http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/business/media/3...

Cable TV providers are testing ways to restrict access to free shows on the Web to just their paying subscribers.

Interesting vision of the future....

OK, so I've tried to stir the political hornet's nest on a number of occasions: now let's see if we can't get the same kind of reaction to a piece on Religion! Are you ready...?

“ The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers!”

Thus spoke the excitable plotter in Shakespeare’s “Henry VI.” The character of “Dick the Butcher,” makes this bold suggestion as stage one in the overthrow of what is perceived as a corrupt and unjust system of government. But Shakespeare got it all wrong when he exhorted us to rid ourselves, once and for all, of what he perceived as the biggest blight on our peace of mind and well-being. If he had really wanted to strike a serious blow at what ails us as human beings, he would have urged us to get rid of an entirely different profession: the Priests.
  
 It is nothing new to blame religion for a healthy portion of the world’s ills, but I would draw an important and fundamental distinction here between religion and deism. Religion, which derives from the Latin: re-ligo,-ere: to tie-back, is all about our desire to reconcile the aloneness of the human condition with the eternal, “ONEness” of  existence. It is the way in which we tie ourselves back to the Garden of pre self -conscious innocence. Religion is a state that, if one listens carefully enough, is natural to us. Since we first recognized the rhythms of the seasons, the ebb and flow of nature, we were a part of it. The woodsman, the hunter, the ocean fisherman all live a religious existence without effort. Subject to the uncaring laws of nature, being a part of the majestic symphony of LIFE, we can live a perfectly religious life. It may be harder in our modern, urban, civilizations, but if we really listen hard enough, it is possible.

The problem is that somewhere along the way, a long time ago, someone decided that there HAD to be someone pulling the strings. There had to be someone OUTSIDE this ONEness that made it happen. The first, and most obvious candidate, was the sun. Without its light, we had night: without its warmth, we had winter. It certainly seemed that when the sun was absent, all life paused, slept, chilled, even died: then, when it rose again, life resumed, brightened and warmed. Powerful ju-ju! Right then and there someone had a brilliant, but fatal notion: he stood at the cave’s mouth and sang a song as the sun rose. It was not hard for him to convince the rest of the tribe that he was singing TO the sun and greeting it. He confirmed his special relationship with this GOD by singing it farewell at the end of the day. This was your first Priest. In no time al all he was speaking for the sun. He expressed its anger, its pleasure, how to win its favor and how to lose its love. With careful study of the sun’s movements, moods, and rhythms, our priest could manipulate it to tell his people when and against whom to fight, how to dress, how to eat, how to govern. His power was paramount. Even the Chief listened to his advice. Of course, it wasn’t long before other tribes in other caves came up with their own priests who interpreted the sun’s moods very differently. HE wanted the tribe to wear red paint on their faces, not blue. HE wanted them to live by the river and destroy the “unbelievers” who occupied that prime spot.  The battle of wills between Priest and Chief, Church and State has marked centuries of bloodshed and politics. Both sides seek power and both sides sacrifice the tribe in its quest.  The Chief may lead us into battle for territory, pride or a family squabble but the Priest exhorts us to take up arms in the name of a vengeful and capricious God. Each is as bad as the other and each has condemned our planet to an unending story of genocide, wars, injustice and misery.
    
Deism, this idea invented by the priests, by its very nature, separates us out from the Divine. It makes us “outside” his love. We have to win it back through worship and sacrifice. The rules for this are written by the priests, naturally enough, and each priest has his own rules for his own GOD. The tragedy is that we ARE already a part of nature, an integral part of that Divine. Our religious practices remind us of this “belonging” and indivisiveness. We truly are ONE. We are all part of the stuff that made the stars. There has been nothing added or subtracted since the Big Bang, so we are indeed part of the same stuff. We are, in fact, the stars made conscious. You could say we are the stars trying to figure themselves out. What could be a more religious notion than that?! We are God and GOD is us. That’s what the first stirrings of consciousness told us. We must listen to this message that is carried on every breeze and in every living thing. We must reject the false GODS presented to us by self-serving priests in their quest for power. This cult of Deism will destroy what chance for peace we have and leave us eternally separated from each other and from the GOD that we are.

Additional comments from me on:


01 Apr 09 Wednesday - 12:03 PM

03 Apr 09 Friday - 9:42 AM

03 Apr 09 Friday - 9:43 AM

I really DO want to blog about something else...honestly! But when I see such egregious and destructive behavior among our "leaders," I just HAVE to pitch in.

I guess I was naieve to think that our last administration was an aberration, that their mean-spirited partisanship and self-serving abuses did not reflect a deep-seated Republican mind-set, but rather an out-of-control faction of delusional neo-cons. Well, I guess this week proves how wrong I was! The witch may be lying under the house and her ruby slippers safely on the feet of a hopeful and decent human being, but the stench of resentful, obstructive and greedy partisanship is alive and well and rooted on the right side of the aisle. When G.B. took office it was on a pledge of bi-partisan healing. He proceeded to ignore the Democratic caucus and encouraged his legislative cronies to meet in secret and bushwhack the minority at every turn. "my way or the Highway," became the administration's mantra. Our current President has not only met personally with both Republican caucuses, placed a record number of the opposing party's members in his cabinet, listened carefully to the opposition's voice, agreed to compromise on some of the core principles of his party's belief ( $150B. in education cuts is like asking the Republicans to tax their kids' allowances,) and what does he get in return....?

Anyone who watched the look of pure malevolence and gloom on John Boehner's face at the inauguration should not have been surprised when that champion of the Right, that voice of Conservative "reason" ( yes, you know who I mean!) gave sound to all their secret thoughts when he announced to his rapt and gleeful audience:" I hope Obama fails!" Their preposterous rantings about " Obama's recession," and gadfly distractions at this time of national crisis leaves me breathless in its effrontery and gall. Obama is a better man than I am, I can tell you that. I would tell them all to sit down and shut up! You had eight years to screw this country into the ground, to make an art of your culture of greed, now shut the heck up and let us try to undo some of the mess you have made of your people, your country and your world!

Additional comments from me on:

11 Feb 09 Wednesday 10:04 AM

11 Feb 09 Wednesday - 10:06 AM

Watching the ball drop above the heads of those thousands of popsicle-frozen, New York revellers, I found myself reflecting on what has to have been the most roller-coaster, event-filled year since 1968 : a real, in-your-face, screaming Drama Queen of a year!

As we bid farewell to one of the most incompetent, costly and dangerous administrations this country has had to weather, we look back on a year when the "top-down" economic policies birthed by Ronald Reagan, saw their fruition in the legitimized Ponzi Scheme, dreamt up by the uncontrolled Mortgage Industry and enabled by the avaricious Insurance giants, that all but put the final nail in the coffin of an ailing middle class. We can finally say good riddance to a decade when our Constitution and guiding principles of Government came under such assault and degradation from within that this once great nation had to defend itself against charges of abuse and injustice normally reserved for tin-pot, South American juntas and paranoid, central European dictatorships.

BUT...2008 also saw two glorious expressions of our resilience, imagination, optimism and courage. There were two small seeds of hope and change planted in the winter of 2008 that could thrive and blossom into full-fledged testaments to our better angels and spirit of redemption in the early months of 2009. We elected the first African American President ( with a distinct emphasis on "American" and significant qualification of "African,") and the San Diego Chargers went to the Playoffs despite a 8-8 season record. So far, the former is looking good.... smart picks for his team; steady, focused temperament; steely determination to steer the course he sees as best for the whole rather than pandering to the agenda of the many"fews;" a realistic sense of the challenge he faces- and the work, sacrifice and energy he needs to meet it.

As for the latter.....we will know a lot more by late Saturday night. But, I gotta tell you...there is a scent of cock-eyed optimism in the air and it's a heady perfume!

Wishing all of you a Happy, Healthy and Abundant 2009. Let's make it a year when we take a good, hard look at the things we value and the things we have taken for granted. The future belongs to the generous, the brave and the committed. Let's get engaged.

Additional comments from me on:

Jan 4, 2009 2:01 PM

Jan 4, 2009 2:04 PM

Just as our President Elect gears up his own transition, the Shaughnessy family has been grappling with its own transition. And let me tell you,moving house is every bit as stressful and complex and downright tiring as taking over the reins of power in the greatest nation on earth!

But, good news! We have unpacked the last of the million boxes piled up in our kitchen and Obama has made giant strides in selecting the personnel and tenor of his new and historic administration.

I have to say that I am very proud of our country's willingness to put aside, or at least, temper it's inherent racism and suspicion to elect the best man for the job despite his color and background. I must also thank the Republican Party for making it easier for us to do so by running a pretty disastrous ticket. Now the partisan shouting is over, come on...you have to admit...Sarah Palin as President?! Of course, the Right Wing misanthropes and dilettantes are being their supportive, patriotic selves by undermining the Obama administration before its even begun. Once again they will try to make fact out of fiction just by shouting it loud enough and repeating it ad nauseam. Their latest mantra is referring to our economic woes as " Obama's recession." Neatly ducking the fact that Clinton left a record surplus and a healthier economy than we had had in decades, they insist that the damage was done in the 90's and Obama is responsible for triggering the collapse. Let's try, for the next four years at least, to marginalize and exile these buffoons to the irrelevant sidelines of culture that they deserve.

Instead, I choose to salute a brilliant campaign and stunning victory. I will stand by the cool, calculating pragmatism of his cabinet picks that cross party lines and fault lines withing his own party. I will work to support and encourage the vision for a healed America, both at home and abroad. It will be hard and painful; the damage done to this country by the last mob of crooks is unprecedented and immeasurable. But the Japanese word for disaster is the same as opportunity, so let's embrace the opportunity we have given ourselves and strive to unite behind a common goal and purpose. Let's make America the shining city on the Hill that Reagan spoke of, but did little to build. Let's dust off our tarnished patriotism and pride and recreate America the Beautiful from sea to shining sea.


Additional comments from me on:

Dec 4, 2008 6:28 PM

Dec 4, 2008 10:42 PM

Dec 8, 2008 11:40 AM

Dec 9, 2008 11:01 AM

Dec 9, 2008 11:07 AM

Little change of pace here...I wanted to let you know that my first Mad Men episode aired last night. It took me a bit by surprise as I was expecting it more towards the end of October!
Anyway, for those of you that have it, you can catch it On Demand ( Ep. 11 : Jet Set.) My next appearance is in the last episode of the season which will be in two weeks time.

Be gentle....!

Here's a thought....

At the end of the 80's we saw the collapse of the Soviet Union: the world's foremost proponent of a Communist political philosophy. Weakened by the exploits of a dominantly hawkish leadership who embroiled it in an unwinnable and costly war, it finally imploded under the strain of a fundamentally flawed and unworkable socio/political model. To all intents and purposes pure communism, as a social experiment, was dead.

Here we are, three decades later witnessing the death throes of communism's great rival. Strained by the exploits of a hawkish leadership who have embroiled their country in an unwinnable and costly war, America, the world's greatest proponent of free market capitalism, is collapsing in just the same way. The fundamental flaws in the capitalist experiment are ripping apart and in a few months, maybe even weeks, it will be dead. In all corners of the capitalist world, government is moving in to take possession of the pulleys and levers that make the engine run. It's not yet communism, but it is closer to it than any form of capitalism one would have recognized just two short months ago.

So, what do we learn?

For one thing, we should learn the word: "Hubris." Look it up, learn it and make it part of our everyday vocabulary. Secondly, we should understand that human nature is flawed in it's very DNA. Our natural selves are still responding to a primitive, genetic imperative to survive in an environment that will take everything from us at a moment's notice. Having understood that, we must then recognize that the social environment has changed much faster than our genes can keep up with. With evolutionary adaptations taking thousands, if not millions, of years, we are still reacting to the threat of the wooly mammoth, or an approaching ice age, or the destruction of our cave by marauders. We must learn to strike a balance between the impulse to take and the desire to give. Unbridled "taking" results in the collapse of capitalism: unbridled "giving" results in the implosion of communism. Is it possible that this current global crisis will send the economists back to the drawing board in order to figure out a model that can encourage the best virtues of the profit motive, market fluency and a capital-based fuel, while curbing our baser tendencies to exploit and gorge, and, at the same time, pay heed to a social philosophy that encourages responsibility for our citizens' well being and care? Wouldn't THAT be neat. Remember what I said about disaster and opportunity!

Ok, so here's the deal. I promise to drop the "partisan gun" and to stop blaming Republicans for the mess we are in, IF the Republicans out there get serious about the truth of our situation. I understand that it is hard to admit there is a problem, particularly if you were the cause of it, but let's not go to who did what. Just let's admit that any more talk about "winning the war in Iraq" or " winning the war on terror," or that "the surge is working," HAS TO STOP! Let's just stop the finger-pointing and take stock of where we are and WHO we are. I am not going to accuse anyone or any party for the mess, but, like the start of a twelve step road to recovery, we need to face up to the facts.

On Sept. 11 2001 an elite strike team of "Holy Warriors" flew their hi-jacked airplanes into the heart of the American financial district. It was a calculated, deliberate and devastating blow. It represented the opening of a "second front" in the ongoing struggle for the soul of the Isalmic world: a bloody struggle between radical wahabis and moderate Islamists that had been infecting the Middle east for decades, if not centuries. The radicals recognized that to be successful in imposing their "Old World" view, tied to a stringent and even brutal adherence to an almost mediaevel code of piety and morality, they would have to cripple the world's greatest agent for modernity and what they saw as its inevitable decadence and lack of discipline. They also recognized that, like any great warrior, the best way to bring down an enemy greater than yourself is to use it's own power against itself. Zacqahwri ( Bin Laden's 2,) actually stated in a public video that Al Quaeda could only defeat America and the West if it could goad it into defeating itself!

If you follow the dots you will see a line running from the rubble of the WTC to the very doors of the Stock Exchange a few blocks away. It is not, however, a direct route. It runs through the bloodsoaked hillsides in Afghanistan, through the bomb craters in Iraq, through the decadent greed of the Hedge Funds and sub-prime mortgage instruments, through the corrupt business practices of all those Govt. sub-contractors like Halliburton and Blackwater, through the pain and suffering of all those service families who have lost more than words can say, through the Halls of a panicked congress and ending, finally, in the homes of every family in this Nation. How many of these families can hold onto their home? How many can hold onto their job? How many can hold onto their hopes and dreams for retirement? How many can put food on the table, educate their kids, run a car, or just face the shattered reality of where this once great country has led them?

Those that planned that attack on sept. 11th 2001 knew very well that they could not bring America to its knees with one fireball, but these people were a brilliant civilization, with centuries of cunning, war, politics and human psychology behind them when we were still trying to get the smoke out of our mud huts. They knew patience. They knew that if they gave us the time and a regular nudge, we would spend all our energy, manpower, intelligence, treasure, friends, future, moral standing and goodwill on an unwinnable war against an invisible enemy. Cheered on by the prideful jingoism of an immature and fearful electorate, we would unravel our own Constitution as we picked apart our own economy.

If you think we are winning or CAN win this WAR by pumping more billions of money we don't have into a desert thousands of miles away, if you think "the surge" has worked....ask those grannies in Florida who now face the last few years of their lives without healthcare, retirement funds or, for some of them, their grandsons. When the credit market freezes solid, which it might still do, and ALL business stops dead, which it might still do, will you feel particularly victorious?

So let's admit, all of us, that tanks, guns, bombs and blood is never going to solve this. We have to take a holistic approach to all of it. It's ALL connected: the war, the economy, the greed, the homes, the fear, the moral decadence, the humiliation. But here's the kicker....here's the surprise...

The japanese word for disaster is the same word as opportunity. Next time I want to tell you why I believe that we have been given an extraordinary opportunity as a Nation, and why, in the midst of our darkest hour, we can rise to our greatest triumph and become the "shining City on the Hill" that our founding fathers believed we could

I have tried to avoid getting back into politics quite so soon, but circumstances......
Senator McCain has proved once and for all that he is the most dishonest, self-interested, disingenuous, treacherous politician that has ever run for higher office. I used to think this man was a breath of fresh air: a Republican who had some good ideas and independent thought. But he has finally revealed himself as the worst kind of hypocritical, manipulative power grabber I have ever known. This bull about him being a hero, of him keeping Country First is now revealed as a cynical sham. Our country is in the toilet because of failed Republican policies: foreign and domestic. Policies that McCain supported wholeheartedly for years. Now that we need a last minute emergency rescue from the US Govt. ( a necessary deal that no one, especially Democrats ) want, McCain, in order to avoid an embarrassing debate debacle, rushes to DC to derail the deal that could save our society. He does so only because he wishes to be seen as a savior and does not want any deal to go through without him, he does so to hog the headlines, he does so to sacrifice our future for his own political posturing. Shame on McCain, shame on all Republicans and shame on all who support him and are hell-bent on selling our great nation down the river.

OK, so here's something a bit different.

You've all been there. I experience this once or twice a month. It's that moment when you feel like you're watching a movie of your life as it happens. We call it deja vu. You're in the middle of a conversation and suddenly you KNOW you have had the exact same conversation. In fact, the last time you had it that dog walked across the road just like that!! People have many theories as to how and why this happens: past lives, some kind of temporary prescience, parallel dimensions....the list goes on. But here's the thing that puzzles me. No matter how clearly you just KNOW you have had this conversation before, you cannot for the life of you pre-empt what comes next. It's like you only KNOW you've had it before, moment by moment, AFTER you've had the moment. Every time I try to interrupt ,and say what's about to happen, I can't. I can only say:" see, I KNEW that was going to happen."

So, to start the ball rolling on a topic a little less frustrating than our usual, here's my theory on deja vu.

When you experience an event, whatever it is: conversation, movie, action, your brain absorbs it in two parts.
First, it takes in the information at face value: words, images etc. Then, ALMOST instantaneously, it interprets those stimuli to make sense of them and throws the interpreted experience back against the screen in your brain, so that it can be absorbed rationally.

Now, what if the order got mixed up every now and again? The brain reads the interpreted, rationalised version of events, BEFORE it has processed the initial raw words and images. Now, the brain will be processing the raw information AFTER it has already sent the decoded version for you to absorb. Your brain receives this information like an echo, after it has already interpreted it: hence....deja vu!

Gimme your thoughts....gimme your thoughts!

This once great Nation is broken. It is bankrupt. The surprising thing is, perhaps, that I am not referring to our economic ills. I am talking about a far more serious bankruptcy. The trillions of dollars that we owe, the imploded financial giants that are dragging us even further into debt, the bills we cannot pay, the wars we cannot finance, the huge chunk of our equity that is now owned by other countries like China, all these pale in significance when compared to the real poverty that lies at the very core of our country. I am talking about the bankruptcy of Spirit.

Now, notice I avoided the word "moral," and I did so intentionally. I believe that the free and easy conjuring of this word has contributed vastly to our current crisis. When you use the word "moral," you involve the idea of absolutes: right and wrong, good and bad in a world that swims in relativity. You also invite a discussion on religion, and religion is, in my opinion, singularly the most misunderstood, and, as such, the most destructive and negative force in our world today. OK, now calm down….you need to listen to what I am going to say.

All the great prophets from the dawn of time have said, more or less, the same things. They have all spoken about the need for humans to be compassionate, empathetic to those less fortunate, generous, loving, and, most important, giving of oneself to others in service. They have all said that if we, as humans, can do these things we will not only become closer to whatever God/power/spiritual enlightenment we are pursuing but we will also be happier and more satisfied members of society. And if we are happier and more functional members of our society, it is not surprising then that our society as a whole will function better. Their messages were always inclusive and favored no one group over another. Those that came after these great teachers, and considered themselves "followers" were the ones that added the poison of exclusivity into the mix, and corrupted what was a beautiful and universal message into one of distrust, hate and fear. At the heart of the two most powerful world religions is the notion that "my God is better than your God." The concepts of infidel and forced "conversions" are only to be found in Christianity and Islam. Jews, Taoists, Buddhists, Hindi have no interest in adding to their bank account of souls: they adopt a live and let live philosophy and have never gone to war with another religion on the basis of dogma. (The India/Pakistan conflict was the result of a territorial dispute between India's Hindi and the Moslem population that wanted territorial independence….very different.)

I am not knocking the rights of Christians and Moslems to worship how and who they choose, I am just saying that if we are really serious about building up our spiritual coffers as a country, we cannot use the currency of a religion that thinks it is THE TRUE religion. The Founding Fathers were very clear on that fact and went out of their way to ensure that the Constitution stayed out of the religion game. (One Nation under God referred to a nation that took its place in the natural universe, never mentioning a Christian God or an Islamic God or a Jewish God. All of whom, by the way, are actually the SAME God…yes, that's how silly it can get when you play the "exclusive" card!)

So, for the sake of argument, let's stick to the word "ethical" when we describe the quality of this spiritual currency. It is a far less explosive word and a lot more useful in this context. Ethical behaviour is exactly what the great teachers had in mind all those thousands of years ago. They recognized that there was a code of conduct, which, if adhered to, would make our individual and collective journeys on this earth both meaningful and happy as well as connecting us to the universality of existence ….or God. All of them urged us to reach beyond our petty selves and seek true happiness and meaning in the service and compassion for others. This denial of self for the greater good is the key to the whole game. Anyone who singles out a group or individual as "antithetical" to their religion and, therefore, unworthy of their rights or dignity is missing the whole point and dooming themselves to the same misery and damnation that they wish on others.

The problem is that "religions" have hi-jacked this basic code of behaviour and, as a result, it has lost its meaning to those who do not adhere to a particular religion and see themselves as non-conformist or even humanist. Compassion, service, humility, generosity have become uncool…worse ….weak and stupid. Instead, lying, cheating, stealing is the order of the day. Whether in politics, business, sports or at home, "winning" or getting ahead is all that's important, and the only rule is to look cool and don't get caught. Of course, we will occasionally punish you, but only for being stupid enough to get caught.
I saw a movie the other night that must rank as one of the most depressing and shocking mirrors of our plight. It didn't intend to be this way: it was actually billed as a comedy. The main antagonist in this story, our hero's rival for the love of the girl, the object of derision and resentment is described as " a slimeball lawyer." His only crime, the reason he comes in for such abuse, is the fact that he is a human rights lawyer, who spends his time in Darfur. He is an environmentalist and pro-bono defense attorney for those less fortunate. In fact, it is the list of his virtues that drives our hero and his girl to despise him. When he uses CPR to try to save a life, a character rolls his eyes and sneers" figures he would know CPR." At the end of the movie, the lawyer loses the girl to the selfish, mean-spirited, abusive schmuck who, in order to win the girl, performs one night of simple redemptive acts that cause him to barely break a sweat. The movie is garnering great reviews and selling plenty of tickets. To me, it was like a neon sign flashing nothing less than the continuing collapse of our society. The delicious irony that this movie opened in a week that witnessed the financial bankruptcy of our system was something of a consolation.

It is of the utmost importance that we all re-discover the crucial role that ethics play in our culture; how ethics guide us in our "…pursuit of happiness," how they provide the secret to our feeling good about ourselves and each other. Without a revolution in the way we behave as human beings, the downward spiral that we are beginning to see reflected in our economies and societies will only accelerate and we will disappear from the scene as a small blip on the evolutionary line, leaving what's left of our planet to those more able to adapt and survive.