Archive for the ‘Government’ Category

Looking recently at Madison Wisconsin and today London, it seems that violence… the preferred method of change in the Arab world… has finally infected the West as well.

Not to our credit, I might add.

One of the great tragedies of human history is that we have always confused e-volution with revolution.  Re-volution, especially violent re-volution, has always been just that: a return trip around a failed and worn out path strewn with the casualties of war.

Is it conceivable we will allow ourselves to be led like lambs to slaughter down that road yet again?  To watch the youth in England today destroying everything in their path, its an easy leap to conclude the answer is “Yes.”

I don’t blame them.  I blame us.

They’re young.  They learned from us.  As too many of us in positions of responsibility remained silent, those with an agenda crept into our schools, universities and, more insidiously, into our children’s minds.  The young want what they want and they want it now… and if they can’t have it… well… they’re being encouraged by those with a hidden agenda to believe that violence is an acceptable expression of their discontent.

Our children grew up in a world where media violence, instant gratification, material acquisition, power for its own sake, and government subsidies were and remain the norm.   By example, we have taught them poorly.  And while we were neglecting our responsibility to the future, others were all too ready and willing to embrace it.

Now, if we allowed it to reach this point, it must be we who puts an end to it.

How?

By rapidly and visibly changing the way we do things.

By assuming responsibility for our every thought, word and deed.

By reprioritizing our time and our expression of what we value.

By acting like competent, capable adults able to make hard choices so the young have something, and someone, to emulate.

We’re running out of time.  Let’s not waste a moment.  Decide what you value.  Speak of it often.  Live it with certainty.

Before the momentum of violence becomes irreversible, join in the e-volution.  It’s a higher road that leads to a grander view.

Oh, and did I mention?… peace.

 

Pattern realignment is what is commonly called “change.” Chaos is a natural and necessary byproduct of change.  What we are witnessing in the Middle East is an effort at political realignment.  I use the word effort because only time will tell the outcome.  And not much time at that.

Egypt, Tunisia,& Libya have all experienced major revolts while  Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Iran, Iraq, Jordon, Oman and Yemen have had significant protests.   There is nothing uncertain or meek about how determined these populations are in expressing their exhaustion with the status quo or their impatience in demanding an end to it.

Revolution can be a good thing… or not.  The most common and oft referenced examples are the American vs. the French.  One ended in a Republic and the other in beheadings and a return to Monarchy.

So what will likely be the outcome this latest and widespread populist upheaval?

While I think history can be instructive, I don’t think it will be determinative or conclusive at this particular moment in the evolution of human Consciousness.

Why?  Because we’ve never been here before.

Here is a transcendent moment.  By this I mean that if we can view events in the Middle East and around the world, generally, from a higher vantage point (“higher ground” as I like to say) we have the opportunity to co-create an unprecedented global future wherein individuality is honored within a framework of worldwide connectivity.

It’s a BIG if.

Why?  Because people and systems entrenched in power don’t go down without a fight.   And because we humans tend to be an impatient lot.

No matter how well intentioned and fueled the emergent tidal wave of freedom currently is throughout the Middle East, unless there is a will to endure with our humanity in tact through the uncertainty and birth pangs of co-creating a new paradigm for governance that honors the individual, the culture, and its role in an interdependent world… those antiquated forces fighting for survival will prevail.

I recently read a great line in Spontaneous Evolution by Bruce Lipton and Brruce Bhaerman.  It was “Love a cancer cell to death.”  The message is based upon scientifically verifiable experiments at the quantum level that 1) the observer has a direct influence upon the observed and 2) Love heals, literally.

Perhaps this understanding can be applied elsewhere… even the Middle East.  Love the old regimes to death and, in their place, envision one giant leap for human Consciousness.

It’s our best hope.

It is sometimes the case that certain words or phrases quickly find their way into our lexicon due to their poignancy and precision. For example, following the O.J. Simpson trial, the phrase “rush to judgment” became the watch-phrase for drawing precipitous conclusions.   The phrase remains over-used  to this day (in my opinion) but presents no particular harm.

Such is not the case with “Day of Rage.” In the past thirty days, usage of the phrase has spread from Cairo, Egypt to Iran, Bahrain, Tunisia and most recently Madison Wisconsin.  Unlike “Rush to Judgment” these words bear significant harm.

Words matter.

In my just released inspirational book, The Lightworker’s Handbook:  A Spiritual Guide To Eliminating Fear, (also available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble) there is a supplemental “English To Spirit Dictionary” where I define words and phrases for the new paradigm.  Because language is one of the ways we share information, we need to communicate with words that honor what we believe in and support how we intend to live our lives.

If change is what the world seeks at this moment in time, is it really through rage that we choose to achieve it?  Is rage what we want to call our approach to transcending the limitations of the past?  Is rage what we really want the message to be?

Perhaps.

Throughout human history, there have always been individuals and groups skilled at manipulating others through fear and violence.  In Egypt this past week, it was two hundred “pro-democracy” demonstrators who violently and repeatedly assaulted and raped a female CBS reporter. Those individuals were easily moved to commit brutal acts of aggression because they were already engaged in a movement based upon and identified by rage.

If change is what we seek, and I believe it is, then let us move in that direction with the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of several thousand years.  Violence, which includes violent language, is a brutal means to what will be a brutal end.  Because whether you power over something, such as a nation, through physical force … or over someone, such as a spouse, with verbal abuse … all that you accomplish is the sowing of seeds of resentment and hatred that inevitably lead to violence in return.

If citizens of the world seek to designate days to express their concerns, may I suggest global “Days of Voice” as a viable alternative.  Where humanity winds up will be a direct result of not only where we choose to go but, most definitely, how we choose to get there.  Personally I want to wind up having a voice in my country’s future and in my own life as well.

Not raging about them.

The Egyptian Revolution has been spellbinding. Watching the “power of the People” is an uplifting and inspiring global experience. Now that the preliminary goal, Mubarak’s removal, has been achieved the real work and challenges begin.

History provides us instruction.

In ancient Egypt, the Hebrew slaves agonized for freedom from the tyranny of Pharaoh as have modern day Egyptians from Mubarak’s rule. Once achieved, the Hebrews made initial efforts to organize and proceed with solidarity toward a common goal of personal freedom.  However, when their interim leader, Moses, was delayed in his return from Sinai, the impatient Hebrews were quick to revert to what was comfortingly familiar… idol worship.  Only Moses’ personal commitment and charisma were able to set the Israelites back on the road to freedom. And ultimately, the desired outcome became a reality in Divine timing, not theirs.

The lesson? Patience.

Its 48 hours since Mubarak’s fall and already there is renewed confrontation and remaining unrest on the streets of Cairo and elsewhere as demonstrators, so effective at bringing down the regime, are impatient with the inevitably slow process that must follow in successfully moving a People from bondage to freedom.

Technology made their success possible.  If the People do not exercise restraint and patience, that same technology may be the reason they too find themselves quickly returning to the familiar… dictatorial rule in calf’s clothing.

Technology, by its inherent speed, makes our human nature’s inclination toward instant gratification all that more immediate. We want everything NOW and if we can’t get it, we immediately go elsewhere… and not always to our advantage.

The generation that affected the Revolution in Egypt has been raised with technology.  They expect things to happen quickly.  My concern is that youth, in the absence of real leadership, will follow the modern day version of what seduced the Israelites.  And further, absent a Moses, will fall prey to those dressed as the Golden Calf.

All growth takes time. It is only human hubris that thinks it occurs in anything other than Divine Time.

Recently, I had surgery and my recovery prevented me, for about two weeks, from posting a blog.  I lost readership in that time and fielded emails complaining of the absence of new material. When we are used to getting what we want, and expect, our impatience leaves no room for the natural unfolding of events.

Let us pray that those in Egypt, who have so wisely used the tools of modernity, will translate that wisdom into knowing that the hard work begins now and impatience leads only to arriving in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Today, still unfolding as I write this entry, was the tragic shooting in Tucson, Arizona of 12 people at a peaceful political assembly.  While details yet remain sketchy and incomplete, it is confirmed that at least 5 people have died, including a 40-year veteran of public service, Federal Judge John Roll, an unnamed staffer of Representative Gabrielle Gifford (D-Arizona) and an unnamed 9-year old girl.  In addition, Congresswoman Gifford herself, shot in the head at point blank range, has survived but is fighting for her life as are several others currently in surgery.

Moments ago, President Obama spoke to the Nation.  After my expression of prayers and comfort to all involved, the President’s speech is the focus of this writing.

It is no surprise to any American that we, both nationally and personally, are transiting extraordinary times.  Divisions are deep, tension high, finances troubling and fuses short.  In such times, it is our intention that those we look to for leadership, calm, focus and vision provide us the guidance and confidence necessary to move beyond the difficulties involved.

Today in his words following the Arizona tragedy, President Obama missed the mark… if he was ever aiming for it.

The President expressed his condolences to the victims. In so doing, he erroneously referred to Congressman Gifford in the past tense, although she is alive and fighting for her life.  He had absolutely nothing to say about violence being an ineffective tool for achieving ends or even words of a calming or encouraging nature.  His failure to do so is at a time when individuals such as Frances Piven, professor and political activist with access to U.S. Presidents, openly advocate for revolution, and when bullying and violence in our schools have become an epidemic.

Why?

Why would our President pass up such an obvious opportunity to reassure the nation and set the standard, at least verbally, for where we as a nation stand on violence as solution for political and social differences?

The answer I see disturbs me.  Because he doesn’t want to.

The most frequent visitor to this White House in the first two years of this Presidency was Andy Stern, President of the Service Workers International Employees Union (SEIU).  Stern has said “If we can’t use the power of persuasion we will use the persuasion of power” as a legitimate tool of social change.  Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO has done the same.  William Ayers, founder of the Weather Underground, a self-described Communist revolutionary group and long-time friend of the President’s is also an advocate of violence as a legitimate means to achieve an end.  The list goes on.

I don’t think our President wants to seize this or any event to quell the possibility of violence as a means to the “change” part of Hope and Change he promised. For if violence escalates, the People with turn to government which, through its military and regulatory powers, will be all too quick and happy to intervene.  In so doing, the door is then open to abridge our basic rights and coalesce power in the hands of a few at the expense of the many.

We are a nation in need of leadership and the man we chose to lead is at a loss to do so.  I suggest he has revealed his irrelevancy and that we now look beyond him and broaden our search in two directions.

First, that we go within ourselves, the only search worth taking, and look for ways to exemplify the stability, focus, priorities and courage needed in times of change.  Secondly, that we go in search of quality leadership and this time we not allow ourselves to be distracted and placated by smoke and mirrors, because we lack the personal responsibility and patience to do the hard, investigative work necessary to make such an important decision.

I HOPE the President’s woeful, AND almost negligent, response today to the tragedy in Arizona is the impetus for CHANGE to the Office of President of the United States in 2012.

Everywhere you turn you’re hearing about insufficient funds.  At the federal, state and local levels the word is that we’re out of money.  Just this weekend “60 Minutes” did a segment titled “Day of Reckoning” spotlighting the current insolvency of many States with more to come.  No matter how rosy this Administration or any politician tries to paint it, there is little doubt in most people’s minds that something has gone terribly awry.

But it’s not the economy.

Money is a form of energy and, as such, flows unobstructed, or not, depending on its context.  Further, money is representative of an underlying condition.  That condition is the spiritual health of humanity.  Generalized prosperity is symptomatic of alignment with spiritual principles.  The absence or apparent lack of money is, likewise, indicative of misalignment with those same principles.

The Universe is eternal, infinite and therefore abundant.  There can be no lack.

However, there can be an interrupted flow of energy due to conditions that block or impede the flow of energy.  This is precisely where we find ourselves at this moment in time.

We have strayed from ethics, good moral character and our spiritual Selves for so long that we have impeded the Universal flow of abundance.  We have been greedy, wasteful and self-absorbed. We have been neither appreciative nor grateful.  We have demanded and received more… then acted as if more was never enough.  We have been insensitive and lacking in compassion.  And just to clarify any misunderstanding, the consequence for such spiritual blindness is not beheadings. Those who claim the moral high ground and choose violence to right a wrong only exacerbate the problem.

Now, the good news. Phew!

It’s not the end of the world, figuratively or literally.  It’s a course correction.  The money will flow again when we no longer tolerate in ourselves or others any form of deceit or greed. When we live the moral high ground, show compassion for one another, and value that which cannot be bought or sold.  Then, we will have regained our essence and materiality will once again flow.

Because we drifted far from the Light for so long we became adjusted to the darkness and it seemed the norm.  But in darkness nothing can grow and grow we must.

Because we’re all connected though one Consciousness, it matters what each of us values.  Give little thought to any apparent lack… for you are staring into the darkness.  Refocus your sights on love, integrity and hope.  They are located in the Light where there is permanent clarity and nothing in the way of the unobstructed flow of energy.

An awful lot of people are on edge (and that’s putting it mildly) over the latest release of classified government documents by WikiLeaks.org.   It’s no wonder.  The documents reveal conversations, intentions and strategies that were intended to be kept secret not only from the public in general but also from our enemies and allies alike.

Is the content shocking? In some cases, yes.

Is the release itself shocking? Only if you’ve been unconscious for the past several years… or    not reading my posts.

You see, for at least that long I have been writing about the paradigm shift and its concomitant effects.  The most reliable of them being that with the shift there is more high frequency energy inundating our consciousness.

Higher frequency light energy.

What happens when you bring more light into a darkened (a/k/a/ denser) environment?  The light illuminates the environment and the result is less darkness… fewer places where you can obscure or hide things.  Things are brighter, clearer, and more easily accessible.

Now if you apply this principle to the obfuscation of facts, the obvious conclusion is that with higher consciousness there will be fewer secrets.  Less ways and means of obscuring the facts as they are.  The “behind the scenes” disclosures being disseminated by WikiLeaks are simply the result of the presence of light.

No more secrets.

My friends have been listening to me say that phrase repeatedly for the past several years.  Mainly, because I somehow knew that the unfolding paradigm shift would bring with it real change.  Not superficial change… not slogans about change… and not change for the worse, either.

While these disclosures, on their face (prima facie as we lawyers like to say) seem damning, they are, to the contrary, liberating.  They will help free the world from strategies and backroom deals that have perpetuated, for millennia, deception and greed.

As I have also said, while the transition may be difficult… it’s always difficult to move from one way of doing things to another… to change a pattern… in the long run we will be better off in a world where the Light shines brighter and there are fewer dark corners in which the least of what humankind is capable of has a chance to fester and breed.

Out of the shadows and into the Light.  A paradigm shift worth the effort.

For sure.

I am a Jew.  It’s one of two reasons why I feel compelled to weigh in on Glenn Beck’s recent three-part presentation about financier George Soros and the puzzling response to Beck’s presentation.

I am particularly intrigued today by the New York Times piece painting Beck as an anti-Semite while actually holding out the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as a source for that conclusion.  The glaring inconsistency between quotes from Abe Foxman of the ADL in the Times article versus a personal letter from Foxman to Beck implies behind the scenes intrigue.  The Times quotes Foxman as calling Beck an Anti-Semite while just three weeks prior Foxman wrote Beck acknowledging his stand for Jews and Israel and calling Beck an obvious “friend”of both.

So what’s up?

As I said, my Judaism is the first reason I’m writing this.  The second is that I am a lawyer by education and so the facts matter to me.

I have watched and listened to Beck for several years now.  My impression and conclusions about him are derived first- hand.  He has been unequivocal in his support of Jews and rationally wavering on his support of Israel.  I say “rationally wavering” because even Israel makes mistakes and when Beck, in his opinion, perceived one to have occurred he has been vocal in his criticism.  Such criticisms have been the exception rather than the rule.

On the Soros airing and analysis, Beck could not have been clearer that the issue was not Soros’s choices and behavior at age 14 in working for the Nazi’s in confiscating personal property of Jews being condemned to the concentration camps, but rather Soros’ audacity, insensitivity and obvious lack of conscience in stating, after the passage of almost 7 decades,   that he had “no regret” about his behavior and that it has been “the best year of his life.”

I think Beck’s synopsis of Soros’ life experiences and financial dealings was less about an Anti-Semite than about a sociopath.

Quite frankly, any interpretation that paints Beck as an Anti-Semite for his having aired Soros in Soros’s own words has to be based in either 1) ignorance of what was actually presented or 2) a masked agenda to distort the facts in order to denigrate Beck.

Either way, as a Jew and seeker of truth who is trained to base her conclusions in fact, I can assert with certainty that Glenn Beck has consistently been an advocate for Jews, a supporter of the Jewish homeland, and a darn good investigative reporter (my characterization of him… not his own).

The New York Times could learn a thing or two.

While we have known for some time that the country is headed in the wrong direction, we have been unable to uncover what we can do about it. Glenn Beck, long warning of impending difficulties, has most recently suggested prayer in order to enlist Divine intervention and assistance.

While that may seem extreme and a somewhat desperate act unlikely to affect much there is, in fact, historical evidence that to the contrary it is exactly what can save us.

Enter the Book of Esther.

It’s the story of ancient Persia and how one woman’s voice and the prayers of a multitude were all that were needed to rescue a people from the evil intentions of a corrupt and deceitful public official. It was fasting and the prayers of many that summoned Divine intervention and revealed a hidden political agenda for what it was.

The Relevance & The Answer

The people of Pur (hence the holiday of Purim) were facing down entrenched power. So are we. It was fasting and prayer that summoned Divine intervention. It is now our turn. We are at a critical stage in our existence. We are plagued by threats from multiple directions, from without and from within. Our government has become so big as to be unmanageable and our People have come to feel so small as to believe themselves irrelevant.

The Timing

Purim will be observed five months from now on February 28, 2011. Five months may be precious time we cannot afford to waste. However, Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement is observed from sunset Friday, September 17th to sunset Saturday, September 18th…16 days from today. It is a traditional day of fasting and prayer.

I would like to suggest that on Yom Kippur, this most reverent and biblically ordained day, each of us as citizens of this remarkable Nation, regardless of race or religion, fast and pray for the safety of our land and its inhabitants. Further, that we ask for Divine intervention to shine Its Light upon illusion and deceit while guiding us in turning, once and for all, toward the Light of Love and Truth.

Imagine the power and magnitude of that petition!