Archive for February, 2010

Janet Tavakoli: Washington Abadons Greece: Beware of Geeks Bearing Grifts

The European Union (EU) is shocked–shocked I tell you!–that Greece used financial engineering to qualify for admission. Exactly how did they think that weaker countries managed to meet the requirements? Now the EU is concerned that geeks used their knowledge of Greece’s hidden debt (and bailout negotiations) to manipulate financial markets for their own profit.

A few years ago, Greece engaged in derivatives transactions which essentially gave it a disguised loan, a gift from geeks. Greece may or may not have had plans to invest the money to create national wealth instead of say, blowing it all on national bling. Either way, Greece used its national credit card in a futile attempt to keep up with the EU Joneses.

The National Bank of Greece seems embarrassed. Last week, it removed the prospectus for Titlos PLC, the financial engineering vehicle arranged for it by Goldman Sachs International, from its web site.

Now Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is concerned with the way credit derivatives and other financial instruments are being used during Greece’s current debt crisis. In his semi-annual economic report to Congress, Benanke said the Fed and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would look into the involvement of the banks they oversee:

“Obviously, using these instruments in a way that intentionally destabilizes a company or a country is–is counterproductive.”

He should question all related Greek and Euro transactions (not just derivatives). Banks claim their trades aren’t risky because they are doing customer business. One should remember that Goldman Sachs claimed its destabilizing transactions with AIG were “customer business.” How did that work out?

EU Needs its Own Investigation

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, U.S. financial regulators occasionally stumble over the truth, but they pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened. In February 2007, I wrote the SEC about U.S. corporate credit derivatives indexes–similar to the sovereign indexes that reference Greece’s debt. Banks persuaded U.S. state pension funds to use them as “hedges” to protect their large fixed income portfolios.*

Next banks served other customers by creating phoney “AAA” rated products. These fake investments used lots of leverage (borrowing), and they pushed hard in the opposite direction of the pension funds’ trades. As a result, the pension funds’ “hedges” collapsed, and they lost money. The customers that bought the new “investments” lost money, too. Within a year, the phoney AAA investments were downgraded to junk, and customers lost around 90% of their money. (These financial instruments were unrelated to phoney mortgage securitizations.) Banks made hefty fees, but the pension funds and customers they suckered into taking these “gifts” were harmed.

I gave the SEC a map and a flashlight, yet it went nowhere. (My letter still sits on the SEC’s web site.) I’m called the “Cassandra of credit derivatives,” but it’s a misnomer. I’m not prescient, I have no psychic ability, and the geeks at U.S. banks–that claim they are great risk managers–are capable of the same analysis. Moreover, only pension funds and banks’ customers were the victims of an unholy rape.

Today, rumors are that crony capitalists are using derivatives to profit from Greece’s misery. There are allegations that investment banks and hedge funds used their knowledge of Greece’s hidden debt to drive up its borrowing cost and drive down the Euro. Then these speculators reversed their positions, when they had advance information of a potential bailout for Greece.

Other rumors suggest customized trades on the sovereign credit derivatives index also exploited Greece’s problems. Still other rumors point to a campaign to manipulate Greek debt prices and knock down the Euro.

The European Union and Greece should launch their own investigations. When U.S. regulators say they’ll “investigate,” it seems to mean “get lost.”

The U.S. Should Investigate Transactions that Destabilized America

If the U.S.’s “photo-op regulators” are investigating transactions that destabilize countries, they should start at home. Is it “God’s work” to enrich crony capitalists–Washington and Wall Street’s new chosen people–while siphoning money from hard-working taxpayers?

Geeks used financial technology in a way that destabilized the U.S. economy while the U.S. is at war. I believe there is a much stronger word for it than “counterproductive.”

*Pension funds shorted corporate credit default swap indexes (bought credit protection) and took a long position in swap spreads to hedge their bond portfolio credit risk.

More on Greece

Michael Turk: Tim Karr’s Shill Watch: 100% Fact Free

I’m happy to respond to Tim Karr’s attempt at character assassination. While he tried very hard to make this sound like a post sanctioned by the Huffington Post, I suspect it wasn’t. It’s important to note that I don’t hold HuffPo responsible for Tim’s misrepresentation.

I am glad Tim has continued in the fine Free Press tradition of never letting the facts get in the way of good hyperbole. So let me address this ridiculous screed one piece at a time.

First, Tim states that Huffington Post has “opened its platform for public debate on issues”, but in the very same breath says that anyone who disagrees with his position has “invaded” the site and is “attacking the open Internet and disparaging reform efforts by groups like ours.”

So which is it, Tim? Do you want to engage in a debate, sponsored as you note by this platform, or do you want to have a vehicle for your organization to spew its talking points unchallenged?

Since Digital Society has challenged Tim’s organization to a debate on these issues, and offered an opportunity to support their positions in the public arena, and they have so far declined, I can only assume it’s the latter.

Second, Tim is regurgitating the “they’re paid industry shills” line, as he did recently with Larry Downes, but with evidence that is equally faulty. He has even gone so far as to suggest that I was involved in Comcast’s operations.

Contrary to his claims, I have never been employed by Comcast. Further, I fully disclose my past association with NCTA when I post here. I fully disclose my association with NCTA on my company’s website as well.

That position, by the way, consisted of helping the industry organize its employees on policy issues. Some may tell me that employees speaking out only count if union officials are doing the organizing, but I disagree.

The fact is, you don’t have to look hard to find evidence of my past position at the cable industry.

You know what you do have to look really hard to find? Any evidence at all of who funds Free Press. As near as I can reconcile, they have about 40 people on staff. That must put their bill for staff alone at about 2 million dollars or more per year. Yet the only time I have seen a public effort to raise funds, it dragged on for months and they were unable to reach a matching goal of less than one hundred thousand dollars.

So where is their money coming from?

As I have told Tim before when he challenged my posts at Digital Society, my work for that organization is unpaid. I serve on the board of directors, but receive no compensation for doing so. They have provided me with a platform to engage in debate of telecom issues (as has Huffington Post) and I have accepted. I am not paid by anyone for the positions I take and receive no compensation for my writing.

Digital Society, for its part, has disclosed that it is funded by contributions from Jon Henke and Arts & Labs. Arts & Labs has been fully transparent about being a coalition of business groups. So any misconception Tim has about the source of funding should be cleared up by simply reading the “About Us” page of both sites.

As a result of his unwillingness to do this basic research, he makes these allegations of “shills” who are hiding their affiliations. They make him look ridiculous.

Tim is someone who claims passing familiarity with the Internet. Let me suggest that he try something called a “search engine.” They are wonderful devices that let you find a great deal of information. Unless, that is, you are looking for the source of funding for Free Press.

On another note, I’d like to reiterate the challenge to engage Tim in a debate. I’d be happy to facilitate an in-person debate, or perhaps we could set up a four way ooVoo discussion with his policy people and engineers and Digital Society’s engineering and policy people.

I’d also like to offer Tim a vocabulary lesson. Astroturf, despite its wide misuse by his group and others, is not the act of simply being paid by a corporation for doing PR work. Astroturf is the practice of suggesting a large grassroots effort absent real numbers – thus “fake grass.”

I, and many others who speak out on policy matters, but do not claim to speak for anyone but ourselves, would appreciate it if Tim and his group would use the proper vernacular when they attempt to smear our character.

(Michael Turk is a Partner in Craft | Media/Digital, a political consulting firm in Washington DC. He writes on telecom and technology policy issues for Digital Society, and via his own blog at www.KungFuQuip.com)

Daniel Bruno Sanz: Sanjusangendo

Heaven, may I be a Yurikamome amid
Chrysanthemum flowers at Gion Matsori?
High over Yasaka, show me a bird’s eye view of
Kannon, the god of mercy Bosatsu.
Eleven faces has Ju-ichimen; see them in
The hondo of 33 bays at Rengeo-in.
Kiyomizu Dera, inspired by Enchin.
Let me ride on the wind like gails of Fujiin.
Before I pass on I aim to seek
33 disguises peek by peek.
Their piercing crystal eyes passed the test of time.
May I find a thousand Zen gods sublime
Serenade me, Kinnara, your sweet lullaby. Watch me
Senju-kannon, in your every palm an eye.
Forty palms and forty eyes glean twenty-five worlds; in mine behold!
Let there be maikos and moribana to the sound of koto chords.
Let me have tea with Sen Rikyu
In a mizuchaya swaddled in royal gagaku.
Moribana is the abundant flower
Gracing the fields of Ninomaru.
Take me down to Sunset Horai-Jima,
Up Tetsu Gaku no Michi way.
I’ll find wisdom in the halls of Kitano;
Wa Kei Sei Jaku will make it plain.
And if through heaven’s door should be my fate,
Carry me right on past those pearly gates…
To Shinto shrines and solemn Buddhist temples and
The embrace of jolly prosperous bald men with dimples.
Let me gain solace at castle Nijo;
Fusuma and byobu in Kano and Okyo.
Hurah! huran is my daily matsuri at
Golden pavilions with games of archery.
See me fly like a magic arrow from Sanjusangendo.
From the roof, from the belfry hiwada no shoro.
Hanami tops will break my fall, I’ll laugh like rakugo.
My portrait will be taken by a Maruyam’ Okyo.
Lotus flowers and ashes of saito goma;
Yellow ginko leaves and toots of biwa.
Amber rooms and beats of drums taiko make
Complete my inner Yoshiwara of Edo.
Back, back in time to Naniwa, take me emperor Goshirakawa.
Mark the spot at Dotombori where Seven Samurai of Kirosawa
Fulfilled their karma. Muga meant their mind and body were seamless and
Kata proscribed their ways of finesse.
Tassels and braided ropes, lanterns and wind chimes;
Tatami mats, midori gardens, plum tree groves and dragonflies.
Old man Kamo river, gay yuka on its banks;
Chado is the graceful ceremony and sobacha is my morning delight.
Ah, with his mouth open. Ikikata.
Un, his lips are sealed. Bushido.
Aft bamboo screen I hear cypress trees rustle; through
The Hinoki reed arrive Guardians of Nio.
Ki is the life force within. The protector of peace is god Toho-ten.
Rinri shows me the way to go; haragai guides when the way is unknown.
Dohtoku is the moral compass and evil is purged by trees willow.
How many times must I jump from the veranda down below?
For my gaiko Shikibu let me be Horai Hosho.
From our riokan the voice of Kyu Sakamoto will
Brighten spirits and uplift our hearts at
Sanjusangendo.
As for Asura, that wayward evil of the world and
Rahu the swallower of sun and moonlight:
Punish the heartless Sanji Taisho!
Make me stronger Naraen-kengo!
Wa is the harmonic fugue and
Sa the unspoken motive on cue.
Kigo is the waka season word;
Ojigi bows to be observed.
Shogyo soku shogyo, that is the credo
That came from Baigan Ishida, many moons ago.
They say the water from the well is holy at Kamei- do.
Write a prayer to Buddha for me, to paradise send my soul.
Children play with spinning tops, women wear obi and sensu.
Men make choices and choices are made, 47 ronin, seppuku.
The Laws of Power are 33 and 33 bays has Rengeo-in;
Obama is the power of persuasion, the persuasion of power is now his kin.

…and for Valentines Day 2010

Enkai and ginger, cold sake brew;
Stairway to heaven, tsutenkaku.
Mizu shobai the water business, nomiya ubiquitous.
Rakugo, the comic tale of dandies and their Roppongi mistresses.
Kaizen reaches for better days;
Kokoro Zukai, compassionate plays.
Haragai reads between lines;
Lumi skywalk is the lover’s pine.
Dance music charms the happy fool,
Pizzicato Five, Lupin the Third.
Vuitton bags of Murakami
Hang on the elbows of doe-eyed birds

copyright 2009 Daniel Bruno Sanz

Interpretation

Sanjusangendo means a hall with 33 bays. The number 33 is sacred in Buddhism, for it is believed that Buddha saves mankind by disguising himself in 33 different forms. The 33 bays hold 1,001 statues of Kannon-Bosatsu. Each statue is 5 1/2 feet tall, carved out of wood and leafed in gold. Each statue has crystlline eyes that appear lifelike.

The Sanjusangendo temple was originally built in the year 1164 at the request of the emperor. This temple in Eastern Kyoto is also known as Rengeo-in, although its more accepted name is Sanjusangendo. The temple is famous for its 1001 statues of Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Mercy and Compassion.

The Yurikamome is a laughing, migratory black-headed white seagull (Larus ridibundis). It is the official bird of Tokyo prefecture. The Chrysanthemum was brought to Japan by Buddhist monks in AD 400. Japanese emperors so loved the Chrysanthemum flower that they sat upon Chrysanthemum thrones. Chrysanthemums, kikus in Japanese, were featured on the Imperial Crest of Japan.

The Gion Festival takes place annually in Kyoto and is one of the most famous festivals in Japan. It spans the entire month of July and is crowned by a parade, the Yamaboko Junko on July 17.

According to the legend of the shrine, its history may go back as far as 150 years before the Heian era, A.D. 656 (the second year of the reign of Emperor Seimei).

The name of the shrine was changed to Yasaka-jinja when shrines and Buddhist temples were separated at the time of the Meiji Restoration (1868).

Kannon Bodhisattva (Jp. = Bosatsu) embodies compassion and is one of the most widely worshiped divinities in Japan and mainland Asia. Avalokitesvara, the Sanskrit name for this deity, can be translated as “Lord Who Regards All,” and the Sino-Japanese term Kannon maintains this nuance, for Kannon literally means “watchful listening,” and is often translated as “the one who sees/hears all.”

Since it is difficult to portray 1,000 arms, it is customary to show Kannon with two main arms holding hands in prayer (Gassho-in, mudra of veneration), and 40 other arms holding symbolic objects. The 40 arms each represent 25 worlds, and 40 times 25 equals 1000. Each arm is also said to contain one eye, again totaling 1000 eyes. The 11 heads are said to represent the 10 stages along the Bodhisattva path, with the 11th head, the central head, representing Amida Buddha, for Kannon is one of Amida’s attendants.

Guan Yin or ( Jp. = Kannon) head splits into eleven pieces after trying to comprehend the nature of human misery. Amitabha Buddha (Heavenly Buddha with eternal, infinite, endless bliss) morphed the 11 pieces into 11 heads (Ekadasa mukha = Sanskrit for 11 heads); with this new endowment, she was able to hear and comprehend the voices of suffering, but her helping hands (two arms) split into pieces. Amitabha came to her rescue and gave her one thousand arms. In the Hindu tradition, one thousand indicates literally one thousand and figuratively an infinite number. She needs an infinite number of arms to save all sentient beings from misery and suffering.

Thirty statues are placed in front of the 1,001 statues of Kannon-Bosatsu. Two of them are the deities of wind and thunder, the others are spirits called “Ninju-hachibushu”. They serve the Kannon-Bosatsu and signify virtues of such as beauty, wisdom, prosperity, etc.

Kiyomizudera (“Pure Water Temple”) is one of the most celebrated temples of Japan. It was founded in 780 and remains associated with the Hosso sect, one of the oldest sects within Japanese Buddhism. In 1994, the temple was added to the list of UNESCO world heritage sites.

Kiyomizudera stands in the wooded hills of eastern Kyoto and offers visitors a nice view over the city from its famous wooden terrace. Below the terrace, you can taste the spring water, which gives the temple its name and which is said to have healing power.

Behind Kiyomizudera’s main hall stands Jishu Shrine, dedicated to the deity of love. In front of the shrine are two rocks, placed fifty feet apart from each other. Successfully walking from one to the other rock with your eyes closed is said to bring luck in your love life.

The monk Enchin founded Kiyomizudera temple in 798.
Fujin is the Japanese god of the wind and one of the eldest Shinto gods. He is said to have been present at the creation of the world and when he first let the winds out of his bag, they cleared the morning mists and filled the Gate between heaven and earth so the sun shone.

He is portrayed as a terrifying dark demon, resembling a red headed black humanoid wearing a leopard skin, carrying a large bag of winds on his shoulders.

The Kinnaras are celestial musicians, officiating at the court of Kuvera (Kubera). In China, Buddhist monks claim that the Taoist deity Zao Jun, a Kitchen deity, is in fact a Kinnara. In India and its Hindu legends, the Kinnara are birds of paradise, and typically represented as birds with human heads playing musical instruments. This iconography is strikingly similar to that of the Karyoubinga — heavenly musicians with the bodies of birds and the heads of humans.

At Sanjusangendo in Kyoto, two of the 28 followers of Kannon in the temple are Taishakuten (Indra), and his attendant, Kinnara, a percussionist..

Horai jima is the island of eternal happiness in the garden of Nijo castle.
Nijo-jo or Nijo castle as it is better known, is one of the many sites in Kyoto city which has both impressive architecture and gardens including a number of cultural heritage treasures. The moated castle was constructed in the early 17th century by the Ieyasu Tokugawa, the first of the Tokugawa shoguns who unified all of Japan’s feudal fiefdoms. The last Tokugawa shogun returned sovereignty to the Emperor ( Meiji Restoration, begining of modern Japan) in 1868 along with the castle, which in 1939 was handed over to the city of Kyoto.

The palace is some 3,300 square metres in floor area and consists of five buildings and 33 rooms. It is constructed from Hinoki (cypress) timber and the impressive wall paintings are by the Kano school of artists. The first building has two reception rooms used to check the identities of visiting feudal lords and act as waiting rooms before entering the main reception building where the lords were received by the Shogun’s ministers, who received gifts. The building contains rooms for both ministers and the Imperial messengers. The feudal lords (daimyos) where then ushered into the audience rooms according to their allegiance. Those that fought against the Shogun were seen in the outer chambers, whilst those who were allies in the conflict were granted audience in the inner chambers. The shoguns private quarters were in a smaller separate building beyond the audience chambers. Other rooms contained the shogun’s armoury. All the enclosed corridors have the traditional squeaky floorboards know as nightingale floors (Uguisu-bari). The boards squeak to alert the guards of approaching visitors or even ninja attacks. The bird like sounds they make give rise to the name.

The main Ninomaru garden is situated in front of the palace and has a large central pond with many large rocks and three islands representing eternal happiness (Horai-jima), crane (Tsuru-jima) and the turtle (Kame-jima).

A maiko is an apprentice geisha. Moribana are flowers. The koto is an ancient stringed instrument.

Kinkaku, or the Golden Pavilion, stands facing Kyoko-chi pond. It is completely covered in gold.

Sobacha is a health-boosting, unusual but popular caffeine-free buckwheat tea infusion from the Japanese Alps.

“Jump down from the stage of Kiyomizu,” is one of the most famous phrases-cum-dares in Japan. The so called ‘stage’ of Kiyomizu is actually more of an open veranda and forms part of the main hall of Kiyomizudera Temple. At a height of 45 feet, it enables visitors to take in the whole of the city – a view made all the more special in spring and autumn when cherry blossoms and autumn leaves serve to almost frame the view. The building itself is also worthy of note given that it is an amazing combination of 139 pillars but not one nail.
The popular expression “to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu” is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression “to take the plunge”. This refers to an Edo period tradition that held that, if one were to survive the 45 foot jump from the stage, one’s wish would be granted. Two hundred thirty-four jumps were recorded during the Edo period and of those, 85% survived. The practice is now prohibited.

Naraen-Kengo. Narayana = Nara + Ayana = waters of the causal ocean + the resting place = Narayana is the resting place of the causal ocean. Sumerian mythology holds that the universe was created from the primeval waters that abided in the body of Nammu. Thus, Nammu the Sumerian Goddess, and Narayana, the Hindu God are the repository of the waters of the oceans. The universe is Vishnu’s (Narayana) body. Naraen-Kengo in the Japanese Buddhist tradition is the Narayana of Hindus with limited attributes. Buddhists reject the idea of a Primordial Creator–no such Entity as Narayana of Hindus exists in Buddhist tradition. The god Naraen-Kengo is of immense physical strength and is the defender and protector of believers against evil.

In the poem above, Rahu, the god of darkness, is Daniel Bruno Sanz’s reference to the total solar eclipse he saw, the longest of the 21st century, from southern Japan on July 22, 2009.

Kitano Shrine symbolizes the spirit of Michizane Sugawara, scholar and adviser to the Emperor Uda in the Heian Period. He was a loyal civil servant who became the victim of slander and was subsequently exiled to the island of Kyushu where he died. Shortly after his death a series of severe thunderstorms and earthquakes shook Edo (the capital). In addition, a number of the people who slandered him met an untimely demise These events were interpreted to mean that his powerful spirit was unhappy, and the Imperial Court moved to placate it by granting him the posthumous name of Karai Tenjin (God of Fire and Thunder), and building the Kitano shrine in his honor. Tenjin is now regarded as the deity of scholastic studies and is extremely popular with students preparing for high school or university entrance examinations.

Yuka first appeared in the Edo period. They are the wooden benches placed by merchants on the banks of the Kamogawa in Kyoto.

Murasaki Shikibu (c.973- 1025), or Lady Murasaki as she is often known in English, was a Japanese novelist, poet, and a maid of honor of the imperial court during the Heian period. She is best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1008, one of the earliest novels in human history.

The revenge of the Forty-seven Ronin, also known as the Forty-seven Samurai, the Akō vendetta, or the Genroku Akō incident, took place in Japan at the start of the eighteenth century. The tale has been described by one noted Japanese scholar as the country’s “national legend.” It recounts the most famous case involving the samurai code of honor, bushidō.

The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ronin) after their daimyo (feudal lord) was forced to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka, whose title was Kōzukeno suke. The ronin avenged their master’s honor after patiently waiting and planning for over a year to kill Kira. In turn, the ronin were themselves forced to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder. With much embellishment, this true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that all good people should preserve in their daily lives. The popularity of the almost mythical tale was only enhanced by rapid modernization during the Meiji era of Japanese history, when it is suggested many people in Japan longed for a return to their cultural roots.

33 Laws of Power is Daniel Bruno Sanz’s reference to two works by American author Robert Greene: The 48 Laws of Power and the 33 Strategies of War.

Tsutenkaku is Osaka’s famous tower and Lumi Skywalk is the pictaresque and romantic rooftop of an Osaka skyscraper. Roppongi is modern Tokyo’s nightlife district and nomiya are the drinking and hostess establishments found there. Lupin the Third is a film music theme and Takashi Murakami is a contemporary artist whose designs appear on Louis Vuitton leather goods. Happy Fool Charm Dance Music is a Japanese genre of quirky, happy-go-lucky breakbeats and Pizzicato Five is a popular vocal group.

More on Buddhism

Rabbi Or Rose: Judaism, Ethics And Ecology

A rabbi, a Jewish farmer, and a young Israeli activist walk into a retreat center for a panel discussion on Judaism and the environment. This is not the beginning of a bad joke, but an image from my recent experience at the Kayam Farm just outside of Baltimore. Kayam (meaning “alive” in Hebrew) is a burgeoning environmental initiative that includes a five-acre organic farm, and offers a variety of agricultural and environmental educational experiences for Jewish and non-Jewish adults and children.

The retreat I attended was called “Torah, Land, and Agriculture,” and included a full Shabbat experience, complete with prayer services, communal meals, study sessions, and recreational activities. The gathering attracted an impressive 150 participants from across the eastern seaboard, despite unusually heavy snowfall in the days leading up to the gathering. The majority of the retreat-goers were young progressive activist and educators, but others — older and younger — came from conservative political and religious backgrounds. All of us came together to explore what Judaism has to say about the current environmental crisis, and how we might construct meaningful Jewish lives that include traditional and contemporary values and sensibilities.

Significantly, Kayam is not an isolated phenomenon, but a part of a growing Jewish environmental movement that includes a new summer camp in New York (Eden Village Camp), an annual food conference in California (Hazon), a residential farming community in Connecticut (Adamah), and several other innovative programs across the country. There is also the production of new religious and cultural writings on issues of theology, ethics, and ritual practice (see, for example, articles in Tikkun an Zeek, and books published by Jewish Lights).

I do not know how widespread this American Jewish “green” movement is at present or where it is headed, but I am excited to be a part of it, because unless Jews are actively engaged in the great issues of our time, and doing so consciously as Jews, Judaism will stagnate and cease to be meaningful to its adherents and irrelevant to the world at large. And to my mind, the current environmental crisis is among the greatest issues (if not the greatest issue) facing humanity. To put it simply, if we do not develop patterns of sustainable living, the world as we know it may not survive.

Of course, the first step we Jews must take in engaging the environmental crisis is recognizing that we are a part of a much larger web of life — human, animal, vegetable and mineral. We cannot worry only about our own community; we must also develop a global ethic in which we see ourselves as part of a vast, intricate, and interdependent cosmos.

I believe that the Jewish tradition has several key insights to bring to bear on the environmental crisis that will help strengthen both the Jewish community and the wider world. Here I offer but two examples.

The first of these teachings come from the heart of the Jewish liturgy (by way of the book of Deuteronomy): “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” The opening line of the Shema (meaning “Hear”) has been the essential faith statement of the Jews throughout the ages. Traditionally, it is one of the first prayers we learn as children and these are the last words we hope to say before we die. As my teacher, Arthur Green writes, “The Shema is … the proclamation of Divine Oneness. God is One, the Source of all being … God’s oneness includes and embraces all; everything exists within God” (These Are the Words, p. 102).

This means that all of life is sacred, that divinity animates and flows through all of existence, and that we must treat all of life with great respect and care. This is true of our fellow human beings, but also the rest of God’s creation. This proclamation — which is not prayer to God, but a call to the people of Israel — is considered so important that it is a staple of both the morning and evening prayer services (among others). This call to spiritual attention — to the interconnection of all life and the sanctity of all life — is one that I think is important for all people to hear, regardless if they are members of the historic community of Israel, if they are “God-wrestlers” (the literal meaning of Yisrael) from other communities, or people for whom the words “God” or “belief” are not a part of their vocabularies.

A second Jewish practice that can serve as a guide for us in the midst of the environmental crisis is the Sabbath. To observe Shabbat means to cease from our daily routines every seventh day, and to set aside time to give thanks for the gifts of life, to reflect on the week that was, and to bask in the glory of creation. As the great 20th theologian, Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, the Sabbath is a “palace in time,” built through a series of intentional acts and abstentions. Living as we do, in such a fast-paced world, in which far too may of us measure success based on productivity without thinking deeply enough about the impact of that productivity on ourselves, on others, and on the earth, Shabbat is great gift and challenge to live more thoughtful and reflective lives.

In the context of this article, it is important to add that ancient biblical agricultural laws include the institutions of the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee, which compliment the weekly Sabbath. These periods of cessation for human beings, animals, and the earth are all practices that can positively inform a contemporary environmental sensibility.

What excited me so much about my time at Kayam was the experience of being among a group of people committed to the project of renewing Judaism by delving into the riches of our religious teachings and rituals, and asking how these insights might help us and others respond effectively to the current environmental crisis. These explorations were accompanied by an appropriate humility and openness, knowing that we must continue to learn from and work with other religious and secular communities to heal our shared earth.

More on Religion

Scott Mendelson: Huff Post review – Justice League Crisis on Two Earths (2010)

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
2010
75 minutes
rated PG-13
Available from Warner Home Video on DVD, Blu Ray, OnDemand, and iTunes on February 23rd.

by Scott Mendelson

Despite my decades-long interest in the DC Universe, I’ve never been a fan of the whole multi-verse concept. Of course, I don’t like the use of alternate dimensions in general, and it’s a big reason why I wasn’t super crazy about the last Star Trek picture. At the end of the day, infinite parallel universes create the same problem in fiction as predestination creates as a real-life philosophy. Both remove the meaning from one’s actions. With the existence of countless alternate Earths, the question becomes why should I, as a reader or a viewer, become emotionally invested in this one story about this one set of characters? After all, this said world is just one version amongst billions and is of little consequence in the broad scheme of things. What makes our version of Superman or Batman so special amongst the countless other versions of the same characters in any number of alternate timelines?

A token amount of plot – In an alternate version of Earth, the evil Crime Syndicate (evil dopplegangers of our world’s Justice League) has wiped all but one of the alternate world’s Justice League. Desperate for a solution to the super-powered tyranny, lone survivor Lex Luthor (Chris Noth) travels to ‘our’ Earth to recruit the Justice League we know and love in order to save his world. After a brief debate about the merits of inter-dimensional jurisdiction, Superman, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter decide to do what they do best and the battle is on. Batman is left behind to monitor ‘our’ Earth, but he too will be pulled into this epic conflict. Much like last year’s Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, this newest DC Animated Universe feature is basically a clothesline for a handful of epic smack-downs between super-powered foes. In this case, we have DC heroes we know hammering alternate-world evil versions of themselves.

The film, written by Dwayne McDuffie (arguably the heir apparent to Paul Dini in the DC animated universe), was originally intended as a three-part episode of Justice League Unlimited and it shows. Batman onces again stays behind (at first) in order to let the other members shine, Martian Manhunter and Wonder Woman are close friends, and Flash is again the cocky, big-hearted comic relief. Alas, without the series as a prior basis, this stand-alone movie is woefully short on character development or all that much character interaction. The film’s 75-minute running time is basically divided into ‘three minutes of plot, ten-minute fight scene, lather-rinse-repeat’. There is a token subplot regarding the president of this alternate America being unwilling to challenge the superpowed villains, but the film is too short to truly flesh out the admittingly engaging idea. If you get off on seeing Superman pound away at an alternate-universe version of himself, then you’ll get quite a kick (and a punch) out of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. However, the film lacks the rich character work and thoughtful narratives that defined the DC Animated Universe that Bruce Timm and company created back in 1992.

The film’s lone saving grace is the character of Owl Man. Played with low-key menace by James Woods, this ‘evil Batman’ basically shares my disdain for the whole ‘multi-verse’ concept, for arguably the same reasons I do. The climax eventually boils down to the villainous Owl Man trying to do something, anything that has true consequence in a universe where his life is simply one version of himself amongst countless others on countless other worlds. And, without revealing too-much, the finale does contain some shockingly unheroic behavior by our true-blue Justice League-ers in the name of saving countless lives. Still, the film is far too concerned with fan-friendly smack-downs at the expense of character and plot. It’s not boring and it’s not the least-bit unintelligent, but it’s also not very engaging beyond a surface level.

Grade: C

The Blu Ray -

Per usual, this animated feature looks and sounds fantastic. The extras are sadly not up to par with prior titles in this series. Despite a cover that boasts ‘four hours of extras’, the actual content is pretty slim. In fact, there is not a single feature on this disc that deals with the making of this specific DCAU animated feature. Aside from the usual digital copy and previews of prior DCAU movies, most of the content is filler. Taking up two of the four hours of bonus content are the complete pilot episodes of the 1970s Wonder Woman television show and the unaired Aquaman pilot from 2006. The infamous Aquaman would-be premiere is pretty mediocre, but it does contain prominent supporting roles for Lou Diamond Phillips and Ving Rhames. Another 90 minutes are allotted to four episodes from the fantastic second season of Justice League. The episodes are”Twilight” parts 1 and 2 and (ironically) “A Better World” parts 1 and 2. The latter two episodes are actually a far superior variation on the story being told in Crisis on Two Earths, in which the Justice League encounters a parallel universe version of the the league where they basically become murderous, draconian vigilantes following the death of the Flash. It’s a rock-solid examination of the thin line beyond super-heroism and tyranny, and the effects of the episodes had longterm consequences for the remainder of the series.

The only other bonus content is a short film, a preview of the next DCAU feature and a 33-minute documentary (“DCU: The New World – From Identity Crisis Onward”) that proclaims to be about the last several years of major events in the DC Comics universe. But the latter spends 80% of its time discussing the first of said events, Identity Crisis (to be a fair, a wonderful and powerful story) while barely mentioning anything that came after. The best feature on the disc is DC Showcase Presents: The Spectre. It’s basically a ten-minute short film highlighting the lesser-known, but intriguing supernatural avenger of the DC Universe. It actually manages to construct a rock-solid film noir mystery into a very brief running time. More of these please… The thirteen-minute preview teases the next movie, Batman: Under the Red Hood, which is a direct adaptation of a Judd Winick arc from 2005. It was a cleverly written and exciting piece of storytelling, but it revolved around one element that… well I’m guessing if you’re reading a review of a DC Comics original feature, you probably already know how said story turned out. Still, the preview makes the film version look quite good and promises a return to emphasis on character over slam-bang action.

So in the end, you have a lesser entry in the franchise, with extras that shed no illumination on the project while accidentally pointing out its weakness via inclusion of superior episodes of Justice League. If you’re a fan, it’s worth a rental. But it’s not worth buying unless you own all of these out of habit.

Lisa Derrick: "Congratulations" Ausgang’s Art and Grammy Winning Rockers MGMT

Lowbrow art-which embraces and celebrates hot rod, surf and cartoon iconography so uniquely Southern Californian-hit the public full force when Robert Williams’ pop Bosch painting Appetite for Destruction was slated to be the cover art for the eponymous Guns N’ Roses album. Hue and cries, strum und drang exploded from concerned feminists and parents over the artwork’s themes of sex, drugs and decadence. Condemned as corrupt art-shades of Weimar Republic-the painting became the inner sleeve lining.

The term “Lowbrow”-meant as a commentary on the more idealistic, romanticized Highbrow art movements–comes from the title of Williams’ first book The Lowbrow Art of Robert Williams. While Williams never meant for the term to define or crystallize a burgeoning movement, it stuck as a handy term to explain the emerging art of Koop, The Pizz, Raymond Pettibone, Shag, Mark Ryden, Anthony Ausgang and others.

Over the past decades Lowbrow has morphed-or split depending on the school of thought-into Pop Surrealism. Popular iconography transposes into multi-layered symbols which are at once easily accessible yet fraught with layers of meaning that hinge on the individual’s ability to respond, react and parse. Or not.

There a fascination with the underground river of America culture, dark obsessions and childhood pleasures, combining these with bold verve and at time ironic commentary. In a complex and sardonic twist Lowbrow art has become very collectible and is now considered high art, despite its “low” themes.

Anthony Ausgang, whose vibrant, playful cartoon cats inhabit a universe of warping walls, often facing impending disaster, surfs now to the top of mainstream recognition with his album cover art for the Grammy award winning, multi-platinum band MGMT’s sophomore release Congratulations. Featuring a two headed cartoony creature frantically escaping a wave that takes the form of giant, oddly melancholy fanged feline, the cover-perhaps a commentary on fame-caused some strong reactions from fans. (It was released exclusively to BoingBoing before music media got a look-a very populist statement). Sample comments for websites include:

F*ck this nu-primitive/half-ironic-80s/hipster/american apparel/adam ant bullsh*t. Let’s try a little sincerity for God’s sake.

I remember back in the day when it was cool to hate things that were popular. But then hating popular things became too popular to do that. So I hate it.

Im not too impressed with this album cover. I have a feeling their new record is going to suck.

It probably grows on you like everything else MGMT makes. Unexpected, but that was just what I was expecting. I bet it fits the album or they probably drew it on an acid trip. They are the best new band. There new live songs that I’ve heard sound really good

Mapplethorpe photographed Patti Smith for Horses, Warhol famously created the Velvet Underground’s banana, so the crossover of art and music is nothing new. But that this cover is causing fans such complex distress, perhaps worrying them that their beloved musicians have changed direction shows the power of an image to affect perception. Which is should always be art’s end, and certainly what Lowbrow and Pop Surrealism have achieved over the past three decades.

Jesse Kornbluth: Tiger: Stand By Your Brand

James Carville likes to say that “No man stands so tall as when he stoops to kiss an ass,” but I think he was talking about a sensible way to deal with powerful but extravagantly stupid people.

It’s different with corporations.

Tiger Woods had no reason to apologize to me. Or you. If he felt the need to address the public, a simple statement would have sufficed quite nicely.

But the stage-managing of this non-press press conference suggests that the rationale had less to do with the public than with Tiger’s business partners.

The tip-off — as if one were needed — came the day before the TV event, when Elin Woods emerged from her manicured seclusion looking like a model for Nike Soccer Momwear.

The only possible interpretation: Stand By Your Brand.

The event itself lacked credibility. We know this because in every Wall Street trading room I polled, the guys guffawed at Tiger’s pledge to become a better man. Oh, he sounded sincere — having painted himself into a corner, he has only this one chip to bet on — and I think he was.

But sincerity is not the issue. Nor is the skill of his therapists.

The traders laughed because they know, as Chris Rock puts it, “A man is as faithful as his opportunities.” As long as he’s a house-husband, Tiger has none. Once he’s out on tour…..

There’s no way that Elin Woods, mother of two, can tour with Tiger. The only way he can he assured of maintaining sexual sobriety? A handler. A minder. A nanny.

Sending Tiger into the world with a 24/7 sex cop may successfully entomb him as a prisoner of desire. It may save his marriage. But, much more to the point, it will save the crazy huge profit Tiger generates for Nike.

Tiger Woods may be the world’s greatest golfer, but in fifteen minutes of television, he forever established another identity — the bitch of Nike.

More on Tiger Woods

Cristina Page: A Tiger in Bed

Today we will hear from Tiger Woods, the latest powerful public personality to be felled by a sex scandal. He will read a statement outlining his future plans and no doubt will explain how words fail to describe his disappointment in himself by letting down his family and fans. And with that he will join Eliot Spitzer and John Edwards in the flagellation-by-press-conference routine that has become a tradition in American life.

Each has paid a high price for his sexual misdeeds in power, prestige, wealth, and respect, not to mention the devastation it has caused to wives and children. Clearly, engaging in an extramarital affair, in some cases, several, is insanely risky. Each had to know the self-destruction that would occur if their truths were revealed.
But in the realm of recklessness let’s consider one other aspect: they were all having unprotected sex.

One of Tiger Woods’ alleged mistresses now claims she was impregnated by him twice; one resulting in miscarriage and the other abortion, and that during the three years they were involved the sex “was never protected.” News outlets reported that Spitzer didn’t want to use protection with his prostitutes. And then there’s Rielle Hunter carrying around baby John Edwards.

So, here’s one more confounding question. Why didn’t they use a condom? That thin layer of latex may have been, as far as John Edwards knew at the time, protecting his presidential chances too. Theoretically, John, Eliot and Tiger would have enjoyed their secret lives forever. So then, why risk lasting evidence, like in the form of a baby? Not to mention the probability of disease. Sure, if you’re going to risk it all why not go for it, right? Was it that adolescent reasoning that, by not using a condom, the sex wasn’t so much a premeditated act but one of irrepressible lust and therefore not quite their responsibility? In Spitzer’s case, the laborious financial machinations that preceeded his liaison suggest otherwise, but still for someone so meticulous in his planning what about disease prevention? (Is this the conversation he anticipated: Honey, the herpes is from a toilet seat, really.) Or imagine the conversation that would follow a worse disease. According to a June 2007 study published in the American Journal of Public Health, as a result of male infidelity, marital sex represents their single greatest risk for HIV infection for wives.

And these are politicians who supported sex education, the careful explanation not only of anatomy and reproductive biology but of how to get the job done safely. What about being a role model? The day Spitzer resigned he was scheduled to speak at a contraception conference. In the 2007 YouTube/CNN Presidential Debate, Edwards spoke at length about how he has lectured his children about the need to protect themselves.

When one of Bill Clinton’s personal scandals collided with his political life in the person of girlfriend Gennifer Flowers, Howard Stern sent his ace reporter to the Flowers press conference. It was the seemingly inept Stuttering John, who stuttered his way through perhaps the most probing and overlooked question: “Did Governor Clinton wear a condom?” It wasn’t taken seriously, the other reporters seemed to be annoyed by the line of questioning, but really isn’t it one of the most important questions to ask at a press conference announcing a sex scandal?

Tiger’s poor choices won’t alter the future of the republic, for sure. But there’ve been few more powerful role models. No doubt Tiger’s immense athletic talent was solely responsible for his contracts with Nike and Accenture, but his squeaky clean, happily married, doting-father-of-two-very-young-children image was part of his allure too.

For athletes and for politicians cheating is as common as teenage sex, and that’s the point. Sleep around if you want. That’s between you and your family. But when you involve our families –by being a role model to or lecturing our kids about safe sex–we want protection.

This piece originally appeared on RHRealityCheck.org

More on Tiger Woods

Robert Fuller: What is Rankism and Why Do We "Do" It?

Rankism is an assertion of superiority. It typically takes the form of putting others down. It’s what “Somebodies” do to “nobodies.” Or, more precisely, it is what people who think they’re Somebodies do to people they take for nobodies.

It turns out that rankism is the source of most man-made suffering. So, if we could get rid of it, we would be a lot happier. Let me explain.

Before you conclude that rankism is human nature — that we’re like the apes, and they do it, so we have no choice — and dismiss the possibility of overcoming it, consider this list of specific kinds of “put downs” that, not long ago, were deemed cool, but have become a sure way to embarrass yourself:

1. Racism — whites putting and keeping non-whites down
2. Sexism — males limiting and disadvantaging females
3. Ageism — patronizing the young, condescending to the elderly
4. Anti-Semitism — discriminating against Jews
5. Classism — putting down people on the basis of differences in class (more prevalent in former aristocracies like Britain than in America, but also known here)
6. Homophobia — heterosexuals demeaning gays and lesbians
7. Ableism — humiliating people with disabilities
8. Colonialism — subordinating and exploiting another society or nation
9. Workplace and schoolyard bullying; sexual harassment, child abuse, and domestic violence; corporate, bureaucratic, and political corruption
10. …

The list goes on. Once you have a word for it, you see rankism everywhere.

Although all of these familiar isms persist, none of them has the force it did fifty years ago. Most of them are now regarded as distinctly uncool, even grounds for dismissal. The burden of proof, which formerly fell on nobodies, now falls on Somebodies. That’s historical change, and that’s why it is not utopian to think that we might be able to give up putting people down, not just people bearing a targeted trait (such as color, gender, age, class, religion, sexual orientation, disability), but give up putting people down period. For any reason. Period.

You’re probably thinking, What if they deserve to be put down? What if they have screwed up?

Even then, being put down is not what’s needed, nor is it justified. Correction, maybe; put downs, never. Indignity and humiliation have no place in human relations. That is where the above sequence — of no-longer legitimate putdowns — is tending. That is how humans are evolving behaviorally.

Some will think of this direction as long-prophesized. Isn’t this just the Golden Rule? they will say. Well, yes, it is the Golden Rule. But with a difference, a very significant operational difference. This Golden Rule has teeth. In this framework, “Do unto others…” becomes operative. Why? Because many behaviors that violate the Golden Rule can be understood as rankism. The perpetrators of these behaviors are rankists. Once you put a label on ignoble behavior, it is much harder to get away with.

In the same way that sexism and sexists rapidly lost legitimacy once they were named, so, too, will rankists find themselves in untenable positions once a label can be pinned on them. Not overnight. It has taken decades to delegitimize sexism and the other isms, but once the process of de-legitimizing indignifying behaviors begins there is no stopping it until we reach an equilibrium characterized by equal dignity for all.

The title to this piece promised an explanation of WHY we practice rankism. If we look at the kind of “reasons” used to justify the familiar isms, we see that they are now all regarded as specious. Not one of the “reasons” that people trotted out fifty years ago flies today.

So, there must be some hidden reason, something other than the traditional ones, that causes humans to behave in ways prejudicial and inimical to others. Why do we demean, marginalize, and disenfranchise others? Why do we subject others to indignity? Why do we do to others what we would not want them to do to us?

In short, why do we put others down? Or, in this language, why do we tolerate rankism? You’ve probably sensed where this line of questions is going: Why do we sometimes engage in rankism ourselves?

Rankism is a residue of predation. Our species, Homo sapiens, has a long history of predation. We’re not only good at it, we’re the top of the food chain. Of course, we do more than prey on animals and on each other. We also cooperate with each other, we love each other, we have shown ourselves to be capable of living in peace and harmony.

But through recorded history, we have preyed on other tribes, other states, religions, classes, races, etc. Everyone alive today has predatory ancestors and, what’s equally important, ancestors who managed to avoid becoming the prey of other human predators.

The twentieth century may go down as the bloodiest of all centuries, but it will also go down as the century in which many millions of human beings threw off centuries of colonial exploitation by a handful of relatively small nation states. And what is colonialism but one group putting another group down for purposes of exploitation.

Colonialism was long justified (as we once justified racism) in terms of a “superior” people ruling an “inferior” people. Colonialism was an example of people who regarded themselves as “Somebodies” putting down people they took for “nobodies.” And once one group has got another down, it can exploit it until its victims–the nobodies–organize and marshal a commensurate, if not surpassing, power.

We “do” rankism to institutionalize and normalize predation. THAT is why we “do” all the subspecies of rankism (racism, sexism, etc.). We practice rankism to put ourselves in a position to prey on others without exposing ourselves to risk. Predators all target the weak, and humans are no exception.

The reasons we’ve given to justify the familiar isms are bogus. They’re actually not reasons at all, they are excuses. They are excuses for putting people down and keeping them down so we can more safely exploit them in future. Or, so they will not compete with us. Or, simply to feel superior.

When I was a student at Oberlin College in the 1950s, the student body was one percent black and there were virtually no women majoring in math or physics. I’d not have made the basketball team if the college had accepted African-Americans in numbers anywhere near their national percentage. The competition for places in graduate school would have been stiffer if women had been encouraged to pursue careers in science. I was the unwitting beneficiary of a number of rankist practices.

Discrimination disadvantages targets by denying them equal opportunity, and it advantages those not targeted. THAT is why we do it–to give ourselves an advantage. THAT is the real reason. We’ve kept it a secret because it diminishes our achievement to admit the game was rigged in our favor.

Fixing the game is the real reason for rankism. If we can handicap or eliminate the competition, we improve our chances of coming away with the spoils.

But isn’t that just what any animal has to do to survive? Isn’t rankism just “survival of the fittest” at work? In short, isn’t rankism nature’s way?

Yes, rankism is what we’ve done through recorded history–one person to another, one group to another, one tribe to another, one nation to another. Until recently, the gains were judged to exceed the costs. But rankism has now become counterproductive. Instead of giving groups or individuals an advantage, rankism backfires in the same way that racism, sexism, and homophobia do. It undermines group solidarity and hampers cooperation. Rankism stifles creativity, inhibits learning, and taxes productivity. Rankism causes unhappiness and illness. Rankism corrodes organizations and societies that condone it.

This is not just another moment in history. We stand on the threshold of an epochal change. Humans are on the verge of giving up intra-species predation. Not just because preying on other people is bad and causes suffering. No. We are giving it up, wherever we can identify it, for a more compelling reason. Rankism is no longer working. Wars aren’t being won anymore. Trade wars hurt more than they help. Slavery is universally condemned. Wage slavery will not for long outlast its brutal antecedent. Nations that disallow rankism will outperform and out produce those that do not, and lead the world in the 21st century.

As we target rankism, we create a world of dignity for all, not just for some at the expense of others. As we disallow rankism, we build a dignitarian world, a world in which, regardless of rank, everyone experiences equal dignity.

Rankism wins, wins, wins, and then one day it loses. In the end, it loses because organizations and societies grounded in dignity for all trump those driven by the threat of indignity.

Dignity is our destiny. Why not embrace it?

Louis Licari: Minimum Changes in Hair = Maximum Effects in Confidence

This morning, as I was leaving the Today show, I found myself sharing an elevator with Mika Brzezinski (pictured). I didn’t recognize her and I watch her every day on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. I am one of her biggest fans. This woman has it all — she is smart, is witty, has a great sense of humor, and is gorgeous. Her TV makeup was wiped clean. Her hair was a little less coiffed. She was dressed in more casual attire. She was obviously off for the weekend and looked years younger. In today’s lingo, you would say she looked “smoking hot.” By the way, I totally choked — I didn’t say “hello” or even give her a polite smile. I acted like a teenage boy with a crush. Ugh! Then the proverbial light went off in my head. Seeing the small changes that had made Mika look more beautiful made me realize something very important. When most people think of doing makeovers, they think of making monumental changes. They instantly think of making brown hair blond or red, long hair short, or visa versa via extensions, or making curly hair pin-straight.

Dramatic haircuts and a completely new makeup palette are fun, but you only should have a few of these in your lifetime. Guess what? Small changes can make big differences in the way you look and they are often more flattering and wearable. Every now and then it’s important to shake things up and go for a major change. But usually, constant fine-tuning is more rewarding and effective than repeated radical changes. It is also less invasive to the hair.

Tips to Making Small Changes

• The smallest haircut change can make a huge difference in your overall look. You can go from frumpy to fabulous with a few simple snips of the scissors. The right haircut can redefine your facial structure, accent or diminish a jaw line, hide a high forehead with bangs, give a narrow face width, or take away jowls. Literally, a trim can change your look from tired and droopy to looking alert and vital.

• Hair color and cut look best when they work together. The smallest change of color can give any haircut a new look. The color change doesn’t have to be an all-over change. It can be something as simple as making your hairline or the top layer of your hair a half shade lighter. It can be something as easy as trying on a darker and richer semi-permanent color. This simple change can give your hair an entirely different look and will slowly wear away with each shampoo. What’s wrong with having fun with your hair color? We were raised to believe the color we pick was our color forever. Now we know the color we pick is for right now. A change, especially a small one, is easy to make, is gentle on your hair, and can make you look prettier in about 30 minutes. I like to think of hair color as makeup. Something as minimal as a new lipstick shade can give you an entirely new look. So can the slightest change in your hair color formula.

• Speaking of makeup, there is no easier way to make a quick change in the way you look than trying something new. The slightest change of blush, eye shadow, or eye liner can create the illusion of a whole new you. There is absolutely no reason why you can’t have more than a few looks in your makeup bag. Mix new colors together. Think a little out of the box. Remember! A makeup change doesn’t mean you have to look like you work at a makeup counter and you’re wearing the entire new palette. This is always a bad idea. Less is more. You can instantly erase years by using less makeup and a softer palette. Keep in mind, the great thing about makeup is that it washes off! If you don’t like the way it looks, it can disappear in minutes to become merely a bad memory.

I know you are all wondering how to know if your hair should be snipped or if it should be darker or lighter, curlier or straighter. This is the time to see a professional. The hardest person to see is yourself. The advantage of asking a professional for advice is that they look at you with a trained eye. The changes that should be made are obvious to them. Find someone you trust and start a dialogue. The results will become obvious.

More from iVillage

Louis Licari’s Hair and There Blog on iVillage

Try new hairstyles and makeup with Makeover-o-Matic

Everything you need to know about keratin

More on Morning Joe