It's the End of Democracy As We Know It‚ and I Feel Fine...ish

Kyrsten Sinema: Failure Is Not an Option in Border Security Negotiations

On September 13‚ 1848‚ railroad foreman Phineas Gage suffered one of the most horrific workplace accidents in history when an iron bar punched a hole in his skull‚ obliterating a significant part of his brain. Despite the wound‚ Gage lived for another 12-and-a-half years‚ remaining active and (relatively) normal throughout.For the first time‚ scientists have reconstructed Gage’s face as it appeared at the time of the freak injury. The facial approximation was produced by 3D designer and forensic expert Cícero Moraes‚ who created a digital model based on computed tomography scans of Gage’s skull‚ which had been donated to Harvard Medical School’s Warren Anatomical Museum after his death.The injury suffered by Phineas Gage‚ and his appearance following his recovery.Image credit: Cícero MoraesThe incident occurred as Gage prepared to blow up some rocks during the construction of a railway line in Vermont. At some point‚ the foreman lost his focus and dropped the heavy iron rod that he was using to tamp down the gunpowder.The rod then struck a rock‚ causing a spark which set off the gunpowder. This caused the rod to be fired like a harpoon‚ entering Gage’s skull via the left cheek before exciting at the top of the cranium.Measuring 1.09 meters (3.6 feet) in length and 3.18 centimeters (1.25 inches) in diameter‚ and weighing around 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds)‚ the solid metal projectile eventually landed more than 10 meters (33 feet) behind Gage‚ leaving a trail of blood and brain tissue in its wake.The stricken worker was then transported back to his hotel on an ox cart‚ before apparently climbing the stairs to his room unassisted. The doctor who came to examine him later removed around 28 grams (1 ounce) of mangled brain before bandaging Gage’s skull.Incredibly‚ Gage was back on his feet within a month and later moved to Chile to work as a stable hand. Despite his remarkable physical recovery‚ however‚ friends and colleagues noted that Gage was not the same person after his injury.      For instance‚ he was described as childlike in his intellectual capacity and is reported to have become somewhat unpleasant‚ showing little respect to other people and developing a potty mouth. He eventually died on May 21‚ 1861‚ precisely 12 years‚ six months and eight days after losing part of his brain to an iron rod.During the reconstruction of Gage’s face‚ Moraes confirmed that the majority of the damage appeared to be concentrated around the left frontal lobe of the brain. Noting how this injury altered Gage’s personality‚ brain surgeons later took to deliberately removing parts of the frontal lobe in patients with mental illness or undesirable character traits - a process known as a lobotomy.Unfortunately‚ however‚ many lobotomy patients ended up in far worse condition than Phineas Gage.A description of the facial reconstruction process can be found here.

Scientists have fused human brain tissue to a computer chip‚ creating a mini cyborg in a petri dish that can perform math equations and recognize speech.Dubbed Brainoware‚ the system consists of brain cells artificially grown from human stem cells‚ which have been fostered to develop into a brain-like tissue. This mini-brain organoid is then hooked up to traditional hardware where it acts as a physical reservoir that can capture and remember the information it receives from the computer inputs. The researchers wanted to explore the idea of exploiting the efficiency of the human brain’s architecture to supercharge computational hardware. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has massively increased the demand for computing power‚ but it’s somewhat limited by the energy efficiency and performance of the standard silicon chips."We wanted to ask the question of whether we can leverage the biological neural network within the brain organoid for computing. This is just proof-of-concept to show we can do the job‚" Feng Guo‚ study author and a bioengineer in the Department of Intelligent Systems Engineering at Indiana University‚ told Tech Xplore.To flex the muscles of the hybrid bio-computer‚ the researchers presented it with 240 audio clips of people saying different Japanese vowel sounds. Remarkably‚ the system is capable of learning the different sounds and recognizing them with approximately 78 percent accuracy.It was also tasked to predict a Hénon map‚ a nonlinear dynamic system in mathematics‚ which it did with reasonable accuracy.Bear in mind that this is nowhere near the hyper-intelligent capabilities of conventional AI systems – the threat of sentient Frankenstein biocomputers is currently not on the horizon. Nevertheless‚ for a first-of-its-kind study‚ the results are pretty promising. "This is a first demonstration of using brain organoids [for computing]‚" added Guo. "It's exciting to see the possibilities of organoids for biocomputing in the future.”It holds great potential‚ but it also raises some tricky ethical questions. In an accompanying News &; Views article‚ a trio of researchers not directly affiliated with the study warned that this pioneering study highlights the need to iron out the ethical conundrums of this technology before it really takes off.“In the next few years‚ increasingly complex neural systems that can interact with increasingly complex artificial environments are likely to emerge. As the sophistication of these organoid systems increases‚ it is critical for the community to examine the myriad of neuroethical issues that surround biocomputing systems incorporating human neural tissue‚” they write.“It may be decades before general biocomputing systems can be created‚ but this research is likely to generate foundational insights into the mechanisms of learning‚ neural development‚ and the cognitive implications of neurodegenerative diseases‚" the scientists add.The new study is published in the journal Nature Electronics.

Saturn’s moon Enceladus has a deep ocean‚ with hydrothermal activity‚ and complex chemistry. These are excellent conditions for life to emerge‚ and researchers have added a bit more hope to the mix. A new analysis suggests that there might be more chemical energy within this distant moon than previously thought.Enceladus releases plumes which were studied by the Cassini spacecraft. Despite Cassini having met a scheduled fiery death in Saturn a few years ago‚ the data is still being analyzed today. And it continues to reveal surprises in terms of possible molecules and how these might have formed in the deep ocean that exists on Enceladus.In this new work‚ researchers announced the detection of several previously undiscovered molecules. Among them‚ there’s hydrogen cyanide. This is not just exciting for murder mystery fans everywhere – the molecule is considered a crucial step in the formation of amino acids‚ the building blocks of proteins.“The discovery of hydrogen cyanide was particularly exciting‚ because it’s the starting point for most theories on the origin of life‚” lead author Jonah Peter‚ a doctoral researcher at Harvard formerly from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)‚ said in a statement. “The more we tried to poke holes in our results by testing alternative models‚ the stronger the evidence became. Eventually‚ it became clear that there is no way to match the plume composition without including hydrogen cyanide.”Previous analysis suggested that the chemical energy available in the ocean was related to the production of methane or methanogenesis. The selection of molecules seen in the plumes is consistent with being oxidized. If this is indeed the case‚ and oxidation is taking place‚ there’s a lot of chemical energy being released.“If methanogenesis is like a small watch battery‚ in terms of energy‚ then our results suggest the ocean of Enceladus might offer something more akin to a car battery‚ capable of providing a large amount of energy to any life that might be present‚” added JPL’s Kevin Hand‚ co-author of the study and principal investigator of the team that got the new results.There is limited data from Cassini on the plumes of Enceladus. Researchers use statistical analysis to try and work out what’s in the plumes without overfitting the data. The new results‚ while promising‚ don’t translate to a certainty for life on Enceladus‚ but might allow us to test in the lab the exact conditions for those molecules to end up in a plume. And they give us insight into whether those conditions are suitable for life.“Our work provides further evidence that Enceladus is host to some of the most important molecules for both creating the building blocks of life and for sustaining that life through metabolic reactions‚” Peter stated. “Not only does Enceladus seem to meet the basic requirements for habitability‚ we now have an idea about how complex biomolecules could form there‚ and what sort of chemical pathways might be involved.”A paper describing the results is published in Nature Astronomy. 

What did early primates munch on to keep themselves nourished? It’s likely that their foods of choice were soft‚ probably including sweet fruits‚ says a new study on their teeth from researchers at the University of Otago‚ New Zealand‚ and Duke University‚ USA.The researchers looked at fossil teeth of anthropoids – an infraorder of primates‚ the name meaning "resembling a human being" – from the Eocene and Oligocene periods‚ ranging from 35 to 29.2 million years old. The fossils were from the Fayum Depression in Egypt‚ close to the Nile‚ from which at least 21 primate genera have been described.“The Fayum fossil record captures the critical moment when our lineage adapted to this drier‚ cooler world‚ apparently fueling themselves with fruit‚” said study author Dr Matthew R. Borths‚ of the Duke Lemur Center Museum of Natural History at Duke University‚ in a press release sent to IFLScience.The teeth came from five genera: 100 from Aegyptopithecus‚ 72 from Parapithecus‚ 99 from Propliopithecus‚ 82 from Apidium‚ and 68 from Catopithecus.These fossil teeth were examined for chips and caries (aka cavities). “Close attention was paid to the frequency‚ severity‚ and location of dental chips. We were also interested in the presence of dental caries‚ often linked to the consumption of soft fruits in modern primates‚” said lead author Dr Ian Towle‚ of Otago’s Sir John Walsh Research Institute in the Faculty of Dentistry.The researchers hypothesized that either these anthropoids would display chipping much like current primates that feed on hard foods if they had a similarly crunchy diet‚ or would have less chipping and also develop caries if they ate soft‚ sugary fruits. Of the 421 teeth studied‚ only 21 were chipped‚ and most of these fractures were small.A specimen of the species Propliopithecus chirobates‚ with a white arrow pointing to a chip that likely happened while the animal was alive‚ and white stars indicating damage after death.Image courtesy of Ian TowleThree potential caries‚ identified by their texture‚ position‚ and shape‚ were found in two Propliopithecus specimens. This finding hints that this genus had a “potential preference for ripe‚ sugary fruits‚” write the authors in the paper.The authors also say these results imply these primates lived in the trees and didn’t forage on the ground too much‚ explaining that “Extant primates that forage on the ground have an increased likelihood of grit being accidentally ingested‚ leading to higher chipping prevalence.”"Our findings indicate a predominant consumption of soft fruits among early anthropoids. The low prevalence of tooth chipping‚ particularly in comparison to modern anthropoids‚ hints at a preference for soft food sources‚ like ripe‚ sugary fruits‚” said Towle.“These insights into ancient primate diets provide crucial groundwork for understanding the evolutionary trajectories of our primate ancestors.”The study is published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology.

Japanese officials have been unable to explain the mass wash of some 1‚200 tons of sardines and mackerel ashore in Hakodate‚ southwest Hokkaido. The incident occurred a week ago‚ but the cause of the strange environmental incident is still unknown. The blowout left a half-mile-long shoreline littered with dead fish‚ and local residents were concerned about the prospect of an incredible stench as the fish began to decompose. Among the theories put forward by local wildlife experts‚ the main ones were two: large schools of fish were fleeing from some kind of marine predator and therefore accidentally ended up in shallow water‚ from where waves washed them ashore‚ and a drop in water temperature. Meanwhile‚ a conspiracy theory was widely circulated on social networks‚ according to which the fish died due to water from Fukushima‚ which was allowed to be released into the ocean four months ago. Japanese authorities claim that this water is completely safe‚ but few people believe them. The fact is that even experts admit that this water still contains radioactive isotopes of tritium‚ albeit in very small quantities. Local fishermen are trying to collect fish that swim in the waves offshore‚ fearing that rotting fish will reduce the oxygen content in the water‚ harming marine life. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s only since last year that we started catching sappu (a local species of sardine) here. It makes me wonder if the marine ecosystem is changing‚” says fisherman Mainichi Shimbun‚ who has worked in the area for 25 years. “The cause is unknown at the moment. We plan to sample seawater locally and examine it to determine the cause‚” Mikine Fujiwara‚ a local fisheries official‚ told a local newspaper. Speculation about the fault of the Fukushima waters has become so popular online that the Japanese Fisheries Agency issued a special message: “No abnormalities were found in the results of water monitoring studies. We are concerned about the dissemination of information that is not based on scientific evidence.” Meanwhile‚ Hakodate city officials have urged local residents not to eat beached fish amid reports that some are collecting large quantities of the fish to sell or eat. “We don’t know for sure under what circumstances the fish washed ashore‚ so I don’t recommend eating them‚” said Takashi Fujioka‚ a fisheries expert. The post Like an apocalypse: thousand tons of fish washed up on the shores of Japan appeared first on Anomalien.com.

You can’t even watch a horror show these days without getting the liberal agenda shoved down your throat. To be fair to horror‚ the liberal agenda does make it pretty scary‚ so there's that! And Netflix’s popular horror series The Fall Of The House Of Usher‚ which premiered in October‚ is no exception. The aforementioned agenda is both overtly and subtly promoted throughout the show’s eight episodes‚ starting with the incredible amount of LGBTQ characters. It’s so over the top that Out.com wrote a piece headlined‚ “Is Every Character in Netflix's The Fall of the House of Usher Queer?” The article goes on to explain they don’t mind the LGBTQ characters getting killed off throughout the series because of how many that are featured. Anytime a director—especially a straight one—makes a horror movie or series with gay characters we worry that they’re going to fall into the “bury your gays” trope‚ but when just about every character is queer that’s no longer a problem! One probably wouldn't expect for elements of the liberal agenda to be sprinkled throughout the series based on the official synopsis‚ but this is becoming the norm when it comes to what’s being produced these days. Here’s how Netflix described the series: In this wicked series from Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House) and based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe‚ ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth‚ privilege and power. But past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.   Some of the episodes may leave you jaw dropped with the amount of gory deaths and sexual degeneracy‚ which includes a couple of orgy scenes‚ among other things.  And what's a great horror series without an inconspicuous jab at Fox News?  In the very first episode‚ Camille L'Espanaye (Kate Siegel) takes a swipe at Fox News host Sean Hannity and former Fox host Tucker Carlson during a scene where her publicity team strategizes how they will handle a highly-publicized trial involving the family's corrupt pharmaceutical company.  Camille L’Espanaye: We’re not swinging‚ we need front facing stuff‚ like Fox. Hannity knows what side his d**ks buttered on‚ he’ll be friendly. Tina: Tucker? Camille L’Espanaye: I’m sorry I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. Yes‚ call Breznican at Vanity Fair‚ see if he wants a profile on Leo. We can let Leo help out for a change. He can talk about his Jordons and his charity work. Kimmel‚ Colbert‚ also Leo. Notice the negativity aimed at conservative leaning hosts in this scene. It makes you wonder why the creator of the show would choose to go in this direction? Why didn't the character 'throw up in her mouth a little bit' over other hosts from any of the other networks?  And in case you weren't convinced that there's some preferential treatment towards leftists in this series‚ there's another scene in episode 5 where mostly well known conservatives and billionaires are depicted as people who made deals with the devil in exchange for success.   Arthur Gordon Pym: I’ve also been running her images through facial recognition sweep‚ no hits in law enforcement. Roderick Usher: See this is going nowhere. Arthur Gordon Pym: But I tapped into Madeline’s technology department‚ brought in her research algorithm‚ combed the internet — massive image search and in conjunction with our facial recognition… Madeline Usher: Oh‚ wait that’s…. Arthur Gordon Pym: David Koch‚ seven years ago. Roderick Usher: So wait‚ she works for the toxic twins? We always got along with those f**k nuts. And Zuckey too. That’s Gina… Arthur Gordon Pym: Gina Rinehart‚ mining magnate. Roderick Usher: Climate denial Dundee. You remember when she tried to make the case for a $2 a day pay. No? She’s a trip‚ she’s a great singer too. Arthur Gordon Pym: These were taken in 2011. Roderick Usher: So she’s a stalker. She stalks important people. Roderick Usher: This is from the 80’s. Arthur Gordon Pym: Getty’s. That’s Prescott Bush 1944. Randolph Hearst. The Rockefellers‚ Doheny‚ the Vanderbilts‚ and this one‚ John Francis Queeny. He founded Monsanto in 1901. The Koch brothers‚ Trump family‚ Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh‚ Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell‚ the Bush family and Fox News Founder Rupert Murdoch are among those photographed with Verna (Carla Gugino)‚ a shape-shifting demon.  Speaking of Supreme Court justices‚ someone who did not make the naughty list was the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg‚ but her name was randomly wedged into another scene.  In episode 4‚ Lenore Usher (Kyliegh Curran) randomly asks her mother if she'll be the next Ruth Badger Ginsberg‚ while her mother Morrie Usher (Crystal Balint) recovers in the hospital from third-degree acid burns that occurred during an orgy party. Lenore Usher: Is my name Lenore? Did you miss me? Am I better at bowling than dad? Do you think I’ll be the next RBG? Frederick Usher: She’s not a magic 8-ball honey. Again‚ one might wonder why the writer went with the left's hero‚ RBG‚ and not another Supreme Court justice like Clarence Thomas or Amy Coney Barrett?  In episode 8‚ Madeline Usher (Mary McDonnell) goes on a bizarre rant about climate change and Viagra while pushing abortion misinformation.  Madeline Usher: Get around to funding AIDS research‚ diabetes and heart disease just as soon as we figure out how to keep our geriatric d**ks hard‚ for a few more minutes. What’s the market share on limpy d**ks‚ Roderick? Sixty to seventy percent of the healthcare industry. The pentagon spent $83 million on Viagra last year. Meanwhile the Supreme Court‚ the f**king Supreme Court does it’s part. Tears the autonomy‚ rips the liberty away from women‚ shreds not just their choice‚ but their future and their potential. It turns men into c*m fountains‚ and women into factories. Cranking out what? An impoverished workforce there for the labor and to spend what little they make consuming. And what do we teach them to want? Houses they can’t afford‚ cars that poison the air‚ single serve plastics‚ clothes made by starving children in third world countries. They want it so bad‚ they’re begging for it‚ they’re screaming for it‚ they’re insisting upon it. And we’re the problem? These fucking monsters‚ these f**king consumers‚ these f**king mouths‚ they point at you and me‚ like we’re the f**king problem. They f**king invented us. They begged for us. They’re begging for us still. The monologue is clearly referencing the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade‚ but fails to mention other important details‚ like the fact that the SCOTUS decision ultimately sent the authority to regulate and restrict abortions back to the states. But why let pesky facts get in the way of a dramatic monologue‚ right?  And who would have thunk a woman's 'future' and 'potential' would be 'shredded' if they became mothers instead of aborting their babies? 

The following is an excerpt from chapter six of A Future for the News: What's Wrong with Mainstream News Media in America and How to Fix It‚ edited by Professor Jim A. Kuypers‚ out today from Rowman &; Littlefield Publishers. The book "brings together academics and news industry professionals with individual chapters taking a specific area of concern and making a case for particular solutions to the problems presented. Solutions range from ones designed for individual reporters to consider‚ to those that target newsrooms‚ the institution of journalism‚ and news consuming audiences. Together they aim to help a beleaguered institution restore itself as a fully functioning asset of the American Republic." In response to Donald Trump’s 2016 victory‚ CNN International’s Christiane Amanpour‚ whose show is simulcast in the United States on PBS‚ wrote‚ “Now‚ more than ever‚ we need to commit to real reporting across a real nation‚ a real world in which journalism and democracy are in mortal peril‚ including by foreign powers like Russia paying to churn out and place false news‚ and hacking into democratic systems here and allegedly in upcoming crucial German and French elections too.”  An appropriate response to Amanpour’s article could be “Now?” Amanpour can claim that revulsion to facts is a recent Trumpian feature that threatens democracy‚ but the people she would need to convince most are unconvinced. For instance‚ many political moderates as well as conservatives do not hear a journalist such as Amanpour using “now” and think of Trump‚ they hear “now” and think of just the next Republican who is replacing a Democrat; so even if Jeb Bush had been elected president‚ they would have gone after him too. This response is not new to the 2016 election‚ because in their minds‚ in 2012‚ elite journalists went after Mitt Romney too. For example‚ Neil Newhouse was a pollster for the Romney campaign and in September of that year he created a sensation when he proclaimed‚ “We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers.” Responding to Newhouse‚ Neil Brown at PolitiFact wrote‚ “This fact-check business‚ it turns out‚ makes some partisans very uncomfortable.” Romney’s rival‚ President Barack Obama‚ also attempted to seize on not only Newhouse’s remarks but the reaction to them: “Somebody was challenging one of their ads‚ they just— they made it up about work and welfare. . . . Every outlet said‚ ‘this is just not true.’ And they were asked about it and they said—one of their campaign people says: We won’t have the fact checkers dictate our campaign. We will not let the truth get in the way.” 

You are supposed to celebrate the miracle of Hanukkah publicly. The menorah is supposed to be visible to the street from your window. But in a world where you’re Jewish and you consider not putting out the menorah out of fear‚ that should tell you everything about the times in which we live. I read about a lot of people from Los Angeles who feel they need to keep Hanukkah to themselves this year. That’s wrong. That’s deeply wrong. The idea is that you need to share your light. With everything that’s going on‚ if you see somebody with a menorah in their window‚ that’s a person of courage. But many are afraid — and justifiably so. Fear is often a friend. It is what keeps us alive in many cases because the world is a really dangerous place. If you had no fear‚ you would have walked off the roof as a kid or any of those other asinine things you did all the time because you would have had no fear. Fear and the avoidance of danger are wired deep into us. We recoil from a snake before we even consciously identify it as a snake. We know we're in the presence of danger because that reflex is embedded so deeply in us. It's almost impossible to train yourself out of it‚ and it's a good thing. We need more light. Each candle burns from within‚ but it's lit by a spark from without — shining out against the darkness but always reaching up. Fear is also contagious. Now‚ that can be a good thing and a bad thing. A scream‚ tone of voice‚ posture‚ facial expression‚ all those things will communicate fear from one person to the next. Again‚ that's a survival mechanism. Someone in your group is afraid‚ and you think‚ “Maybe they know something that I don't know. Maybe they've seen the tiger and I haven't seen it yet.” And the smart thing to do is react before asking too many questions. You just shut down and wait a minute. Then you can ask questions. Because we are animals — social animals — and we’re constantly informed by one another and constantly calibrating against each other. This can be negative as well as positive. Crowds can turn into mobs and do horrible things way beyond what one individual in that crowd could or would do. Anybody who has experienced this knows a mob gets out of control fast. Anybody who has been to church knows the power of being in a crowd of people. The family and I went to a large church here in Dallas the other weekend‚ and it was really uplifting — a truly intense‚ exciting concert. With the congregation‚ it's not just you experiencing the music being played. At a football game‚ you're just part of something greater‚ and you can't really put your finger on it. The presence of people transforms music and sport into a transcendent experience. Ideas are also contagious. Gad Saad‚ the Canadian marketing professor who applies evolutionary psychology to business‚ defines bad ideas as “mind pathogens‚” and he says they pass from one mind to another‚ infecting greater and greater numbers. This fuels social crazes from the tulip mania to self-harm or transgenderism among teenage girls. (See Abigail Shrier’s “Irreversible Damage” if you want to know more about that.) Obviously‚ in many cases‚ contagious fear is disastrous. In our world‚ this is obvious. Just think of the pandemic and panic over COVID-19. How many people just stopped thinking? Think of the countless stories of people dying when a crowd panics and stampedes. This is why you don't cry "fire" in a crowded movie theater when there's not a fire. You don't do that because you know how the crowd will react. The Bible's view of fear in combat and its contagious effects is nicely summarized when priests are instructed to tell the Israelites: Let your heart not be faint. Don't panic. Don't break. For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight your enemies for you. But also‚ who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house. Don't let him melt the heart of his fellows. The flip side of fear Positive emotions are also contagious: kindness‚ love‚ joy‚ and even laughter. Ever wondered why there’s canned laughter in sitcoms? Go back to the worship service‚ or the concert hall‚ or a baby laughing‚ or people laughing. It’s the same for courage. We always tell ourselves to reach deep within to find strength and courage. But courage is often sparked‚ at least initially‚ from without — because courage is also contagious. War is a classic scene to study for obvious reasons. Studies of the Lincoln Brigade and the American volunteers in the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s are considered classic investigations of courage in battle. Peter Carol in 1994 wrote an article that related to panic that could become dangerously contagious‚ jeopardizing everyone‚ yet the veterans observed that courage too had become infectious. Donald Horton’s book on the same subject‚ “Fear in Battle‚” identifies leadership along with devotion to causes as key enablers of courage in combat: something to fight for. A recent example of courage is the Israeli combat officers who are trained specifically to lead from the front.There are all kinds of these examples. The only fear we have to fear is fear itself. At the bottom of our hearts‚ we've always known that. That's why we have heroes and statues. That's why we have stories that are meant to inspire us‚ both fictional and historical‚ from movies to the Bible. We look to our heroes to teach us. They teach us how we should behave when the world goes dark and scary. We look to those in the past to kindle the light of courage in us so we can choose to face the darkness. But what happens when a country has all of its real heroes taken down? What happens when all the statues‚ good or bad‚ are taken down? What happens when we don't remember our history? That's what Hanukkah is really about. It's what Christmas is really about. Remember who you are. The world is dark and scary. That's the truth. Many play on our fears‚ and that makes us more afraid — including afraid of each other. When that happens‚ we cry out for a savior to make us safe. There's only one Savior that I know of. But if we are rock-solid‚ if we have the light of courage and laughter and hope and truth within us‚ if we light it up in ourselves and put it in the front window‚ it not only lights us up‚ it lights up others. We need more light. Each candle burns from within‚ but it's lit by a spark from without — shining out against the darkness but always reaching up. Look up! Look up! This holiday season‚ forget about everything else. Look up. Find courage‚ and even better‚ pass it on. Light the candle in yourself so that you and yours can face the darkness. Want more from Glenn Beck? Get Glenn's FREE email newsletter with his latest insights‚ top stories‚ show prep and more delivered to your inbox.