Archive for March, 2010

Ed Koch: Never Again Should We Be Silent

March 29, 2010

President Obama’s abysmal attitude toward the State of Israel and his humiliating treatment of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is shocking. In the Washington Post on March 24th, Jackson Diehl wrote,

“Obama has added more poison to a U.S.-Israeli relationship that already was at its lowest point in two decades. Tuesday night the White House refused to allow non-official photographers record the president’s meeting with Netanyahu; no statement was issued afterward. Netanyahu is being treated as if he were an unsavory Third World dictator, needed for strategic reasons but conspicuously held at arms length. That is something the rest of the world will be quick to notice and respond to.”

I have not heard or read statements criticizing the president by New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand or many other supporters of Israel for his blatantly hostile attitude toward Israel and his discourtesy displayed at the White House. President Obama orchestrated the hostile statements of Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, voiced by Biden in Israel and by Clinton in a 43-minute telephone call to Bibi Netanyahu, and then invited the latter to the White House to further berate him. He then left Prime Minister Netanyahu to have dinner at the White House with his family, conveying he would only be available to meet again if Netanyahu had further information – read concessions – to impart.

It is unimaginable that the President would treat any of our NATO allies, large or small, in such a degrading fashion. That there are policy differences between the U.S. and the Netanyahu government is no excuse. Allies often disagree, but remain respectful.

In portraying Israel as the cause of the lack of progress in the peace process, President Obama ignores the numerous offers and concessions that Israel has made over the years for the sake of peace, and the Palestinians’ repeated rejections of those offers. Not only have Israel’s peace proposals, which include ceding virtually the entire West Bank and parts of Jerusalem to the Palestinians, been rejected, but each Israeli concession has been met with even greater demands, no reciprocity, and frequently horrific violence directed at Israeli civilians. Thus, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s agreement to suspend construction on the West Bank – a move heralded by Secretary of State Clinton as unprecedented by an Israeli government – has now led to a demand that Israel also halt all construction in East Jerusalem, which is part of Israel’s capital. Meanwhile, Palestinians are upping the ante, with violent protests in Jerusalem and elsewhere. And the Obama administration’s request that our Arab allies make some conciliatory gesture towards Israel has fallen on deaf ears.

Prior American presidents, beginning with Truman who recognized the State of Israel in 1948, have valued Israel as a close ally and have often come to its rescue. For example, it was Richard Nixon during the 1973 war, who resupplied Israel with arms, making it possible for it to snatch victory from a potentially devastating defeat at the hands of a coalition of Arab countries including Egypt and Syria.

President George W. Bush made it a point of protecting Israel at the United Nations and the Security Council wielding the U.S. veto against the unfair actions and sanctions that Arab countries sought to impose to cripple and, if possible, destroy, the one Jewish nation in the world. Now, in my opinion, based on the actions and statements by President Obama and members of his administration, there is grave doubt among supporters of Israel that President Obama can be counted on to do what presidents before him did – protect our ally, Israel. The Arabs can lose countless wars and still come back because of their numbers. If Israel were to lose one, it would cease to exist.

To its credit, Congress, according to the Daily News, has acted differently towards Prime Minister Netanyahu than President Obama. Reporter Richard Sisk wrote on March 24th,

“Congress put on a rare show of bipartisanship for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday – a sharp contrast to his chilly reception at the White House. ‘We in Congress stand by Israel,’ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told a beaming Netanyahu, who has refused to budge on White House and State Department demands to freeze settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.”

But Congress does not make foreign policy. It can prevent military arms from going to Israel, but cannot send them. Congress has no role in determining U.S. policy at the U.N. Security Council. The President of the United States determines our foreign policy – nearly unilaterally – under our Constitution. So those Congressional bipartisan wishes of support, while welcome, will not protect Israel in these areas, only the President can do that. Based on his actions to date, I have serious doubts.

In the 1930s, the Jewish community and its leadership, with few exceptions, were silent when their coreligionists were being attacked, hunted down, incarcerated and slaughtered. Ultimately 6 million Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust. The feeling in the U.S. apparently was that Jews who criticized our country’s actions and inactions that endangered the lives of other Jews would be considered disloyal, unpatriotic and displaying dual loyalty, so many Jews stayed mute. Never again should we allow that to occur. We have every right to be concerned about the fate of the only Jewish nation in the world, which if it had existed during the 1930s and thereafter, would have given sanctuary to any Jew escaping the Nazi holocaust and taken whatever military action it could to save Jews not yet in the clutches of the Nazis. We who have learned the lessons of silence, Jews and Christians alike, must speak up now before it is too late.

So I ask again, where are our Senators, Schumer and Gillibrand? And, where are the voices, not only of the 31 members of the House and 14 Senators who are Jewish, but the Christian members of the House and Senate who support the State of Israel? Where are the peoples’ voices? Remember the words of Pastor Niemoller, so familiar that I will not recite them, except for the last line,

“Then they came for me, and by that time, there was no one left to speak up.”

Supporters of Israel who gave their votes to candidate Obama – 78 percent of the Jewish community did – believing he would provide the same support as John McCain, this is the time to speak out and tell the President of your disappointment in him. It seems to me particularly appropriate to do so on the eve of the Passover. It is one thing to disagree with certain policies of the Israeli government. It is quite another to treat Israel and its prime minister as pariahs, which only emboldens Israel’s enemies and makes the prospect of peace even more remote.

Deepak Chopra: Why Is Happiness So Unhappy? (Part 2)

The current research into what makes people happy has uncovered some interesting facts, as we saw in the last post. Certain goals, such as getting rich or earning a raise, don’t turn out to make much difference in a person’s level of happiness. In general we aren’t good predictors of what will make us happy in the future. The other findings tend to be just as gloomy and debunking. The new field of so-called “Positive psychology” is better at erasing myths than in creating a new basis for happiness.

And yet the need for a new kind of happiness grows every day. The world’s supply of material goods grows slimmer and yet billions more people in China and India want them. As traditional society crumbles, the rise of materialism fills in the vacuum, making it more likely that rampant consumerism will keep spreading. Yet consumerism, although it provides little fixes of pleasure, is one of the worse ways to achieve lasting happiness.

The other reason we need a new kind of happiness is the epidemic of depression and anxiety we see all around us, with record numbers of prescriptions being written for drugs to fight these conditions. Such drugs, although touted by big pharma, have been shown to be ineffective in around 50% of cases, and in some studies they were no more effective than the placebo effect.

What, then, would a new kind of happiness look like?

The world’s wisdom traditions all point inward. They state that there is a level of the mind which serves as the source of happiness. When a person locates this core self, there is peace and silence. One feels safe and cared for. Love and bliss are available as normal aspects of life, not as intermittent experiences that arrive at random.

At present, many supporters of positive psychology seem to accept that happiness is a random event that cannot be relied upon; therefore, we should abandon our illusion about reaching a state of permanent happiness. It’s further asserted that happiness has nothing to do with “higher” notions of the self but is rooted entirely in brain chemistry. As you can see, the new kind of happiness could hardly be more different. And since our society is addicted to consumerism and popping pills for every malady, the road ahead is likely to become more unhappy even as medical science promises that the answers are just around the corner.

A wisdom tradition isn’t the same as a religion. It isn’t faith or the grace of God that is needed to create the kind of happiness that no one can take away from you. For that is the ultimate goal, to be so established in your core self that external events cannot take away your own inner peace and contentment. Whether you turn to Socrates or Buddha, this is a matter of making choices along one road and not another.

The first road is the road of pleasure. When you follow it, you maximize the nice things in your life while minimizing the painful things. Even though every wisdom tradition points out that pain cannot be eliminated from life and that pleasure is always temporary, millions choose this path. In the end it is actually a source of pain. Any addict can tell you that after a phase in which their drug of choice brings a high, there follows a period in which the fix is used merely to keep away pain. Even if your fix is a new car or a sugary dessert instead of heroin, the brain becomes used to its old fixes, requiring larger and larger doses to get even a fraction of the old high. (This is also what video game makers count on, that the thrill of the game will quickly wear off, leading to a craving for newer, more exciting games.)

The other path is called the path of wisdom, which isn’t the best term, since it implies the placid state of old men with long white beards. In Sanskrit there is a better term, Vidya, which means knowledge but is more richly defined as “the way to reach the truth.” In terms of happiness, the path of vidya would include those choices, values, and beliefs that actually succeed in making us happy. If children can be guided from an early age, they can be taught to make such choices. The rest of us will have to unlearn and undo our past errors as a first step.

What kinds of choices and values lead to real happiness?
— Meditation, which opens up deeper levels of the mind.
– Actions that benefit others.
– Social relationships that support intimacy and bonding.
– Inspiration through reading the world’s scriptures and poetry.
– Taking enjoyment in natural beauty.
– Having a vision of personal fulfillment that you follow every day.
– Aiming for inner fulfillment rather than external fulfillment.
– Reducing stress.
– Taking time for peaceful reflection.
– Learning to love your own company, cultivating the self as a state of Being.
– Eschewing violence and anger in all its forms, gross and subtle.
– Resolving conflicts, both inner and outer, rather than letting them build up.
– Paying one’s debt to the past, which means healing old hurts and grievances.
– Stepping away from group think and second-hand opinions.
– Giving up a belief in enemies and us-versus-them thinking.
– Cultivating kindness and compassion.
– Being generous of spirit, learning to give.
– Seeing yourself as part of a larger humanity, and humanity itself as an expression of the divine, despite our flaws.

This may seem like a long list, but once you begin to walk the path of Vidya, a new perspective opens up, and everything you once thought and believed begins to be seen in a new light. This only makes sense, since your old pursuit of happiness “out there” is completely reversed.

I’m encouraged that psychology has turned to the positive aspects of the self. But the current findings barely point in the right direction, which is a shame, since the storehouse of the world’s wisdom remains locked. Until we unlock it, the state of unhappiness may not grow worse — none of us can predict that one way or another — yet for certain a new kind of happiness will not emerge.

Published in the San Francisco Chronicle

deepakchopra.com

More on Happiness

Arianna Huffington: Sunday Roundup

The GOP playbook on health care only had two lines: “scare people” and “make stuff up.” The result was a resounding defeat. Republicans responded to the clanging wakeup call by…offering up more of the same. This week brought the petulant shutting down of Senate committees; a desperate attempt to turn a slip of the tongue by Rep. John Dingell into a totalitarian smoking gun; and Sarah Palin adorning her Facebook page with 20 gun sights, one for each of the Democrats “targeted” by her PAC. This craziness has consequences. Witness the threats and vandalism directed at Democratic lawmakers, and the Harris poll finding that 38 percent of Republicans say Obama is doing many things Hitler did, and 24 percent believe Obama might be the Antichrist. However flawed this poll — even if the numbers are a fraction of these — this is certifiable. And very troubling. To quote Joe Biden: This is a big effing deal.

Jon Foreman: Possessed by Truth

I am in seat 23 E on a flight from San Diego to Dallas. It’s a middle seat. I’m trying to remain composed and tranquil; I am failing. As far as I can tell the baby behind me feels about the same way I do. I thumb through the airline magazine (my regular watering hole for current events), until I start to wonder what viscous substance stuck the pages of the magazine together in the first place. I put the magazine back, stretch into the seat, and rub a sore neck.

Out of nowhere, I am struck by a thought. A thought that has boundless implications. A thought that feels more important than the seat belt/life-vest exhibition. So I write the idea on the back of my hand:

“Maybe truth is not something that I can possess. Maybe truth is something which possesses me.”

I look at the words now scrawled on the back of my hand. I think it over and look away. The clouds are turning colors, blue, grey, green, purple. The sun is setting off somewhere behind me. It’s my favorite time of day. I look back at my hand and read the idea again.

“Maybe truth is something which possesses me.”

To be possessed by truth rather than the other way round is a thought that goes against much of what I have been taught. In fact, most of my education has been presented as a growing accumulation of truth. Throughout public school, I was graded on my comprehension of the facts. The higher grades were awarded to those who really owned the material.

The idea that truth has no owner turns the whole arrangement on its head. Maybe the straight-A students were the ones who surrendered to the system. Maybe they became servants and allowed the information to become their master, devoting countless hours of study to prove their devotion. Perhaps I was too devoted to other things in high school; I was possessed by the Pacific, going surfing whenever I could. I would never say that I owned the ocean, but I would certainly say that the ocean owned me. I surrendered to its call and resisted the truth that high school had to offer.

We now have more information than thousands of years of humanity could ever dream of. Without any effort at all, we could know the weather anywhere around the world, the population of Taiwan, or the first lady’s middle name (I’m going to look it up as soon as I get off the flight). With this sort of data at our fingertips, we truly possess more facts than past civilizations would ever hope for. And yet, the meaning of it all is just as elusive as ever. I’m still sitting on a plane unsure as to whether the middle seat is occupying me or the other way round.

The idea spins around in my head — so I look to folks that are smarter than me. I turn my thoughts to Sir Isaac Newton and the physical law most commonly associated with his name: gravity. The basic idea of gravitational pull is simple to understand — a clumsy step on the stairs could prove Newton right. And yet this awkward fall does not prove that I am now the proud owner of gravity. No, quite the opposite. I might have a bruise or worse to call my own, but gravity certainly possesses me. I am under the dominion of the truth of gravity whether I fully understand the law or not.

I look out at the fading hills and imagine someone driving home from work. He’s going bald quicker than he thinks. He just bought himself a car that screams one thing: MiddleAgeCrisisSportsCar. He begins the drive he takes home from work everyday. The traffic lights, the cars around him, the flat tire…these are all facts that he encounters on the way home; this is the data that he is responding to. He is under the influence of the facts around him. It’s not determinism; free will is still involved. And yet, rarely will he choose to ignore a red light or slam into the car next to him. He does not possess the facts, the facts possess him and he drives accordingly.

Our market economy is fueled by ownership. The water we drink, the land that we live on, even our ideas are referred to as intellectual property as our world becomes homogenized into merchandise. These products are to be bought or sold — anyone’s private possession for the right price. But from time to time we ask the question: Who owns who? Is the MiddleAgeCrisisSportsCar the possession of a man who’s losing his hair? Or is our balding friend possessed by his MiddleAgeCrisisSportsCar? Does he give the car her identity, or does the MiddleAgeCrisisSportsCar with her sleek lines and bright red paint lend the gentleman her personality for a brief moment of remembered youth?

Yes, our possessions possess us far more than we’d like to admit. And yet, even in our capitalist culture, we don’t think of our friends or family this way. Outside of the greek life at college, most relationships have nothing to do with money changing hands. Yes, you may possess friends, but you would never call these friends your possession. When we fall in love we fall under the spell of another. You might say that your buddy is whipped, “He is possessed. She owns him.” The truth of the one you love is most certainly something that possesses you and not the other way round.

I come up for air as the lady next to me, in 23 F is rubbing the perfume from the magazine onto her wrists. Smelling her wrists. Then repeating. She is trying to keep the fragrance with her, to possess the essence of the advertisement. I feel a sneeze coming on. Yes. Here it comes. For a brief moment there, I possessed a sneeze. No, actually I think the sneeze possessed me.

The stewardess hands me my orange juice. She sees the writing on the back of my hand and throws me a Sarah Palin comment. Dang it. Chris Martin disclaimers were hard enough. I explain that I’ve been writing things on my hands for a long time. There, good. At least we have an understanding. Now she has the truth. I look back at my hand, even writing this particular truth down on the back of my hand is a reason to think: Do I now have possession of this truth, owning its understanding or am I now temporarily tattooed with this truth, subservient to its reality?

My thoughts drift to religion. These are the truths that people live by and hold dear. In many ways, these are the truths that inspire our best and worst moments. The truths that motivate Mother Theresa and start religious wars. How can this be? How can fresh water and salt water come from the same hose? Perhaps it has to do with this concept of possession. If I view the truth as my possession to keep safe, I might feel the need to protect my faith. But if I am possessed by the truth, perhaps this protection is no longer needed. Maybe I am set free from the need to defend the truth, rather the truth defends me.

The idea of defending an all-powerful deity feels a bit silly when it’s put out in the wind like that. And yet, that sentiment seems to epitomize much of what religion has come to mean. After centuries of witch-hunts, inquisitions and holy wars, many are still fighting hard to defend their faith in an omnipotent God who has no need of our protection. Maybe we are still protecting our beliefs as though we were the owners of this truth.

If our faith is to be more than just a lit match in the powder-keg of differing beliefs, what role does religion play in our modern world? What would it mean to be possessed by truth rather than simply the proud owner of a particular denomination? Maybe we could start with the common ground that we all can call truth. In all of the major religions of the world I find the call to protect the less fortunate.

From the Torah:
“Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
Isaiah 1:17

From the Koran:
“Spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, for the ransom of slaves, to be steadfast in prayer and to practice regular charity.”
83. Section 10

From the New Testament:
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”
James 1:27

From Buddha:
“A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”

The “truth” of loving those around me, the “truth” of seeking justice for the oppressed, the “truth” of a life of service — these are truths to be possessed by: to be a slave in the service of the kingdom of the heavens, to be the servant of all. If the truths in this life have no owner then we are set free: free from the need to defend the truth, free to be possessed by this truth and simply live it out. Truth becomes much too large for me to possess; truth is the beauty and authenticity which possesses me.

Maybe the meaning of life is not something that I can control, but rather a reality which possesses me. Maybe there is no life guiding “fact” that I can put in my back pocket, as though I were the sole owner of the universe. Perhaps The-Meaning-of-Life-Himself is asking me the questions. When I look at a sunset, when I hear the songs of the ocean gulls, when I feel the warmth of family and friends, I am reminded of a story that is bigger than I am. Yes, this is my story but not mine alone. Truth was never mine alone. Truth is that which possesses me.

Oh and for the record, it’s Michelle LaVaughn Obama. But I think that I might have already known that…

Jon Foreman: Possessed by Truth

I am in seat 23 E on a flight from San Diego to Dallas. It’s a middle seat. I’m trying to remain composed and tranquil; I am failing. As far as I can tell the baby behind me feels about the same way I do. I thumb through the airline magazine (my regular watering hole for current events), until I start to wonder what viscous substance stuck the pages of the magazine together in the first place. I put the magazine back, stretch into the seat, and rub a sore neck.

Out of nowhere, I am struck by a thought. A thought that has boundless implications. A thought that feels more important than the seat belt/life-vest exhibition. So I write the idea on the back of my hand:

“Maybe truth is not something that I can possess. Maybe truth is something which possesses me.”

I look at the words now scrawled on the back of my hand. I think it over and look away. The clouds are turning colors, blue, grey, green, purple. The sun is setting off somewhere behind me. It’s my favorite time of day. I look back at my hand and read the idea again.

“Maybe truth is something which possesses me.”

To be possessed by truth rather than the other way round is a thought that goes against much of what I have been taught. In fact, most of my education has been presented as a growing accumulation of truth. Throughout public school, I was graded on my comprehension of the facts. The higher grades were awarded to those who really owned the material.

The idea that truth has no owner turns the whole arrangement on its head. Maybe the straight-A students were the ones who surrendered to the system. Maybe they became servants and allowed the information to become their master, devoting countless hours of study to prove their devotion. Perhaps I was too devoted to other things in high school; I was possessed by the Pacific, going surfing whenever I could. I would never say that I owned the ocean, but I would certainly say that the ocean owned me. I surrendered to its call and resisted the truth that high school had to offer.

We now have more information than thousands of years of humanity could ever dream of. Without any effort at all, we could know the weather anywhere around the world, the population of Taiwan, or the first lady’s middle name (I’m going to look it up as soon as I get off the flight). With this sort of data at our fingertips, we truly possess more facts than past civilizations would ever hope for. And yet, the meaning of it all is just as elusive as ever. I’m still sitting on a plane unsure as to whether the middle seat is occupying me or the other way round.

The idea spins around in my head — so I look to folks that are smarter than me. I turn my thoughts to Sir Isaac Newton and the physical law most commonly associated with his name: gravity. The basic idea of gravitational pull is simple to understand — a clumsy step on the stairs could prove Newton right. And yet this awkward fall does not prove that I am now the proud owner of gravity. No, quite the opposite. I might have a bruise or worse to call my own, but gravity certainly possesses me. I am under the dominion of the truth of gravity whether I fully understand the law or not.

I look out at the fading hills and imagine someone driving home from work. He’s going bald quicker than he thinks. He just bought himself a car that screams one thing: MiddleAgeCrisisSportsCar. He begins the drive he takes home from work everyday. The traffic lights, the cars around him, the flat tire…these are all facts that he encounters on the way home; this is the data that he is responding to. He is under the influence of the facts around him. It’s not determinism; free will is still involved. And yet, rarely will he choose to ignore a red light or slam into the car next to him. He does not possess the facts, the facts possess him and he drives accordingly.

Our market economy is fueled by ownership. The water we drink, the land that we live on, even our ideas are referred to as intellectual property as our world becomes homogenized into merchandise. These products are to be bought or sold — anyone’s private possession for the right price. But from time to time we ask the question: Who owns who? Is the MiddleAgeCrisisSportsCar the possession of a man who’s losing his hair? Or is our balding friend possessed by his MiddleAgeCrisisSportsCar? Does he give the car her identity, or does the MiddleAgeCrisisSportsCar with her sleek lines and bright red paint lend the gentleman her personality for a brief moment of remembered youth?

Yes, our possessions possess us far more than we’d like to admit. And yet, even in our capitalist culture, we don’t think of our friends or family this way. Outside of the greek life at college, most relationships have nothing to do with money changing hands. Yes, you may possess friends, but you would never call these friends your possession. When we fall in love we fall under the spell of another. You might say that your buddy is whipped, “He is possessed. She owns him.” The truth of the one you love is most certainly something that possesses you and not the other way round.

I come up for air as the lady next to me, in 23 F is rubbing the perfume from the magazine onto her wrists. Smelling her wrists. Then repeating. She is trying to keep the fragrance with her, to possess the essence of the advertisement. I feel a sneeze coming on. Yes. Here it comes. For a brief moment there, I possessed a sneeze. No, actually I think the sneeze possessed me.

The stewardess hands me my orange juice. She sees the writing on the back of my hand and throws me a Sarah Palin comment. Dang it. Chris Martin disclaimers were hard enough. I explain that I’ve been writing things on my hands for a long time. There, good. At least we have an understanding. Now she has the truth. I look back at my hand, even writing this particular truth down on the back of my hand is a reason to think: Do I now have possession of this truth, owning its understanding or am I now temporarily tattooed with this truth, subservient to its reality?

My thoughts drift to religion. These are the truths that people live by and hold dear. In many ways, these are the truths that inspire our best and worst moments. The truths that motivate Mother Theresa and start religious wars. How can this be? How can fresh water and salt water come from the same hose? Perhaps it has to do with this concept of possession. If I view the truth as my possession to keep safe, I might feel the need to protect my faith. But if I am possessed by the truth, perhaps this protection is no longer needed. Maybe I am set free from the need to defend the truth, rather the truth defends me.

The idea of defending an all-powerful deity feels a bit silly when it’s put out in the wind like that. And yet, that sentiment seems to epitomize much of what religion has come to mean. After centuries of witch-hunts, inquisitions and holy wars, many are still fighting hard to defend their faith in an omnipotent God who has no need of our protection. Maybe we are still protecting our beliefs as though we were the owners of this truth.

If our faith is to be more than just a lit match in the powder-keg of differing beliefs, what role does religion play in our modern world? What would it mean to be possessed by truth rather than simply the proud owner of a particular denomination? Maybe we could start with the common ground that we all can call truth. In all of the major religions of the world I find the call to protect the less fortunate.

From the Torah:
“Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.”
Isaiah 1:17

From the Koran:
“Spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, for the ransom of slaves, to be steadfast in prayer and to practice regular charity.”
83. Section 10

From the New Testament:
“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.”
James 1:27

From Buddha:
“A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”

The “truth” of loving those around me, the “truth” of seeking justice for the oppressed, the “truth” of a life of service — these are truths to be possessed by: to be a slave in the service of the kingdom of the heavens, to be the servant of all. If the truths in this life have no owner then we are set free: free from the need to defend the truth, free to be possessed by this truth and simply live it out. Truth becomes much too large for me to possess; truth is the beauty and authenticity which possesses me.

Maybe the meaning of life is not something that I can control, but rather a reality which possesses me. Maybe there is no life guiding “fact” that I can put in my back pocket, as though I were the sole owner of the universe. Perhaps The-Meaning-of-Life-Himself is asking me the questions. When I look at a sunset, when I hear the songs of the ocean gulls, when I feel the warmth of family and friends, I am reminded of a story that is bigger than I am. Yes, this is my story but not mine alone. Truth was never mine alone. Truth is that which possesses me.

Oh and for the record, it’s Michelle LaVaughn Obama. But I think that I might have already known that…

Bruce Nilles: How the West is Winning Against Coal

There is so much good news coming out of the western U.S. these days on coal and clean energy. First up – another domino fell for the Blackstone Group.

Blackstone had been funding the construction of three new coal-fired power plants in the U.S. (I’ve written about them before). Last month the River Hill plant in Pennsylvania was canceled – and now this week we saw the plans for Toquop change in a major way:

Blackstone subsidiary Sithe Global announced they will now build the plant as “a 750-megawatt gas plant with a 100-mw photovoltaic solar plant.” This will create 1,000 jobs, and again demonstrates that coal plants are just not financially viable anymore.

Now Blackstone and Sithe Global only have one proposed coal-fired power plant left – Desert Rock in New Mexico, which we’re also helping fight. Does Blackstone see the writing on the wall? Will Desert Rock see a switch or total cancellation?

Meanwhile, one of Nevada’s neighbor is taking great strides toward clean energy. Yesterday Colorado Governor Bill Ritter signed a bill increasing the state’s renewable electricity standard. Now, 30% of the state’s electricity must come from renewable sources by 2020:

The Governor’s Energy Office has predicted the program could result in as many as 100,000 homes with solar panels, small wind turbines or other energy-producing devices.

And with all that increased solar and wind power comes more jobs for Coloradans, too. To add to the job increasing potential of Colorado, the state’s also discussing a bill that will phase out coal-fired power plants. The Clean Air Clean Jobs bill, or HB1365, calls for converting several outdated coal-fired power plants in the Front Range area into cleaner energy sources.  This legislation is the result of an agreement reached by Governor Ritter, Xcel Energy and other local stakeholders to significantly improve Denver and Boulder’s air quality. 

Finally in coal-free western U.S. news, Los Angeles is slowly moving towards it goal of being coal-free by 2020. The city currently gets around 44% of its electricity from coal, and last year LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced his initiative to move the city completely beyond coal by 2020. Now a proposal to fund the projects that will help achieve ths plan is facing a vote from the City Council. I encourage you to read my colleague Bill Corcoran’s column on Huffington Post to get a good look at how that process is moving along.

It’s a trend in the west – move away from coal and toward clean energy. Let’s hope it continues!

Huff TV: Roy Sekoff Compares VP F-Bombs: Biden’s ‘A Lot Better’ Than Cheney’s (VIDEO)

Huffpost editor Roy Sekoff joined David Frum, a former Bush speechwriter, on “The Joy Behar Show” Tuesday to discuss consequences for Democrats and Republicans in the wake of health care reform’s passage.

Sekoff began by telling Joy that Vice President Joe Biden’s use of the word “fuck” Tuesday was “a lot better” than former Vice President Dick Cheney’s use of the word. In 2004 in the Senate, Cheney swore at Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.).

Sekoff told Behar that he believes that Republicans’ anti-reform stance might hurt the party in November elections. “You know, i think there’s going to definitely be some blowback when people go ‘Wait a minute. This isn’t socialism. This isn’t the govenrnment taking over my health care and in fact, I kind of like some elements of this.”

Sekoff said that the GOP’s embrace of tea party protesters could also hurt the party. “There’s always been a fringe element in any party. But the lunatics have now taken over the asylum. We’re seeing this kind of inflammatory rhetoric coming from the leaders. We have John Boehner saying that it’s gonna be armageddon. I mean, that’s like the little boy who cried Wolf Blitzer.”

WATCH:

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Jason Katz: Azerbaijan and Israel: Not a Typical Relationship

Relationships of convenience in the world of international politics are ubiquitous. It is virtually impossible to scan this world and not find an immediate example. Indeed, many of the United States’ “closest” international relationships are those of convenience. Are the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United States really allies and/or close friends? More likely, it is in the U.S.’s and Saudi Arabia’s best interests to support the Saudi royal family, shall we say, over less friendly options. Again, the world scene is replete with these examples.

It is interesting and ultimately important and instructive to delve into and take a closer look at alliances and state to state relationships. Are these relationships pragmatic and based simply on common interest? Are they “shot gun weddings,” based on tactical and short term needs? Or are some of these relationships based on the above scenarios while also possessing deeper considerations? The answer is not always evident. These cases take more study, as in the relationship between the State of Israel and the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The close relationship between the Israel and Azerbaijan would seem, at first glance, to be one of simple convenience. Why would the Jewish state, portrayed by radicals to be the enemy of all Muslims, and a majority-Muslim nation decide to work with one another and to embark upon the establishment of such a close bilateral relationship? One may conclude that Azerbaijan was willing to sell much needed oil to Israel, so Israel took the initiative. One may also argue that Azerbaijan, when these contracts originated, was a newly independent former Soviet Republic who needed a market for its oil exports and the revenue they afforded and Israel was simply a buyer. It is interesting to note that Azerbaijan, via its strategic Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline, supplies roughly a quarter of Israel’s oil.

Further investigation, though, bears out facts that shed a brighter light on a more substantive and expansive relationship. Azerbaijan, a secular, majority-Muslim nation, is well known for its pragmatic and balanced foreign policy. Azerbaijan is also a nation that, while considering its best interests, can be relied upon to do the “right thing.” In the politics of oil, and make no mistake, there is a politics of oil, Azerbaijan chose to sell its oil to Israel. It is a definite considered decision.

A large contributing factor and, some would argue, the genesis of this close bilateral relationship between the State of Israel and the Republic of Azerbaijan is the ancient Jewish community that resides (indeed, thrives) in Azerbaijan to this day. This community, 35,000 strong, has resided there for 2,500 years without, by their own admission, any persecution. The Jews of Azerbaijan fought alongside their Muslim countrymen both against the Soviets as the collapse of the Soviet Union was imminent and in Armenia’s war to conquer parts of Azerbaijan. Muslims and Jews have harmoniously lived and worked side by side in Azerbaijan for centuries as equals.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, many Azerbaijani Jews seized upon the opportunity to leave and emigrated to Israel. As Azerbaijan became independent and stable, these Jews began to travel back to Azerbaijan and develop business and cultural relationships. Many Jews from Azerbaijan now live in both nations.

In terms of sheer economics, the value of trade between the two nations has risen to a whopping $3.6 billion USD per annum. The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Israel totaled $400 million in 2007, and Israel’s exports to Azerbaijan in 2008 broke records for the third consecutive year. According to figures released by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, Israel exported a total of $128,896,130 in 2008, a 56.4 percent increase over the previous year’s figure. Azerbaijan was Israel’s 41st largest market in 2008, ahead of more established partners like Portugal, Ireland, Serbia, Bulgaria and Norway.

In the other direction, Israel is Azerbaijan’s third largest trading partner, accounting for 6.4 percent of Azerbaijan’s total trade. According to figures announced by Azerbaijan’s Statistical Committee, Israel imported approximately $3.5 billion of goods, including oil from Azerbaijan in 2008.

Investment by Israeli companies and partnerships with Azerbaijani companies is also most notable. Investment by the Israeli-owned Bakcell, a cell phone operator is the second largest in the Azerbaijani market. In 2008, Israel and Azerbaijan closed a weapons deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Most notable is the recent agreement to jointly develop and build advanced unmanned aerial vehicles.
Many Israeli companies also operate in the expansive energy sector of Azerbaijan. For instance, an Israeli-based supplier of high technology to the energy industry, Modcom System Ltd., opened an office in Azerbaijan in 2000 and has operated there since.

Trade in human capital is also significant between the two nations. Regular governmental, business and cultural delegations are exchanged between the two states. One of the first was the 1997 visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to meet with the revered late President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev. Most recently, the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman were welcomed to Azerbaijan by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev with full state honors. It is interesting to note that Iranian leaders objected strenuously to Peres’s visit and was basically told by President Ilham Aliyev to mind their own business and that he would host whomever he wishes in his nation. Ministerial-level delegations to Azerbaijan include Israel’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, who traveled to Azerbaijan to discuss partnerships in Azerbaijan’s burgeoning agricultural industry. Israel’s Minister of National Infrastructure visited Baku to participate at the annual Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition. The list goes on.

Exchanges, delegations and visits from Azerbaijan to Israel are equally plentiful. The Azerbaijani Minister of Economic Development visited Israel to negotiate and sign an agreement for the reciprocal promotion and protection of investments. Ministerial-level exchanges in the realms of technology, emergency preparedness, security and anti-terrorism, transportation and agriculture transpire on a regular basis. The Azerbaijan-Israel International Association (AzIz) was even established to increase and enhance these high-level contacts.

Critics argue that cracks exist in the bilateral relationship between Azerbaijan and Israel. Perhaps. Surely, no relationship is perfect. Azerbaijan necessarily often abstains from votes that would benefit Israel in the United Nations and other world bodies. No, Azerbaijan does not have an embassy in Israel. Should Azerbaijan? Perhaps. Would the establishment of an embassy in Israel be a nice reciprocation of the opening of an Israeli embassy in Baku, the capitol of Azerbaijan? Yes. Would this limit Azerbaijan’s ability to work and deal with other Muslim and majority-Muslim nations? Absolutely. Would it make a good friend and ally pay for, in this specific case, somewhat of symbolic gesture, given the depth of the existing relationship? Yes.

There exists a pragmatic aspect to the relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan, certainly. Pragmatism is healthy. The relationship, however, is much more than just pragmatism or shared interests. The relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Israel are also based on history, shared citizens and a devotion to freedom, rule of law and building a prosperous and normal society. Relations between the State of Israel and the Republic of Azerbaijan are truly, suffice it to say, a prime example of a multifaceted, multilateral, positive and healthy relationship.

Jason Katz is the principal of the Tool Shed Group, a consultancy that advises foreign governments, including the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He is also the former head of Public Affairs for the American Jewish Committee in Los Angeles.

Shadi Hamid: Will Passing Health Care Reform Affect U.S. Foreign Policy?

If the health care bill passes – not in the mood to jinx such things – what effect, if any, will it have on US policy in the Middle East? Most Arabs don’t care about US health care reform, but Arab officials, opinion makers, and media elites are certainly aware it’s sucked a great deal of President Obama’s attention. To the extent Arab leaders have outmaneuvered Obama, it is, in part, due to two interrelated factors: they believe Obama has been distracted, and, secondly, Obama has actually been distracted. So, if the bill passes, they will perceive it as the big victory that it is. This is where perception and spin will matter a great deal. If Obama and those around him are able to spin health care reform as a definitive sign of what we may now call “the Obama resurgence,” then the administration will gain some much-needed momentum, allowing it do some serious recasting of its deteriorating image abroad.

Obama – to the surprise of many, myself included – has been weak on narrative. As of a couple week ago, the emerging narrative, at home and abroad, was that he was weak, aloof, and lacked the courage of his convictions. Now, a new narrative is being created, and it’s been interesting to watch it gain currency in real-time. Marc Ambinder seems to have both captured and propelled the new storyline (one that appears to have little grounding in objective reality):

And it fortifies, indirectly, the argument that Obama is uniquely courageous: his stubbornness in the face of public opinion, in the face of advisers who begged him to move on, in the face of a revolt from his base, is based upon his own conviction that what he’s doing is the right thing to do, primarily, and upon electoral politics secondarily.

(Does anyone still doubt that passing health care was in Democrats’ electoral interest?). Ambinder continues: “But don’t ever, ever call the guy a wimp.” This is the new storyline. Obama the tough guy. And now Obama the tough guy – rather than the dour, feckless Obama of two weeks ago – will be conducting U.S. foreign policy.

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Georgianne Nienaber: Haiti: Time for an NGO Police?

“Any military commander will tell you that the first step to taking control of an area is to take over the airport.”

And so Dr. Tiffany Keenan, an emergency room doctor from Bermuda, did so at the Jacmel airport in the days and weeks immediately following the January 12 earthquake in Haiti. Keenan looks like she weighs about 100 pounds soaking wet, but don’t let that fool you. Not only did she coordinate air traffic and relief deliveries with the Canadian military, she also managed to update a database of health clinics in the region–all within five weeks time. As a direct result of her tenacity and take charge attitude, many emergency supply flights were able to land, and she immediately placed doctors and nurses on choppers to assist in areas most in need. Meanwhile, everything and everyone else was bottled up in the Dominican Republic or at the heavily damaged Port-au-Prince airport.

We met her after conversing with Namita Kumar, her logistics coordinator at Haiti Village Health. Kumar was sharing an internet connection with us at a hotel in Petionville while we were uploading some stories and photos. When she heard about an IDP camp we visited that was in desperate need of medical care, she forwarded our videos and photos to Dr. Keenan who got back to us within hours, wanting to meet and share information. Timing was dicey, since we were all moving quickly, but a missed flight left the doctor in Port-au-Prince for an unplanned night. So, we secured a room for her and headed out to dinner to get acquainted.

Canadian-born Keenan is all rapid-fire talk and earnest blue eyes. Taking notes resulted in my pen tearing the paper several times as it skidded across the surface in a desperate attempt to keep up with her enthusiasm, ideas, and heart-felt passion for the Haitian people. She founded Haiti Village Health, in 2006 with the hope of creating a sustainable medical infrastructure staffed by Haitians and not foreign NGOs.

The water glasses had yet to appear on the table before the doctor showed us the most important piece of paper in her possession. It looks like she talks–a maze of ideas and logistics combined with a veritable warren of associations that form her plan for health coordination in rural Haiti. Keenan decries the “band-aid” approach of foreign aid, which may dress the wound, but does nothing to solve the very real problems faced by Haitian society.

A nationally recognized NGO coordinator is one of her dreams for Haiti. This requirement is especially evident in the aftermath of the earthquake. Keenan says that it was only she and the Salvation Army who spoke with the local Senator about relief coordination. After working in Haiti for over four years she says, ” It has taken me a long time to realize that for real change to happen in the long run, you must work with the Haitian government.”

During the confusion, chaos and ongoing lack of emergency healthcare coordination, Dr. Keenan encountered some NGO missionary groups that she found to be standoffish and has concerns that one group in particular was doing field amputations with no anesthesia. We have heard similar reports, so her account rang true. “There were six hospitals in operation where they could have taken these patients,” she said.

The end result is that Keenan now sees a need for “an NGO police.”

“We need more coordination. Why set up a new clinic within two minutes walking distance from an existing one?”

The answer is obvious, but this kind of duplication of services and stockpiling of supplies without matching resources with needs is common these days in post-catastrophe Haiti.

She is hoping Haiti Village Health will get government recognition as an NGO liaison–her polite term for the “NGO police.”

Keenan is especially critical of NGOs that “overstate what they have done since the quake. They want their names stamped all over this (disaster).” What she says is true. The logos of international “charitable” organizations are more numerous than the number of tents in the IDP camps. Make no mistake about it charity is “corporate business” in Haiti.

Doctors Without Borders has crossed her steadfast path more than once, and it appears that the fiery Keenan is beginning to make an impression.

“I’m a bit of a cowboy, ” she laughs.

No kidding.

A Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontiers) representative initially told her that the French NGO was not going to cooperate with the local Haitian hospital. “Then two or three days later, they showed up and said they were going to TAKE OVER THE HOSPITAL,” she says.

It did not take much more for Keenan to “get into a heated discussion with them,” and within six days MSF was talking with the Community Coalition for Haiti about what Haitians wanted for Haitians. Keenan did not mention whether she rode a white horse and lassoed and hog-tied the French doctors in the process.

This is not the first time the medical aid group has been under criticism while working in a disaster area and ignoring local wishes. After the Indonesian tsunami it was widely reported that MSF urged donors to stop sending it money for Asian tsunami victims, saying it had collected enough funds to manage its own relief effort there and that donors should focus on donating to other MSF relief efforts. Meanwhile other aid organizations were scrambling for donations and rebuilding had barely begun.

When we discussed the video of the forsaken IDP camp on Highway 1, Keenan was incensed. “This should not be happening now!” The camp has no medical care, not enough tents, no food deliveries and little water. The only aid we saw there was a group of latrine builders from the Irish NGO, HAVEN.

It was good to hear Keenan agree with our assessment that aid is not being distributed equitably here. HAVEN was the first aid group we encountered at the Highway 1 camp, even though we had been mentioning their plight wherever we stopped and had stopped back on a regular basis to see how they were faring. HAVEN asked us if we had seen other camps without sanitation and took notes on their locations. It seems that the smaller groups and individuals like Keenan have a much better ability to grasp the enormity of what is needed. Perhaps it is because they are not afraid to move among the Haitian people and go to the locations where desperation is reaching epic proportions.

Keenan minced no words about planeload after planeload of missionaries flying into Port-au-Prince on American Airlines.

“This is nothing more than disaster tourism. Why don’t they send money instead of people? Why are missionaries bringing builders? Haitians can do their own building.”

Keenan funds all of her emergency relief work in Haiti out-of-pocket. More than once she has been told that her job in Bermuda is on the line because of her relief work. She was $15,000 in the hole until friends and supporters did a benefit for her that she says, “Brought me to about par.”

This is a problem faced by doctors who work in disaster situations, let alone those who volunteer time for consistent charitable work in countries like Haiti. Jobs and family harmony at home are put at risk and personal income and savings take huge hits.

“You know that movie with Kevin Costner? Well I keep thinking if I continue building my dream here, it will all happen. I never know if there will be enough money, but I was finally able to buy an old truck for the clinic with the last of the money.”

What is her biggest dream now?

If we could get 60 Blackberries, I could link all of the doctors and nurses here. Mobile devices are the key to communication, where travel is so difficult. There is a prototype–it is da-bomb–a digital stethoscope that you can attach to a Blackberry and transmit the information to a doctor here or in the States or wherever. Nurses could use it in rural communities where we cannot send doctors on a regular basis.

Image: Dr. Keenan discussing the possibilities of social networking with bio-surviellance expert Jim Wilson

Keenan recognizes that without a communications network to allocate supplies from central locations, relief workers cannot do their jobs. She sees social networking and mobile technology as key elements in monitoring of disease outbreaks as well.

Dr. Keenan, who has worked in Canada, Bermuda, Congo and Haiti, was first introduced to the village of Bod Me Limbe during a visit to the North of Haiti while working in the Capital, Port au Prince in early 2006. Haiti is a permanent part of her life now.

“I don’t have children, so I guess you could say that Haiti is my baby.”

After a week of witnessing despair like we have never seen, Dr. Keenan is a breath of fresh air, inspiration, and hope that individuals can make a difference.

You can keep up with Keenan at her blog and on Facebook.

That is, if keeping up with her is even a remote possibility.

Cross post with LA Progressive

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