Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

>Two nights ago I watched the 2-hour YouTube Democrat debate presentation. Let me say, at the outset, that while a registered Democrat my entire adult life, I vote for the person best qualified  for the job, regardless of party. Let me also say that as of this writing, I have no particular candidate that I am inclined to vote for, from any party.  I feel the need to say all of this up front so that there’s no mistaking what I am about to say.
   Having watched the debate beginning to end, I am now somewhat put off by the Clinton campaign’s two-day attempted assault on the competency of Barak Obama based upon one particular answer. Obama said that if elected, he would meet with heads of state from any and all countries within the first year of his Presidency, including states that are hostile to the U.S. He thought to do otherwise was counter-productive to world peace.
   The Clinton campaign is saying Obama “got that answer wrong.” They want to play up the difference between what he said and what Hilary Clinton said, which was that she would be open to such meetings but would first 1)verify that the meeting was not being used for propaganda and 2) be certain that such a meeting would do no further harm. 
   While this was Mrs. Clinton’s opinion, it neither makes her right nor Mr. Obama wrong. It simply makes them different.
   Which is what I really want to write about. 
   Allowing others to be who they are and say what they say and do what they do without having to make them right or wrong is what’s important about all of this.
   We’re so quick to need to make others wrong when they see things differently than we do. But really, when we approach differences in that way, it says so much more about us than it does about anyone else. It says we are judgmental, insecure in our beliefs, threatened by opposing views and not open to change or growth.
   I prefer to see differences as grist for my personal mill. They present me with the opportunity to re-examine and refine my own beliefs and perspective. After all, if it was intended that I continuously think as I think and behave as I behave without the benefit of learning from self and others, wouldn’t I have been given my own planet? Why be here with all these other perspectives intruding upon my opinions? 
   I always assume that Creator knew what it was doing(plus or minus an idea or two) when we were all put here together. I further assume the vast diversity and togetherness has a point.
   For me the point is to learn how to develop my own ideas and beliefs, allow others to do the same, and where possible, grow through our differences rather than battle them.
   If you don’t agree with any of this, that’s fine with me. I don’t need you to make me right or wrong to know what I believe. Hopefully, in the making a true leader, Barak Obama feels the same and has no need to defend his beliefs or his policy by making someone else wrong.
   Mrs. Clinton, it appears, has a way to go.

>  Several stories have caught my attention in recent days and I think I see a common thread between them and a solution to all of them as well.
   The streets of New York are caving in. Nearly one-half of the prisoners in Florida’s county jails awaiting trial are mentally ill. President Maliki of Iraq says the U.S. troops can now go home anytime they want. And, our government is running a contest (yes, it really is!) offering $1,000,000 to the person or company that can figure out how to lighten the backpack load that our soldiers carry in Iraq. Apparently, they need to carry 20-40 pounds of batteries on a 4-day mission to support high-tech equipment, such as night vision goggles and GPS systems.
   I think if we solve the last one first we can begin to solve the other three. 
   When I read about the contest I told my husband, “I know how to win a million dollars. Bring the troops home. That should lighten the load.” Right away, Maliki gets what he wants.
   And now to the other two problems. Deteriorating infrastructure in our cities and the mentally ill.
   It’s long been human nature to try and “fix” someone else rather than “grow ourselves.”  Who of us hasn’t told our spouse or children or relatives or friends “What is wrong with you is…” or “What you need to change is…” while at the same time, failing to look at the ways in which we ourselves need to evolve to more enlightened thinking or behavior?
    Broaden that approach a bit and you get how one political or religious group deals with the others. Each is quick to point out the shortcomings or failings of the other while turning a blind eye to it’s own.
   And, ultimately, this is what nations do when they go halfway across the globe trying to impose their political and societal views on other nations, while ignoring the more immediate challenges at home.
    We’re still fighting a war on terror, incurring financial indebtedness that defies logic, to impose our will and prevent events that may never occur, even as we do nothing about those challenges that face us daily in our own backyard, posing both real and immediate danger.
   The danger of rotting infrastructures (not just in New York City but most major cities) is significant death and injury, disruption to the economy, added burden to municipal emergency and support services, and huge indebtedness to repair (if the funds would exist at all). 
   The danger of continuing to ignore the problem of having closed mental hospitals in the 1980’s and made no alternative provisions or plan for their inhabitants is increasing financial and resource strain on our justice and penal systems, an ever-growing recidivism rate for the mentally ill, and most importantly, the harm to ourselves and our society for ignoring the suffering and need of fellow citizens.
   I know the world has serious problems. I know terrorists are real. And I know one day in 2001 they made their presence tragically known on our land. 
   But the other challenges that we face, we face daily. These other challenges are getting worse. These other challenges are ours to repair, Now.
   We have supported many governments and political positions over the history of our nation that turned out to be not who or what we should have supported. In that regard, we need to understand our own contribution to the international political situation we now find ourselves in. And by the way, the heavens did not collapse and the sky turn black when we left Vietnam.
   So, let’s lighten our soldier’s load and bring them home. Then let’s take all those monies and energy and resources and re-direct them to repairing what is in our own backyard.
   Maliki will be happy. The Mayors will be grateful. The mentally ill will get treatment. And the world can take care of itself. One backyard at a time.
   Mr. President, you can mail the $1M to:
   
      Carole McKay
      P.O. Box 2233
      Cherry Hill, N.J.

>The Israeli-Arab conflict is based upon specific ways of thinking about an event in human history. It begins with Hagar and her son, Ishmael, being sent out into the desert by Abraham under the direction of his wife, Sara. By that single act, Arabs believe they were denied something by the Hebrews that would otherwise have been rightfully theirs.
   Similarly, the Jews have their own story. It’s a theme of persecution tat runs strongly throughout the history of the Jewish people as far back as their oppression under the master/slave consciousness of the Egyptians.  Ever since, Jews have been trying to live in peace wherever they reside, only to find what tey see as thousands of years of unending persecution in one form or another.
   If we in fact draw to us, through our thoughts, that which we think about deliberately or by default, then perhaps these two peoples have more in common than they think. 
   And just perhaps, what they are thinking about...and precisely how they are thinking about it, is continually co-creating and re-creating their plight.
   What if Arabs would instead see that their expulsion from Abraham’s home embarked them on a path to unimaginable oil-based wealth given where they finally settled?  What if they used that wealth to continuously uplift and advance their culture?  What if the Jewish people could see that but for their exodus from Egypt, and subsequently imposed limitations by host cultures, they would never have developed priorities focused upon learning and education as a means of advancement. It is that very focus which has caused them to so disproportionately contributed to the scientific, artistic and literary advancement of the world.
   What if these two peoples thought of one another with gratitude for the benefits and opportunities their relationship to one another has provided, instead of looking at one another with fear and animosity?
   You cannot change your history. But you can change how you think about your history and thereby change the story you create around it.
   I prefer to think of the Arab-Israeli relationship as a present opportunity to elevate our consciousness around how we think about their intertwined history and perhaps, by so doing, contribute to assisting them in thinking about it in a new way also.
   I have said it before, but perhaps this is as good a time as any.
   Shalom and Salaam.   
   

>Having just celebrated Independence Day, I got to thinking about…you guessed it…independence!  The typical way we tend to think about it is in a political or societal context. But what I’ve been thinking about is independence of thought.
      We are so quick to take on the perceptions and definitions of those who came before us even though doing so stifles our own creative thinking. From our earliest childhood all the way through adulthood, we take on the “shoulds” and “coulds” and “possibles” and “impossibles” of our parents, our friends, and our leaders.  These automatic acceptances of other people’s perceptions and values become fixed in our minds and cause us to live a reality not of our own making.
      Where is that more obvious than in our systems of education…be they public or private?  Our 14 year old daughter is a very bright child academically. More importantly, she is a remarkably creative individual. She has attended both private and public schools. She frequently “sees” issues differently than most and sometimes tends to apply the English language with what I see as a “twist” of her own. When this happens I tend to correct her.  
      But where is it written that I’m correct? After all, isn’t her vision and her use of language just as valid as mine?  And where did mine come from anyway?  It’s likely I inherited them from those who came before me since it was only in adulthood that I really gained the confidence to begin to see and express things my own unique way in my own authentic voice.
      I’m not just talking about concrete matters like writing a book report or solving a math problem.  Even when it comes to spirituality and religion…don’t we humble ourselves before the dogma we’re taught or the mystic who came before us? 
   I heard a great line the other day. It went like this. “We’re each supposed to be creators, not regurgitators!”
   Think about that.
   Each of us is “created in the image and likeness of God.” What is God’s greatest and most profound act? Creation! If we each have but a smidgen of that capability, and I believe we do, then isn’t it incumbent upon us to use it by thinking and acting creatively?  What does that mean if not to see the world with fresh eyes, hear it’s sounds with new ears, and speak it’s words in ways that uplift and bring new meaning to our existence.
   I’m not much of an advocate of “No Child Left Behind” because it’s no different than trying to get everyone universal health care in a system that’s already broken instead of changing the system…and the approach…from treating sickness to fostering wellness.  
   An educational system that perpetuates the regurgitation of someone else’s definitions and perceptions is a system lacking creativity. The absence of creativity, in my view, is the absence of all that is at the core of this life.
   But this is just my way of seeing things. 
   If you disagree and see them differently…Hooray!
   Now there’s a reason to celebrate Independence Day.    

>Yesterday I got an e-mail requesting that I speak to a group of successful male entrepreneurs in their 40’s. I also got an e-mail from a pro-Israeli political action committee asking that I sign a letter to the President asking the U.S. to stop sending financial aid to the Palestinian government. And then I noticed on CNN that the Israeli government is going to release funds to the Palestinians. 
    All of these are connected. Want to know how?
    The entrepreneurs don’t want me to speak on productivity or sustainability, the want me to speak on connectivity. They want to know how to feel less fatigued and more able to connect to themselves, their wives and their children.  I see this as a direct sign that there is hope for peace in the Middle East after all. 
    Of course, you’re saying to yourself, “Now there’s a leap.”
    Have a little faith, I’ll get there.
    Things change when a majority of people make up their minds, and place their attention and their actions on wanting them to change. 
    Think about it.  What is the likelihood that 15 years ago those same entrepreneurs would have been looking for a guest speaker to help them get closer to their families?  Maybe one…maybe two of them (at the most) might have had fleeting thoughts about the subject. But I’m pretty certain they would not have pursued a solution…and certainly not publicly and in a professional setting. But, at some point enough of them decided it was a vital and necessary path to pursue and so they are acting on it.
    It’s called “the tipping point”…some number within group behavior that when reached creates a change in the behavior of the group. That’s what happened with those entrepreneurs.
    That’s what I believe can happen in the Middle East and elsewhere.
    The political action committee thinks that cutting off funds to the Palestinians will curtail their ability to fund terrorist activity against Israel. Israel, on the other hand, seems to think that showing moderate Palestinians that they are willing to reach out and help them will create allies for peace. 
    I know there are those who say Israel has tried it before and this kind of faith never works. 
    I disagree.
    It wasn’t war that brought the Israelites out of Egypt. It was the contagious faith Moses had in a new outcome. It wasn’t war that made a 2000+ year impact on human consciousness, it was the compelling  faith Jesus had in a new outcome.  It wasn’t war that expelled the British form India, it was Ghandi’s faith in how to prevail.  
    There exists a tipping-point in the Middle East where enough people in the world will place there attention and their actions on peace as the most viable solution. 
    That tipping point could be me.
    Or it could be you.
      Have a little faith.
   
 
   

>  With the 2008 Presidential election in pre-mature full swing, there is considerable talk unfolding about the need for universal health care coverage.  While I do not underestimate the need for emergency treatment in necessary situations, I am at a loss as to why we would be so intent on spending millions of dollars to make sure everyone can access a system that is in many ways, primitive.
   In fact, I think the question being asked is the wrong question. It’s not “How do we provide health care coverage for all?” but rather “How do we more fully explore and integrate the many alternative approaches to health and wellness that exist today?”
   The current system that our politicians are so eager to expand basically serves us in three ways: 1) it treats emergencies, 2) it intervenes after illness occurs and 3) it over medicates due to it’s economic and political relationship with pharmaceutical companies.
   Whether it’s energy medicine (“epigenetics” as explored in the recently released “The Genie in Your Genes by Dawson Church Ph.D.) meditation, relaxation techniques, homeopathy, yoga, prayer, or the myriad of other alternative choices…it makes a lot more sense to be pro-active and support health and wellness than to arrive late on the scene and try and minimize the effects of illness and dis-ease (my favorite way of spelling it since I believe that all disease originates from some form of stress to our systems…physical or eco).
   The media spends a fraction of it’s time and energy reporting on the successes of alternative therapies, yet we are inundated with the endless debate and various politically motivated positions of candidates on how to make the current, ineffective system available for everyone. 
   About 2 years ago I injured my knee in a fall. I got an MRI, saw an orthopedic surgeon and wore a soft brace for awhile. Then, this past winter, I slipped on the ice and re-injured it. It was hurting on and off so I got an x-ray and went to see an orthopedic surgeon again. He said he couldn’t see much on the x-ray, gave me a prescription for an MRI, and a large, supportive soft brace to wear until I saw him again. 
   I began to wear the brace and noticed that the knee was hurting more with it on. I also noticed that since I had seen him the knee seemed to be giving me more frequent difficulties.  
   Since I had just read a book on EFT(Emotional Freedom Technique), an alternative and emerging method of energy healing based upon sending piezoelectric signals through the connective tissue, I began to follow the method and “tap out” the source of the problem with my knee 3 times a day.
   My appointment with the orthopedic surgeon was yesterday and I canceled it. I had not gotten the MRI because my knee is fine. Since applying EFT, I have no trouble climbing steps, no pain in the knee, and no limitation.
   Now, I’m not delusional. I would not advocate that you can tap out a broken leg or cancer. But isn’t it time we became as advanced in our thinking about this topic as we are in the application of our technology.  Isn’t it incumbent upon us to open our minds to ways that differ from what we were taught and what society puts it’s stamp of approval on when the success rate of that stamped reality is woefully low and the side-effects and complications woefully high?  
   And who is to say what alternative approaches to that broken leg and cancer are out there waiting to be applied?
   Here’s what I know. The path to healing my knee was 1)free (unless you count the cost of the book); 2)self-reliant and self-administered, 3)put no drugs into my body with adverse side-effects, 4)required no surgery and, 5)didn’t need a referral from my general practitioner.
   I’d write more about all of this but my knee feels so good I’m going out for a walk.

   It is often said that rape is not about sex, it’s about power. So is lying. Ex-District Attorney Mike Nyfong is a perfect example. No matter how many different words and phrases are used to describe what Nyfong did (misrepresentation, violation on the Canon of Ethics, manipulation of the facts, withholding of the facts, deceit) the simple truth is that he lied, repeatedly, to get what he wanted. 
   People lie to get the outcome they want.
   But why? And why do I say that lying is about power?
   When someone lies, they are consciously attempting to orchestrate or manipulate either another person or effect a specific outcome. Sometimes it’s both. In either case, the lie is used to feel powerful. It gives the person lying a false sense of power over others and outcomes.
   I say false sense of power because true power exists only in trusting that people co-create the highest good for all concerned
when they allow one another, and their interactions, to unfold spontaneously. Co-creation, like Creation, originates and proceeds in a natural flow. 
   When someone lies they lack faith in that flow. 
   Not trusting in real power, they attempt to create power with a small “p”.  For we humans, real power is found in the act of co-creation. Co-creation is done in and through our relationships and interactions with one another.  
   The person who needs to lie in order to feel powerful misses out on the one sure way to get it: by allowing the mystery of self and others to unfold, and, by trusting that the outcome will be for the highest good of all concerned.
   When it comes right down to it, a liar lacks faith and trust in self and others, but more importantly doesn’t understand what true power is all about.
   I always thought lying was exhausting. It’s hard work to remember all those made up, twisted facts. Besides, it’s inevitable that the lie is unmasked. And so the liar.
   Mike Nyfong sought power with a small “p” and it has cost him much. He hurt others and ultimately hurt himself. Having been disbarred, and as a result lost his means of earning a livelihood, he will have much time on his hands. 
   Perhaps he will use it to contemplate power with a capital “P”.

>     Everything runs in cycles. There are our biological body cycles, called circadian rhythms, the cycle of global weather patterns, even the cycle of life and death. There is also the cycle of violence. It seems that one has come around again. Gaza is on fire.  
   Like all cycles, the cycle of violence comes and goes…meaning it periodically escalates then de-escalates. And like fire, we can fan it or starve it of the vital elements it needs to maintain it’s destructive force.  The media loves to fan fires. So they are at it again.
   I am not saying that what’s happening in Gaza isn’t important. I’m a Jew and as such, care deeply about Israel and the safety of its inhabitants. I am also a human, and care deeply about the fate of us all. 
   What I know for sure is that feeding hate and giving it attention is no different than fanning the flame. It gives the destructive force power. It feeds the beast.
   History teaches many lessons so we get to pick the one’s we want to learn from.  While I hear many commentators likening Iran and Ahmadinejad and Hamas to Hitler and his intended move across Europe in a quest for extinction of some and domination over others, I prefer to look back and see that in at least 5000 years, aggression and violence haven’t solved anything. While they may produce a temporary cessation of conflict in one part of the world, because we’re all one, sooner or later the lessons taught by using force in one place surface elsewhere to be applied by someone else. And so on and so on. For 5000 years.
   Because we can pick and choose our lessons from history, and have the freedom of choice to participate in co-creating our own, I think we’d be best served to try a different approach.  
   I have an example of one I’d like to suggest.  
   My husband and I are very different. Not just in personality, but in our social and religious backgrounds. We also love one another. Periodically, those differences cause us to have a few recurring arguments over the same topics. We each have a tendency to dig in and become more rooted in our position until it escalates through anger all the way to cold silence. We eventually get past it and move on, although they’re not so much resolutions as capitulations to emotional exhaustion.
   This week one such difference raised it ugly head again.  Our “cycle” began, and as I watched it…it occurred to me that a new approach was necessary as history finally taught me that “digging in” or imposing my view was not a long-term solution.  So instead of focusing on our differences, I decided to see what was the strongest point we had in common. It took me about 15 seconds to find the answer. Harmony. I knew we both wanted harmony in our lives. 
   When my husband came home from work yesterday, I said I wanted to talk. I am certain he was readying himself in a defensive posture. I simply said, with conviction, “I am your best friend and you are mine. More than anything, I want harmony.”
   That was it. Pure and simple. No aggression. No argument. No defense. Nobody going on and on solidifying their stance. He just put out his arms to embrace me. 
   Our differences didn’t disappear. In fact, it’s the diversity of us that makes us unique. But what did occur was that we found common ground…higher ground…from which the view was more beautiful and the air was cleaner.
   It may not be that simple in Gaza or Iran. Or it may be. 
   It has to start with individuals, one on one. They have to understand that we are all one. And they have to set their intention’s and their vision on the highest good they share and communicate that to one another. It will likely be the same in any language. 
   Shalom or Salaam. 
   The answer is peace.

>In 2001, when President Bush first met Russian President Vladimir Putin, he was quoted as saying, “I was able to get a sense of his [Putin’s] soul…” thereby determining that Putin was a “good” man. Since then their relationship has taken many turns, not all in the direction “good” men might proceed. Most recently, the two have been posturing and exchanging less than friendly and certainly not “soulful” remarks.
    This wouldn’t be the first time world leaders, whom we once deemed good men and allies, turned out to be something other…although it might have been the first time our judgment was openly and simplistically based upon a reading of one’s soul.
    This turn of events between Bush and Putin brings to light a quality we all share in our more mundane, daily lives and one which could benefit from some introspection. It’s our tendency to judge others and thereby make them “good” or “bad” when, in reality, at any given moment we are all just doing the best we can based upon the state of our consciousness and our beliefs.
    I know that I have spent a lifetime trying to overcome my tendency to judge everyone and everything. All judgment ever got me was separation and distance. It took me the greater part of 50 years to realize that judging sets ups barriers to connection, harmony and intimacy.  Since we as human creatures have an intrinsic need for all three, it couldn’t be more counterproductive than to judge (and thereby distance) the very people with whom we’re hoping to connect.
   We
do it in our political dialog where Republicans and Democrats
judge each other and fortify an “us” against “them” mentality. We do it in the name of G-d and if the consequences weren’t so disastrous, it would actually be funny. Imagine, in the name of the One Creator, the single Source of all that is, we divide (and too often conquer) claiming as the basis for our actions that “our way” is the better way.  And it really doesn’t matter whether it’s the Crusades or the Taliban. In the end its the same capitulation to judgment with the same unproductive result.
    So what can we do? More specifically, what can you do?
    In mystical Judaism there’s a belief that when you arise each day and set out on your way, there is an angel who goes before you proclaiming “Behold, the image and likeness of G-d.”  Beautiful, isn’t it?  Well, that’s half of the belief. The other half is that proceeding in front of every other human being is also their angel, proclaiming “Behold, the image and likeness of G-d.” 
    Perhaps today you could suspend judgment and simply see and hear your own angel, and everyone else’s as well.  It might also be helpful to remember that you’re doing the best you can, based upon where your consciousness is and what you believe. And so is everyone else.
    If President Bush had simply seen the image and likeness of G-d in Vladimir Putin, he might not have had to spend the next 6 years changing his mind about him.

>  In the fairy tale film classic “Princess Bride” Princess Buttercup’s true love Westley, disguised as the dread pirate Roberts, confronts the Princess’s kidnapper, Vizzini, in a classic standoff between Good and Evil.  As a final resolution, Westley proposes that he conceal two cups of wine and lace one of them with the fatal Iocane powder in his possession.  Vizzini must then choose one of the cups and drink from it.  Vizzini, certain that he can outsmart Westley, goes through an elaborate (and mind-numbing!) reasoning process, finally making his choice, certain he has bested his opponent.  Westley then drinks from the remaining cup and, within seconds, Vizzini is dead. 
    It turns out Westley laced both cups with the Iocane. However, he also had the antidote to Iocane hidden in his pocket and, after drinking from the second cup, took it as well. 
    All of this got me to thinking about Islamic terrorism. Seems like a bit of a stretch?  Bear with me for just a moment.
    The confrontation between Westley and Vizzini is symbolic of the age old battle between Good and Evil. If you’re not comfortable with those moral categories…then let’s just say the battle between life and death.
    We are in such a battle today. Radical extremists will stop at nothing to impose their will upon not only their own culture, but Western societies as well. In their rhetoric, and by their actions, they are undoubtedly passionate. 
    And that’s where Westley and Vizzini fit into the analysis.
    The solution to world terror is an antidote to the passion that drives radical, extremist, religious thinking. Thoughts are one thing.  But thoughts fueled by strong emotion, passion, have a whole other level of effectiveness. Just look at the difference between artists and great artists. While the personal lives of the world’s great artists may have been troubled and wrought with conflict, it was precisely such passionate energy that, when channeled into a creative outcome, produced success and greatness.
    Back to the fairy tale. Vizzini wanted to hold the Princess captive for his own power. Westley wanted to free her for true love.  Both men were motivated by intense passion. It appears, in the end, love trumps ego.
    We in the West are appalled and repulsed by the intent and tactics of radical Islamists and other terrorist organizations. We talk about it constantly on radio, tv and the internet and we write about it as frequently…hoping it will go away or that we will be victorious by either military or diplomatic means. Not so.
    What Westley shows us is both the path and the ingredients necessary for victory: face our opponents, proceed from love (remembering there are only two emotions: love and fear) and above all proceed with passion towards that which we want to accomplish.
    We will succeed in eliminating radical Islam only if we apply the antidote to irrational and passionate hatred. That antidote is rational and passionate love. Both our words and our behavior must passionately support life as surely as theirs support death. 
    Like Westley, the antidote is in our pocket.