Archive for the ‘Media’ Category

The euro is crashing. Pakistan is irate at the West and it has nuclear weapons. Inflation is on the rise. Iran has threatened to attack Israel and NATO bases in Turkey if its nuclear facilities are attacked.

These are just today’s headlines.But this post isn’t about the headlines. It’s about the effects of those headlines and many others.

Until recently, there was much uncertainty around. Now, the uncertainty is turning to fear. Fear is not an emotion a world in transition can afford to ignore…or indulge. We must be vigilant and aware that in the absence of leadership, much destruction and evil can gain a foothold as we reorganize and reprioritize our world.

Whether in the public or private sector, events have confirmed that our “leaders” are either incompetent or corrupt.  We are, in fact, seemingly without guidance or direction.

This is an illusion.

Guidance and direction are located within each of us. No one will come to the rescue this time. No single individual has all the answers…but every single individual holds a piece of the finished puzzle within themselves. The first order of business is to recognize this fact. The second, to go within and access it. The third, to bring it forth with courage and conviction.

What is in your heart and what are you willing to do about it?

What unexpressed truth are you harboring?

What do you know needs to be done?

You are the leader the world is waiting for and only you can exhibit that fact in your daily life. Begin there. Live the ethics and morality you know are lacking in the world. Demand truth and integrity from yourself.  Don’t await any external solution because the answer is eternal and only available within.

Gandhi said it best: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

And so it will be.

 

Herman Cain was an upset in Florida only to those who do not understand how thoroughly the American public is fed up with career politicians and how desperately they want to be told the truth while being presented with viable solutions likely to solve existing problem.

Romney looks the part but wants it too badly and comes with baggage. No thanks. Perry has the bravado but not the gravitas. Not interested. Bachman has the experience but appears to lack the common sense. No way. Ron Paul has the intelligence but is scary. Definitely, no thank you. Huntsman has experience but lacks depth. Pass. Santorum seems an experienced, decent man with some way too religiously based positions. Translates into not viable.

Which leaves Herman Cain. But not simply by default.

Herman Cain talks straight, thus far seems an honest man, and has proven he knows how to build and lead. This is all very attractive to a Nation in dire need of leadership and someone with the guts to actually see a good idea through to a successful conclusion. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has similar appeal which is why there are those desperately trying to convince him to run. Whether he does or not remains to be seen. In the meantime, a few things are certain.

1.        If Christie jumps in his sheer presence along with Cain’s will most certainly put pressure on all of the candidates to get real or get lost. This would be a welcome turn of events.

2.        The Florida straw vote is likely not an anomaly. Cain really appeals to something stirring in people across this entire country.

3.        Cain’s appeal, and apparent viability at the moment, certainly throw a monkey wrench in the argument the Democrats are trying to sell that Republicans, the Tea Party and, basically, any white person who disagrees with this Administration’s policies is racist.

Paul Krugman is an American economist, Princeton University professor and Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics recipient. Charles Krauthammer is a Pulitizer prize-winning syndicated columnist, political commentator, and physician. Two very bright men. One of them wrote a factually researched, well-substantiated, thought provoking column on the tenth year anniversary of the terrorist attacks perpetrated on September 11, 2001. The other threw a schoolyard bully’s punch and then left the playground before anyone else could respond.

The former was Charles Krauthammer.  The latter, Paul Krugman, tempts me to give his “column” no time at all. However, in Mr. Krugman’s judgmental name calling and accusations, he teaches us much about what’s wrong with the world and why we have found ourselves so far from who we want to be.

Mr. Krauthammer’s column in the National Review On-line recaps the U.S. response and successes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also factually disproves allegations that the War on Terror is the basis for our current financial difficulties and places the blame where it belongs.  Finally, he gives us pride in our national determination and endurance in the face of adversity.

As for Mr. Krugman… he used his bully pulpit to bully. He accused former President George W. Bush and former New York Mayor Rudy Guilaini of “cash[ing] in on the horror” and unnamed others of “hijacking [of] the atrocity.” He actually goes so far as to call the memory of 9/11 “an occasion of shame.” Mr. Krugman’s opinion piece is a lesson in turning the victim into the perpetrator… in deflecting responsibility from where it rightfully belongs. He offers no facts, piously judges others, and tries to make us feel badly about ourselves as a nation. Let’s learn from his mistakes.

1. Conclusions should be based upon facts, not conjecture.

2. Judgment belongs to Our Creator and when exercised by humankind separates and alienates us from ourselves and one another.

3. Giving others confidence and hope, not criticism and despair, is the answer to both personal and collective growth.

Mr. Krauthammer’s column allows for posting comments. Mr. Krugman’s does not. Deliberately so. He noted that he was not permitting comments “for obvious reasons.” What is obvious to me may be different from what he intended. I post here the email I sent him following a read of his column:

“If you are going to make the kind of judgments and bold statements made in the NY Times Opinion piece ‘The Years of Shame,’ have the courage to allow those who see the world differently from you the courtesy of access to reply.  Free speech, I presume, is one of the founding principles upon which we can agree. What follows that principle in a free society is the battlefield of ideas.

The only thing that is ‘obvious’ about why you would have precluded responses to the piece is your need to strike while insulating yourself from the counter-punch. This was not a courageous act. Being able to take the heat, not just give it, is the sign of a confident individual committed to, above all, the truth.”

 

Over the past three years I have written several posts referencing talk radio host Glenn Beck. The very mention of his name causes a visceral reaction in most people.  You either love him or you hate him.

Loving him, of course, will do no harm. Hating him will destroy you, not him. Hate works that way. Always.

What I find so fascinating about the negative reactions to Mr. Beck is the almost universal absence of facts upon which such vehemence is predicated. There is a voluminous amount of ignorance and misinformation about him. This is because most people only know him secondhand. They have seen video clips or quotes taken out of context and they believe distortions told them by others. Either way, they have abdicated personal responsibility in failing to gain firsthand knowledge of what Mr. Beck espouses or supports. I have not.

For the past 4 years I have listened to his radio broadcasts, watched his nightly show previously on the Fox Cable Network, attended the 8/28 Restoring Honor rally in Washington, D.C. and watched the most recent Restoring Courage events from Israel. You may conclude that I am therefore, by definition, a Glenn Beck “Groupie.” You would conclude wrongfully.

I am a former lawyer who, although deeply spiritual, deals in facts. Facts, I might add, gathered and analyzed by me.  Such has been my methodology in drawing conclusions about Glenn Beck.  Allow me to share them with you.

Glenn Beck is a capitalist and a talented entertainer.  He is also knowledgeable, truthful, sincere and honorable. He is proud to be an American, motivated by a commitment to individual freedom and personal responsibility, and sustained by his personal connection to the Source of All That Is (a/k/a/God).

Today on his radio show, Mr. Beck said the following regarding the public positions he has taken and the mission he is on: “I am standing in a place where I don’t have many friends.” I would suggest a different conclusion witnessed, admittedly, from a different vantage point. The best of humanity is standing in a place where it has few friends as courageous or certain as Glenn Beck.

As for my personal findings regarding Mr. Beck’s character, don’t believe me. But don’t believe anyone else, either. Seek out the truth for yourself. Listen to him with your own ears, process what he is saying with your own mind, and draw your own conclusions. Such an approach would be the actions of a fully conscious, personally responsible, and ethically honest human being.

Does that sound like you?

 

Yes, it would be easy (and I suspect welcome) to blast the media and politicians for the hurricane Irene hype in light of the ultimate reality.  Should I be misunderstood, allow me to say from the outset here that loss of even one life and obvious property damage is not to be demeaned or dismissed.  They are both events that will evoke sadness and necessitate prolonged recovery.

This is about our reaction to the hype.

While its never easy to gauge, in advance, the potential damage from a hurricane such as the size of Irene, the technology available to us now to disseminate information makes it not only possible to spread good news but bad news as well. Not to mention fear… and spread fear they did.  Then we helped by allowing fear to run away with us.

I saw people stocking up on perishables, such as eggs and milk, when the projection was for the loss of electricity. Hello? I also saw people, literally, walking in circles in supermarkets and box stores who had no idea what to buy. They were simply following a line of thinking initiated by former President George W. Bush following the 911 attacks: Support the economy.  As if accumulating more material things could somehow stave off disaster or provide protection.

Then there were those people who refused to participate. At least they refused to participate in the fear. Bravo for them.

I’d like to believe I fell somewhere in the middle. I shopped for some extra canned food; made sure I had batteries for my flashlights and radio, and secured my basement windows from possible overflow flooding.  Then I kicked back and got on with life.  So while I had respect for Nature’s power, I didn’t have much for the media or the politicians.

I think it’s the choice to come from one’s lower self or Higher Self.  Fear is the great manipulative tool used for centuries by those in positions of power. Unfortunately, we have become so accustomed to re-acting to it that we fail to act from a place of thoughtful reflection and focus.

In Judaism, the holiday of Sukkot is one wherein Jews build a temporary shelter, or “sukkah” in which they are commanded to eat their meals and sleep for the duration of the holiday. Why?  As a reminder that for 40 years, against all odds and in the total absence of all things material, they wandered safely through the desert and survived.

To remember protection comes from God.

So, I think Irene has been instructive and if we are wise we will learn accordingly.

1. The media prospers on fear.
2. The politicians cover their rears.
3. We are manipulated by fear.
4. Reacting is not productive or helpful.
5. Our Higher Selves will guide us in the right direction.
6. God takes care of the rest.

Also, let each of us reach out with some form of assistance to anyone who suffered loss from Irene.

That, too, is our Higher Selves.

It’s hard to believe that Thomas L. Friedman, writing for the New York Times, would be so foolish as to write something a hair-brained as his column on August 23^rd titled “Obama, Tiger, Golf and Politics.” But, I am grateful for the laugh.  Not that Friedman intended me or anyone else to laugh, but when you posit a theory or opinion as intellectually empty using an analogy that sets up your subject matter for ridicule…well, you just have to love the guy. In such trying times, we can all use a good laugh.

Friedman thought a “golf” analogy would be a good way to make the point about the high stakes political strategy President Obama should employ. Never mind that most people are furious over this President’s 75+ rounds of golf since elected.  Through thick and thin, rain or shine, economic crashes and Middle Eastern revolutions…it’s all tee time to our fearless leader.

But what really got me in Friedman’s piece was the particular excerpt  he chose from the Kevin Costner movie “Tin Cup” to give direction to President Obama:

“Meanwhile, Mr. President, on a rainy day, rent the movie “Tin Cup.” There is a great scene where Dr. Molly Griswold is trying to help Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy, the golf pro, rediscover his swing — and himself. She finally tells him: “Roy … don’t try to be cool or smooth or whatever; just be honest and take a risk. And you know what, whatever happens, if you act from the heart, you can’t make a mistake.”

I would choose the same movie… but a different scene.

When Roy McAvoy refused to take the easy shot and make the green, he went instead for the long shot and missed it causing him to be dropped from the competition. When his caddy, Romeo, asks him “Why?” McAvoy replies, “You know why I’d still hit that shot? I hit it again because that shot was a defining moment, and when a defining moment comes along, you define the moment… or the moment defines you.

President Obama has had many defining moments in his Presidency and they have, sadly, definitely defined him.  He has shown himself to be a man lacking the skills to unite, absent allegiance to things American and her Allies, and absent a core understanding of who he really is or what he really values.

Next time, Mr. Friedman would do well to spend less time previewing the fictitious world of cinema and more time focused on the realities of this President’s defining moments.

If you watched Glenn Beck give the keynote speech from Jerusalem this morning, you experienced a glowing moment in human history.  If you missed it, it’s not too late. The intention and purpose of the speech can be summed up in two words: Rights and Responsibilities.  I say it’s not too late because, if you understand what those words truly mean, its not too late to go live them in your own life.

As for Rights, for more years than I care to count, we have treated them with disregard.  We have failed to understand their source and, by so doing, acted as if our individuality and the power of self-determination rests better in the hands of a “capable” few over the many.

As for Responsibility, we traded our dignity and the very connection to one another that makes us uniquely human… to make free willed-based choices and live with the consequences of those choices… for the illusion that if we did not look under the rock, nothing sinister could possibly be concealed there.

We were foolish, adolescent, myopic and flat-out wrong.  The refusal to acknowledge the Source of our freedom and the willing abdication of what action freedom demands of us, has brought us to this moment. Now we must take the more difficult road home… but it is the only road worth taking… for all others lead to enslavement.

We have two choices in life. Always. To be in service or to be en-slaved.  For several thousand years we have periodically been enslaved. More so than not. This is not the first time. But it may well be the last time.  There is an expression among people who believe in reincarnation. “You do it again ‘til you get it right.” It presupposes endless chances.

I am not so sure. Sometimes we run out of “do-overs.” Such may be this time.

The technology has outpaced spiritual and social development. Violence has reared its ugly head. The world is looking for scapegoats. It has looked before and found them before…as  too many turned a blind eye and a deaf ear thereby allowing the slaughter of millions. Repeatedly.

Glenn Beck’s message is more than we can “never forget.” His message is that we cannot permit blindness, deafness and the violence that inevitably accompanies them to… this time… define who we are or to silence open acknowledgment of the Source of All That Is.

Know your rights, their Source, and the responsibility that being blessed with them requires of you.

Yes, the burden is great but the reward is greater. And just as devaluation of rights leads to enslavement… so too does refusal to bear the burden of personal responsibility lead to a world wherein violence and destruction reign by fear unopposed.

This is a do-over.  Let’s get it right this time.

Katy Perry did a good thing.

Then she did a fearful thing.

Yesterday, Katy Perry tweeted that her prayers were with the people of Israel.  According to Perry, the tweet was in response to a request by a follower on Twitter to pray for Israel.  Perry gave what appeared to be an innocent and seemingly heartfelt response to the request.

That was the good thing.

Following Perry’s tweet, she was barraged in her Twitter account with hateful and threatening tweets by other followers who clearly took offense at her offering up a prayer for the wellbeing of Israelis.  So, the pop artist quickly sought to undo what she had said by explaining that her tweet was merely in response to a request and that she opposes violence everywhere.

That was the bad thing.

Not that opposing violence everywhere could be wrong, in fact it’s commendable.  What was wrong was for her to be so intimidated, either for her physical safety or for a potential decrease in her fan base, that she retreated and sought to distance herself from her original comments.

We are moving out of a world where the “powers that be” have ruled by the use of intimidation and fear for thousands of years.  We will only succeed in that effort by refusing to be manipulated by fear any longer. It is only by knowing, with certainty, what we value and then being willing to stand for those values no matter who or what opposes them, can we hope to make the real and lasting change we desire in moving toward a more humane, compassionate and peace-filled world

Whether or not I am a fan of Katy Perry’s music (my teenage daughter is although I have, on occasion, deleted songs from her mp3 based upon Perry’s lyrics) Perry is none-the-less a role model by nature of her fame and demographic.  Therefore, how tragic that what she has exemplified by her backpedaling is cowardice and expediency rather than courage and principles.

My understanding is that Katy Perry comes from a traditional Christian home.  If that is in fact the case, she needs to return to the founding principles of that faith and stand fast in them. That will surely bring her more lasting success than either her lyrics or fan base ever will.

It isn’t that I think that our Representatives…The President, Senators and Congressman… should never be able to smile or enjoy themselves.  It’s just that while unemployment is at 9.2%, 31% of the houses are underwater (the value of the house is less than the outstanding mortgage), and the world is holding its breath awaiting resolution of the U.S. debt ceiling deadline on August 2^nd … it’s sort of disconcerting, if not at times infuriating, to see photos on the nightly news, or on major news websites, of all of them sitting in some situation room in the White House smiling.

You know that “good time” I think they are all entitled to …well this isn’t it.  And those photos just make me think about how they all have jobs and houses that are not under water…which makes me think they still don’t get it.

How is that possible?

You and I know how difficult and uncertain the economy is.  You and I know the future looks fraught with all sorts of problems we definitely didn’t anticipate.  You and I know how hard it is each day to care for ourselves and our families…just get through each day, really… while dealing with the stress of worrying about where all of this is headed and what’s in store for us when we get there.

I think it’s possible because they do not, in fact, get it.  And even if they do, they are clearly clueless about what to do about it. Their time is up.

We are headed into new and uncharted territory.  So it’s up to the explorer in each of us to blaze new trails of innovative thinking in our own lives. All change starts with the individual, an individual, actually.  That individual may be you…or it could be the child who is watching how you handle change and its accompanying uncertainty.

So as we’re blazing new trails, let’s make two course corrections that our political leaders seem unable to make. First, let’s tell the truth. Always. To ourselves and others no matter how painful. Second, let’s accept responsibility for the seriousness of the situation in which we find ourselves and, if we’re caught smiling on the job, let it be because we’ve figured out how to get ourselves out of this mess.

Today, Conservative talk radio host Mike Gallagher posed the question of whether it was right or wrong for people to deliberately default on their mortgages simply because the value of the house had decreased since purchase, and was now “underwater”… meaning the outstanding mortgage balance is greater than the market value of the house. Mr. Gallagher made it known at the outset that he thought it was ethically and legally wrong to do so.

A horrified, and truly shocked, Mr. Gallagher discovered that 99% of his callers disagreed with him. Putting forth various reasons and rationales (some might say “justifications”) the callers saw nothing wrong with deliberate default.

While I may be as dismayed as Mr. Gallagher, I am not shocked.

When people have been frustrated, lied to and make to feel powerless long enough, anger and vengefulness become the retaliatory means of choice.  Add to this almost an entire generation bent on materialism at the expense of ethics, values and spirituality and you’ve got a recipe for disaster… and perhaps violent revolution.

Such is the precipice upon which we as a nation now gaze.

I have no desire or intention to laud people who knowingly and willingly violate the law. After all, I’m a former lawyer. However, because I will not condone such behavior doesn’t mean I don’t understand it.

When Ivan Boesky told a Stanford graduating class in1987 that “Greed is good” he started (or significantly accelerated) the downward slide towards an abyss we are rapidly approaching.  You simply cannot make materialism, acquisition and power your sole benchmarks for success without destroying all that is good in humanity.

We are not human beings.  The term connotes a noun…a static thing.  We are, instead “Being human”… constantly in a state of change and evolution. As such, we are known by our choices.  We are known by how we choose to Be human.  If our choices are no more complex than to satisfy our every material and carnal need with total disregard for others, or the long term effect of our behavior, then we wind up where we are:  Ruled (not led) by leaders and institutions that have been corrupted by default as we failed to concern ourselves with who they really were or what they really aspired to because we were too busy tending to our own material and carnal needs without giving thought or energy to ethical, moral and spiritual considerations.

Are we too late?  No.

Not if you hurry.

Start today.  In your home, in your office, at the supermarket… wherever.   Demand of yourself in every moment honesty, compassion and humility.  Leave who you were yesterday behind you for that is, in fact, where it is.  You are new today, defined anew by your choices.  You have never mattered so much nor have you ever had less time to realize that simple fact.

Is it wrong to deliberately default on your mortgage?  Yes.

Do we understand the frustration and anger? Yes.

Are those people crying out from frustration and anger? Yes.

Is there an irreversible storm on the horizon? Maybe

Can you do something to turn it around? Yes.

Will you?  ____.