I have been in the States for the past week.  This oil spill in the Gulf is what is on every-one’s mind here and indeed it should be.  It is amusing how everyone is coming up with new meanings behind the letters BP.  I have heard (at least inside my head) everything from “Beyond Patience,” to “Bastard Polluters,” to “Better Pay-Up,” but perhaps the most telling is “Barack’s Problem.”  Indeed this epic environmental fiasco is fast becoming “BBH,” or “Barack’s Biggest Headache”…as if he didn’t already have enough to worry about.  But in reality “Barack’s Problem” is “Our Problem.”  As this growing oil slick is threatening not only the Gulf coast, but the East as well, soon we may all be bathing in the black stuff.  I am confident that eventually it will be resolved, but the impact on the environment in the areas affected may live on for generations.  The real question is, can there be a lesson learned from this?  Oh sure, that we must improve our technologies in order to drill more safely in the future.  Yea well, that sounds great, but not exactly the lesson I was hoping for.  As we view the graphics showing this spreading glob overtake half the coastal area of the entire nation, maybe we should really ask ourselves why?  Why do we need so much of this stuff to begin with?  Is it possible to do with less?  Of course so!  But not until we begin to understand that the answer lies in a less consumptive lifestyle.  Maybe the answer to most of the problems plaguing the nation these days is a less consumptive lifestyle.  Maybe this oil slick is the alarm that will wake the country up to that fact.  As I walked the beach this morning and looked up at the countless high-rise condos built only a few meters from the high-tide mark, I tended to kinda doubt it, but oh well, I like to think positively.  Barack’s Problem, you betcha, but until we wake up to the fact that we our consuming ourselves out of existence, it will continue to loom large as Our Problem.

So Obama didn’t change his colors last night and “move to the center” as many predicted in the face of relentless political pressure.  Maybe that is because he really does believe in what he is trying to accomplish.  After all, the U.S. elected him to do just that, didn’t they….that is, bring about “change.”  I am afraid what you have with Obama is a bit of a horse of a different color.  Sure he is savvy enough to know how to play the Washington political game.  But his assertion last night at the end of the speech that “I don’t quit” is telling.  More than likely it sent a shiver up the collective spines of his most stalwart detractors.  It also signals a degree of backbone that is rare is Washington, D.C. I am not talking about a tough-guy swagger that stems from an air of superiority, as in a George Bush.  I am talking about a genuine belief that evening the playing field and making things better, not just for those who already are more than well off, but for everyone is the right course of action to stick to. A belief that will not yield to political pressure from any side, left, right or center.  Because in the end that conviction is not about politics, it is about justice, social justice.  It is about simply doing the right thing.  It is about coming into office with a set of unbending priorities and seeing those through no matter which way the political winds might be blowing.  It is a rare and refreshing thing to see in a Washington politician.  Maybe, just maybe, Obama is another one of those rare politicians that appears once in a generation, usually when the nation needs it most. But, then again, we’ll just have to see, now won’t we? Just remember, Glenn Beck would have probably had even a harsher opinion of Franklin Roosevelt, maybe even of Lincoln, if he had been around at the time. Think about it.

First of all, my heart goes out to the people of Haiti who have experienced a disaster of unfathomable proportions.  It is the earthquake of Cinchona, which hit home right here in Costa Rica this time last year, times 1000.  Costa Rica certainly has its share of Haitian immigrants (no it is not just to the U.S. that people run to escape misery).  One in particular that I know personally is Jonas, who is the security guard at the commercial complex where my office used to be (and where Lily still has her business).  Jonas is a humble and soft-spoken man of about six foot five and two-hundred fifty or more pounds.  The delinquents that used to cause havoc around the complex suddenly disappeared when Jonas arrived.  I have not had a chance to speak with him about the disaster, but surely someone in his or his wife’s family has been affected by this widespread tragedy.  There is probably no one who is connected with Haiti who has not been affected in some tragic way.  Obama’s swift reaction to the disaster is a testament to his sensitivity and connection to all people of the world.  He, like Bill Clinton, is a true compassionate leader. And then we have those, like Rush Limbaugh, whose counter-reaction was just as swift.  Of course, anything Obama does will be roundly criticized as if it were their jobs to find something to gripe about, even a compassionate response to a horrific disaster.  What could possibly be the motive for such an idiotic reaction as when Rush implied that Obama’s compassionate response was an attempt to “curry favor with blacks in the U.S.?”  The absurdity of such a statement needs no further explanation….the motives behind it warrant some investigation.  Of course, pundits like Limbaugh and Beck are rewarded financially by being outrageous and fomenting similar outrageousness in their viewers…it boosts ratings and contributes to the addictive attraction of those  who tune in regularly.  There is also this element of pandering to a feeling of U.S. superiority, as if the U.S. were the only nation on earth either willing or able to help out the Haitians (of course completely untrue, I read yesterday that Arias has also pledged support).  Finally, there is the always present appeal to the almighty dollar.  An appeal that questions whether the U.S. should help when times are tough, jobs are few and government budgets are in the red.  Well, the answer to that is that natural disasters usually aren’t timed to coincide with economic prosperity.  What is the implication?  That the richest nation on earth can only help in an up economy?  How absurd and how shameful.  Obama’s reaction was exactly the right one and I can only hope that even the faithful followers of Rush Limbaugh can see through his ulterior motives as being entirely un-American, even un-human.

I am a fan of Colombian artist Fernando Botero. I have a few Botero’s hanging in my living room….well, Botero prints, that is. You see I cannot afford a real Botero. I read something in Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope, the other day that got me thinking about Boteros in the living room. It came from Chapter 2, the one aptly entitled, Opportunity. In this illuminating chapter Obama talks of an encounter with legendary investor, and second richest man in the world, Warren Buffet. Buffet is telling Obama how absurd it is that he pays a lower effective tax rate than his receptionist. What a refreshing and unusual sentiment for a die-hard capitalist. Reflecting on the encounter, Obama goes on to state that “at a certain point one has enough, that you can derive as much pleasure from a Picasso hanging in a museum as from one that’s hanging in your den.” But when is enough enough? For Buffet, I guess that answer is $40 billion. Okay I am not going to start preaching about the sins of accumulating great wealth. Hey who doesn’t want to do that. And to tell you the truth, I don’t really believe there is anything wrong with it. If great wealth is the reward for maximizing your human potential, then god-speed to ya! What I will be quick to condemn is the notion that what you have accumulated is yours to horde like some sour-puss Scrooge alone in the dungeon sifting through his millions and telling the rest of the hungry world, bah humbug! Buffet’s viewpoint as expressed in the Obama book is refreshing in that he doesn’t believe his vast riches are actually his to horde, but rather that his unusual success gives rise to a responsibility to the rest of the society that he was so fortunate to be borne into. The society that allowed him to achieve such extraordinary success. For the truth is that no one achieves incredible wealth on his own. It takes just the right environment, and a good deal of luck, to pull that off. It is the proper role of government to create that “environment.” And how can it do so if the ones who benefit the most cry “socialist” whenever any action is taken that is geared towards giving others a shot? Obama’s “spread the wealth” statement to Joe the Plumber is about doing just that. You can call it “socialism” if you want, but Buffet, who I am sure you would admit is a pretty shrewd capitalist, doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. Should you?

Audacious is defined by Websters as “intrepidly daring,” among other less flattering ways. Oh, and by the way, “intrepid” is defined as” characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance.” I am currently reading Barack Obama’s bestseller, The Audacity of Hope. What a peculiar title. Why would “hope” ever be considered audacious? Well, these days, when all you hear about is that “unemployment has now reached the point of no return”…10% plus and possibly rising…expressions of hope are quickly met with scorn and ridicule and dismissed as nothing more than naive idealism. No one ever stops to mention the old adage that “it is always darkest just before the dawn.” You see the talking heads know full well that unemployment is a “lagging” indicator. That, Scarlett, means that it is one of the last measurements of economic health that will begin to see improvement. The foremost leading indicator is of course the stock market and boy is it showing signs of life. But no one ever talks much about all that. It would be too audacious to suggest that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Hope just doesn’t sell newpapers, or promote Nielsen ratings, crisis does.  I never much liked the word “hope” in the first place. It is kind of weak and brings to mind a big eyed puppy dog “hoping” to be let inside from the rain. I always like the word “expectation” better. It is more powerful to say “I expect things to get better” than to forlornly say, “boy I sure hope things get better.” But let me get back to my original point, being the title to Barack’s book. Have we gotten to the point in this country, the U.S.A. that is, or even on this planet, where it is audacious to think and express positive thoughts? I hope not. Just think how much better the world would be if everyone simultaneously released all the negativism they hold inside their collective heads on any given moment. That is not something I will even try to hope for, let alone expect, because of course it will never happen. At least, not on that level. But it can happen in one place that I do exert some control over and that is the semi-empty space inside my cranium. If positive thinking has truly now become audacious, then in the most admirable way possible, I will live my life with audacity, critics and naysayers be damned. Yes, my life is not perfect….far from it. Is yours? But I will say what is on my mind and do it in the most positive way possible. Will that ever make a difference? For you, who knows, but for me, yes it will and it does and I will keep on doing it till the day I kick the proverbial bucket. There, is that audacious enough for you? Just remember positive change begins between the ears.

Can you believe those Norwegian nut-cases? How can they award the Nobel Peace Prize to a sorry no-count good-for-nothing loser like Barack HUSSEIN Obama? I mean what has he done to deserve a prize from a cracker-jack box, much less the Nobel Prize? I’m just downright “et-up” about it! They’d just as well given the damn prize to my dog Cash….he don’t bite! And that humble and contrite speech he gave about “not deserving it” and that this was his “call to action” was completely insincere. You know in the back of his mind he was telling Rush Limbaugh to “roll that and smoke it….fat boy!” It just ain’t right. Okay, okay, give me a moment and let me remove the tongue lodged deeply in my cheek. Maybe Obama hasn’t achieved any great peace accords, gone on hunger strikes, been politically imprisoned, or the whole host of other great sacrifices and accomplishments of past winners. But he has done this….he has put the U.S. back into a position where “most” of the rest of the world at least doesn’t hate our guts! That’s kind of important seeing how we have to share space with them. Bush was able to get almost the entire world to hate the U.S. in eight years. Obama has reversed that in 8 months. Does that mean he deserves the prize? I don’t know, but it is an accomplishment. The fact that he did win it at least sends a positive signal. A signal that the world is changing its opinion about the U.S. Maybe that doesn’t matter much to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity or Glenn Beck, but it should matter to anyone who would like to travel outside U.S. borders and not get treated like a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. 9-11 was proof that we have made some pretty serious enemies in this world. The U.S. responses to that incident, while maybe justified, only heightened the hatred that was already fomenting. Obama has a chance to turn that around and he has made a pretty good start. Give him three more years and he might just end up deserving the prize after all. So my message to those out there suffering from OTS (Obama Trauma Syndrome) is “get a grip.” I know all this is hard to fathom, but pinch yourself….it’s not a nightmare. Obama is president and now he is a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. Face it. The world likes him….even if you don’t.

September 9, 2009, or 09-09-09, another one of those “dates” that makes the numerologist’s mouth water. The Beatles also seemed to have a fascination for the number 9. On the famous White Album of 1968 they recorded the mysterious “sound collage” called Revolution 9. Many years have passed since I first became intrigued with the White Album. The fact that they added this confusing track dedicated to the number 9 made the album all the more intriguing. The number 9 never has had any significance to me, but if one were waiting for a perfect day to start a revolution, I guess 09-09-09 is as good as any other. Much of what I write in this blog is about revolution. I am all for that concept, as long as it is carried out with ideas via persuasion, as opposed to weapons via force. My mom told me yesterday that she was going to be part of the “March on Washington” that is the culmination of the “Tea Party” movement. It seems to me, however, that what is being advocating by the “Tea Partiers” is the antithesis of revolution. It is more along the lines of “we like our America just the way it is, so don’t $%#@ with it!” But in reality, the folksy adage of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” doesn’t apply when ”it” is (broke, that is), now does it? I have been hearing a lot these days that Obama needs to start “listening to the people,” as if the “people” spoke with one loud, clear and consistent voice. But they don’t. As many as there were that stood up in the infamous “town halls” and yelled and screamed against health care reform, there were equally as many quietly rooting it on. In short there is no “one voice.” Like him or not, Obama is a guy who, due to his life experiences, as well as his being our first African-American President, is uniquely positioned to understand the feelings of many who haven’t participated in the so-called “American dream” as well as others have.  He is also someone who is uniquely positioned to understand that the world is a diverse place and that while the U.S. can flex its muscles in an attempt to “keep itself safe,” a better way may be to show that we can understand and cooperate with other nations in spite of widely different world views. That peace is best promoted by being in harmony with the rest of the world, as opposed to being at enmity with it. As the Beatles cacophonous recording of Revolution 9 displays, society speaks in a crescendo of diverse and indecipherable voices. It is very hard to make sense out of it, just like this really “weird” (for lack of a better word) track. I guess that is why we are so careful to try to elect leaders who we think can (make sense of it). Obama was elected by a majority of citizens of the U.S. to do just that. How about we give him a chance? What may result is a revolution that the U.S. as a whole could, in the long run, benefit greatly from. I can tell you that down here in Costa Rica, we are quietly cheering him on.

You Say You Want a Revolution…..

I wrote in the last post about a guy named Van Jones, who was Obama’s “green jobs czar.” Well that’s now history, since he resigned last week amidst brewing controversies stirred up by Fox News and chiefly, Glenn Beck. Okay the guy did have a past that many would consider a tad “controversial,” but his basic platform was not to undermine the U.S. capitalistic system. It was to make sure that certain segments of society weren’t left out of it. He had “silly” notions that certain things matter….things like the environment and putting poor people in poor neighborhoods to work. He tried to combine these concerns by pushing the idea of a “green collar” economy. One in which jobs were created in the strive towards creating a cleaner environment, that is, one that is less reliant on “dirty” fuels that threaten the planet’s survival. He had the equally “silly” notion that what ordinary people do in their ordinary lives, can make a difference in creating a planet that will be livable for generations to come. At least those notions were “silly” to Mr. Beck. As soon as Beck was able to be label Jones as a communist, then that quickly became all that mattered. His ideas? Forget about all that. He is a threat, an enemy to be thwarted. And I guess he was since he is no more….at least not in the Obama administration. However, I have the feeling that we haven’t heard the last from Van Jones….I hope not. As much as I believe the ideas of Van Jones were more than worthy of our consideration, I also believe he was missing an important element. That is the spiritual element that is the real and essential catalyst for change. Unless people really begin to let go of old ideas about what is bad and what is good, and the labels that those ideas provoke, change will never ever occur. Any idea that is not completely in step with absolute free market capitalism will quickly get branded as “socialist” or “communist” and there is a large segment of U.S. society that will be more than ready to rally a witch-burning party. Here’s a radical thought. Maybe capitalism or communism, liberal or conservative, left-wing or right-wing don’t really matter at all. Maybe what really matters is people and planet. Maybe whatever ideas that promote prosperity with respect to people and planet are ideas that should be embraced, or at least considered, without demean-i-zing those that propose them simply because they may not be in lockstep with our own….ideas, that is. Maybe, just maybe, until we come to understand that our religious or political beliefs (and all too often those two seemed to be intertwined) are not as important as the flesh and blood human beings that adhere to them, as well as the planet on which those humans reside, then real change will never occur and people and planet will just go on careening towards the abyss. Maybe the answer only lies partially in policy, but more substantially in a search for the soul. A soul that understands that people and planet matter more than politics, or religious pathologies. A soul that understands that if it’s matter, it really does matter.

Do you know the man pictured on the left? Glenn Beck sure knows him, or at least thinks he does. Beck has labeled the guy a communist, a “nationalist” (not sure what that means….maybe national-socialist, as in Nazi?), and a few other highly charged words. Why? Because this guy has the nerve to try to do a laudable thing and that is create “green” jobs, especially for poor people (as he likes to say, “jobs for levels from GED to Ph.d”). The guy’s name is Van Jones and he is the author of the N.Y. Times Bestseller, The Green Collar Economy. He is also President Obama’s “green jobs czar.” Some comments from Jones’ past, such as self-processed adherence to certain Marxist philosophies, has Beck and many other far-righters in a tizzy. They are frantically bantering about using words such as “Marxist,” “socialist,” and even “communist” as weapons as sharp as Umma Thurman’s Hatorri Hanzo sword and they won’t stop wielding them until some one’s head (preferably Jones, or Obama himself) rolls. Now the guy was caught calling republicans the “a” word and that was the proverbial final straw. He must be fired, or he must resign. In short, blood must be shed. What’s so wrong about calling republicans a-holes?  Maybe he was painting with a little too broad a brush (he has since apologized), but truth is, some are, along with many of their democratic counterparts. In my opinion when folks utilize the tactic of political demonization in order to demean (let’s call this strategy “demean - i - zation”) anyone with a viewpoint different than their own, then they are a-holes, pure and simple. And both sides are plenty guilty of it. It all comes back to using these electrifying labels in order to polarize people. The result, nothing gets done and the country just stays stuck in the quagmire of partisan polarized politics. What is Jones trying to accomplish? He has the “absurd” idea that we can clean up our environment and create a heck of a lot of jobs in the process. Wow, what a demonic idea! What a threat to capitalism and all it stands for! I tell you what, in my humble and ignorant opinion, if folks in the good ole U.S. of A. don’t start listening to innovative ideas from guys like Van Jones, the country will go “down the tubes” and most likely take the rest of the world with it. We now are hearing that the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) is predicting that melting of the Arctic polar cap is occurring much faster than earlier thought and threatens to flood 25% earth’s surface by the year 2100. If the far-righters want to keep ignoring these warnings and carrying on like “business as usual” and demean-ize anyone who stands up and says hey let’s do something, then maybe we need to ask them this. And that is, what exactly is your motivation for being so dead-set against doing anything to protect the environment, huh? Maybe we can come up with a demonic label for that mode of thinking. Something like Narrow-minded And Zealous Ideophobe.

If you want to know what this guy is up to in the White House, Click Here.

Doesn’t the U.S. have just the coolest prez ever! The recent “beer summit” proves that once and for all. I posted the other day about the incident involving the “black” Harvard professor being arrested by the “white” cop for breaking into his own home. Obama just couldn’t help himself and chimed in with a “the police acted stupidly” comment. That got the whole nation into an uproar. Obama’s solution…..invite the cop and the prof to the White House, for, you guessed it, beers! The event, dubbed “the beer summit,” was carried by every major news program in the country. Some even had count down clocks. We were giving a complete rundown of the history of momentous meetings on the White House lawn. Each participant was allowed to order his favorite beer. I believe Obama drank Bud Light (lightweight!), while the prof imbibed with Samuel Adams Light and the cop, Blue Moon. Guess which one drank the beer with the highest alcohol content? It was the police officer, Sergeant Crowley, whose Blue Moon comes in at a hefty 5.4%. I thought he appeared a little tipsy at the news conference after the event. What gave it away is when he referred to Obama as his “newest best bud” and “a really super-cool dude.” But the surprising thing was that the VP, Joe Biden, showed up too. Biden is never one to miss a free beer. In fact, I believe he was the only one who actually asked for another round. I guess good-old Joe forgot that he was drinking with a cop….hope someone took the keys away from him. Well so now we know that the President of the U.S., a Harvard educated lawyer, is a beer drinker, well at least a “light” beer drinker. All you southern red-necks out there can take some solace in that. Now we must endure the endless opinions of commentators, some who want to use the event to poke fun at Obama, others to praise him. For me, it just seemed like a regular guy’s reaction to screwing up. After Obama let loose with the “stupid” comment, his reaction was, okay okay I may have blown it there a bit, but you know what, let’s just all get together and have a beer. I do that. I can identify with that. I am feeling you brother. There is nothing like a cold brew to ease the tension and pave the way for a better and brighter future. It is good to know that we have someone in the White House who recognizes the highly strategic uses of beer to cure the ills of the world. In fact, writing about all this has made me a bit thirsty.