The Brainwashed Intellectual on Parenting

A fantastic response and thought that counters the "parents brainwashing their children" argument in favor of free will...from the words of a child!

I had a lot of people tell me this while I was growing up as well. Honestly, it always bothered me because they spoke in my face about how my choices had no bearing on myself because I was only a product of my upbringing. I think that this person shares a great viewpoint/opinion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isLtc5lFgf8

Criminals have hearts too

I once watched a wonderful documentary called "The Interrupters" about a group of people that "interrupt" violence before it breaks out in the most dangerous city of USA. What really struck a chord for me, was to see one of the people who I thought was beyond gone (high, violent, angry) turn his life around and get involved with improving the city himself.

The idea that nobody is too far gone to give up on has resonated with me ever since that viewing. I just came across an article that strengthens that.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/08/210092385/burglars-return-loot-to-group-that-helps-sex-assault-victims?utm_source=npr&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=20130808

What's great about this is not only did they give back, but the community gave more. As a society we are a good people and try to do the right thing as a whole.

Police Chief keeps the peace, and applauds the community

There's been a lot of talking about riots after the zimmerman case. This police department did something really unique, I was impressed with the person's positive outlook on the community and humility to not take credit for himself but to praise those around him.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/21/sanford-police-chief-keeps-peace-in-days-after-zimmerman-verdict/

Youth doing right in the community

With everything going on with the Zimmerman trial, one may think society has plummeted back to racism in the days of slavery. Whatever side you may fall on, we can all agree that the event was a tragedy, but it is not the all encompassing representation of our current society. Here's a link to remind us that.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/15/temar-boggs-jocelyn-rojas_n_3597825.html

Tootsie and societal norms

I believe that empathy can play a large role in stopping a lot of the anger and hate that's out there. Dustin Hoffman's interview about his experience in the film Tootsie was really good and insightful.

http://www.themarysue.com/dustin-hoffman-tootsie/

I've grown up playing video games, and an interesting development has been the observation of player rage in online games. Most think it's a lost cause to solve the problem, but it's great to see a company really trying to understand it

http://gdcvault.com/play/1017940/The-Science-Behind-Shaping-Player

I found this talk and thought it was fantastic. It's always encouraging and inspiring to see people with passion accomplish amazing things through simple means. Be a gangster gardner, that's all I have to say.

http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la.html