technology and prolific exchange of ideas. After all, "everyone is on Facebook or MySpace," as a friend of mine has said. We try to make ourselves part of a larger network, communicate via a barrage of text messages, email, instant messages, etc., instead of going to speak with each other in person. The miracle of it is in-person communication is still valued, I don't know anyone who would rather leave a room and email or text message someone rather than talk to them if they're sitting next to each other.

I have to wonder if this is a sign of our culture having left an era of "small operations" for one of major interconnected systems. It certainly seems to be the case.

-the Progressive Conservative

on the VT massacre

The talking heads keep talking about the "VT Massacre", not that it doesn't deserve attention, but this is too much attention. And VT is getting a bad wrap unfairly on one specific point: the notification of students on campus as to what was going on.

The media seem obsessed with the 2-hour gap between the first shooting and the campus-wide email. They think the whole campus should have been told immediately. This is a short-sighted and impatient assumption, and is definitely not appropriate in a time like this when cooler heads should prevail.

First, when the first shooting occurred, no one knew what the hell was going on! As with any incident like this, the police responded immediately, and their first priority was to figure out what happened. From what the VT police have said, they had reason to believe the shooter had left campus. So, what good would it have been to lock the campus down? And even if they had, how would that have stopped the assailant from coming back, as this may have only added police officers to the list of the dead. My point is VT authorities didn't notify anyone immediately because they didn't know what to tell them!

In this age of information and 24-hour TV news, many have been spoiled into thinking they should have answers immediately, and that someone has failed them if they don't. Spoiled is definitely the best word for that outlook. Answers aren't always available right away, and rarely is the complete picture seen even days after an event like this, if ever.

So, why are some in the media out to vilify the very people who were trying to protect the public and figure this whole thing out? I can see no reason other than lack of understanding and sensationalism, neither of which is an acceptable answer.

---

On a different note about the incidents of yesterday: As a life member of Kappa Kappa Psi Honorary Band Fraternity, as was receiving updates on the status on members of our chapter at VT. All were accounted for by midday and none harmed.

But we did get unfortunate news: One of the fallen was a member of the VT Band, a brother-in-arms, if you will. From the Marching Virginians website:

The Marching Virginians are deeply sorrowed by the loss of fellow MV and friend, Ryan "Stack" Clark. He was a loved friend, mentor, and role model who will always hold a special place in the hearts of all the MVs as a true example of The Spirit Of Tech. Stack, we thank you for all the memories, and for sharing with us your true love of life. We will love and miss you always.

Please continue to keep those up at Virginia Tech and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

-the Progressive Conservative

Technorati tags: VT massacre