Eco Optimism

Mafia Wind Energy Plot Foiled

Being an Italian-American, I've watched the Godfather somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.2 million times.  In fact, my oldest brother learned the basics of Italian (which he speaks pretty well) from Godfather II.  "Cicc', a porta!"

So with the glamorous suit-and-tie Mafia in my head, you can imagine my surprise to hear the latest Mafia plot to invest in wind power in Sicily.  INVEST.  Not steal.  Not intimidate.  Not even to extort... To invest.

Acccording to the Associated Press: Italian police on Tuesday arrested mobsters, businessmen and local politicians who allegedly used corrupt practices and bribes to gain control of a project to build wind farms in Sicily.

Operation "Aeolus," named after the ancient Greek god of winds, netted eight suspects, arrested in the Trapani area of western Sicily, as well as in Salerno on the Italian mainland and in the northern city of Trento.

Police in Trapani said the local Mafia bribed city officials in nearby Mazara del Vallo so the town would invest in wind farms to produce energy.

So Mafia muscle is now used to get in the front of the line to invest in clean energy.  Can you imagine? If this isn't a sign of changing times, what is?

Next, we'll hear the the Mob will is no longer in the "sanitation" business, opting instead for a back-room interest in American Girl (why else would that store be so impervious to recession?)

I guess clean energy is truly an offer we can't refuse.

From "Yes We Can" to "Let's Get to Work"

I'm 43 years old, and never in my life have I felt such an undercurrent of optimism as I do today. Across the nation and the world, people of all walks of life have somehow found a fissure in the rock of hopelessness to awake today and believe anything is possible.

Just yesterday, a group of black teens from a local youth home appeared unheralded to my mother's place.  She's 85 years old (and still mentally and physically as strong as folks 1/3 of her age), and lives in an elderly complex. That morning, about 10 inches of snow had fallen, and these young men cleared each and every car in the lot.  They wouldn't take so much as a cup of hot chocolate.

The facility that houses these kids lived has been in my hometown for 50 years. But not once had I seen them perform any sort of service project, planned or spontaneous.  But on this day, when Barack Obama was performing service himself and preaching his "no idle hands" message, it's clear to see that we have a chance to change the course of this nation. In fact, we've always had the chance and the power, but today it seems that the forces are coming together to see it through.

No matter what you think of Barack, no matter your specific views on the very complicated issue, focus on the renewed sense of possibility today brings.  And remember this: liberals and conservatives may disagree greatly on what to do, but they agree completely on what they want the end result to be: a better America for everyone.

Now, go to work.

The Content of Character

No matter your political beliefs, party affiliations or position is society, the significance of this day cannot be understated.

Last night, millions of blacks and whites lay down their heads to sleep like so many, many times before, united in a dream of better days.  And too often, these dreams have been nightmares.  Young men rotting in Mississippi swamps for registering black voters.  Church doors locked as congregations of men, women and children watched helplessly as hooded cowards broke the sanctity of faith with homemade firebombs.  Lynchings. Travesties of justice. All in the name of liberty.

To be sure, racism, classism and other prejudices have not been eradicated today.  But let the armistice in the battle last for at least one day...

Today, we awake from the dream of life to a world that has changed.  

Today, we awake in a world where children will grow with the full hope of achievement in tact. Knowing the greatest of prizes is theirs to earn.  

Today we awake in a world buoyed by hope and not despair.

Today, we awake united no longer in a dream, but in the profound reality that we live in a land that judges a man not by the color of his skin, but the content of his character.

Let's make today last forever.