Either Do Your Job or Change Your Name

When my cable provider announce they would carry The Learning Channel, it felt like my birthday. I love PBS. Shows like Frontline, Nova, Nature, etc. have provided my favorite television moments. If you took the name of this new cable network at face value, I was getting the commercial version of PBS. I imagined all kinds of shows where I would learn things, because you know, it's in their name.

I'd experienced The History, Discovery, and Weather Channels. At that time, there was history on the History Channel, discovery on on the Discovery Channel, and weather on the Weather Channel. I reasoned The Learning Channel had to be brimming with learning, a twenty-four-seven source of insight. Get ready to take a backseat PBS, there's a new sheriff in town.

When I actually watched the thing, I was confused. Where's the learning? At first I was disappointed; then I was disgusted. If memory serves, they were pioneers. Who polluted their signal with the vacuous, salacious, hyperbolic waste of time known as Reality TV before them? My philosophical model suggests we pay a price for our participation. It's simply quantum physics. The observer changes the observed. The passive act creates real ripples in the universe viewers are accountable for.

Now The Learning Channel has changed to TLC and The Weather Channel has fallen in lockstep with a slew of yellow-television, muck for the masses. Truckers and fishermen? Somewhere out there is a cargo-ship, filling with my obscenities each time I tune in and find no weather. They should change their name too. How about Weather Related Reality TV or maybe just Weather Sometimes. And when it comes to those other channels, don't get me started. How much historical depth can be found in a pawn shop?

Want real history? Try the History Detectives on PBS. Want to discover something new and cool about the reality you inhabit? Try Nova or Nature. Want real weather? Well that's where PBS fails (it's like their not even trying). But if you want to learn about what's really important, Frontline is my favorite.

I wish there was a law that said, if you're going to call yourself a name that has a certain meaning, you have an obligation to create programing in line with the implications of your name. It's no more than truth in advertising. 

US Stokes Prejudice: Native Americans Targeted

All over the Middle East, a word spreads fear into the indigenous mind – Apache. In war, there is a concept known as a force multiplier. There are many types. From the number of soldiers and how well they are trained to the shape of the landscape, what constitutes a force multiplier is simple: how does a thing affect the nature of battle. With the right force multipliers, an impossible situation becomes simple. A big bully with a bat will beat you down. Put the bat in your hands, blind the bully, and what you have is easy pickens.

Sun Tzu speaks in depth about the definition and employment of their use. He spoke of the relationship between Heaven and Earth. Heaven will win in its attack but Earth will not lose in its defense. An offensive war requires a powerful Heaven to beat the indigenous Earth. Air superiority is a prerequisite for ground forces. When it comes to Heaven, the front-line is where planes become helicopters.

Geronimo led his small band of Apache against the Mexican and American armies. He makes clear that the warring would have continued if not for the persuasion of a familiar General and the use of a native tracker – Sun Tzu's last chapter is on the ultimate power of spies. Geronimo's ability to multiply his small force enough to stymie his enemies made him famous and is no doubt the origin of the helicopter's name.

And this is the ugly irony. Many are scarred by the power of this tool. This noble name drips from their lips with hatred. How difficult does it become for them to want to know anything about the real Apache, the people and the history? What they know is pain and loss. In an attempt to honor the warrior Geronimo, the US Army continues to harm these people, the proud owners of the name. 

Red*kins is not be the only name to change.

The Loyalty of Fear

What is more binding than fear? In the end, discomfort outranks comfort. How great is the comfort when the discomfort ends? It's limbic. It's fundamental. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

We all pretend to know what we would do in the face of fear. Our ignorance becomes prejudice. We all think we would have done things differently, better. But when our time comes, no matter the path we take, when it's over and we know the depths of fear (both within ourselves and others), we must forgive ourselves and others for this loyalty. Wisdom cannot forever keep fear at bay and healing is a feeling. When we stand among the aftermath's rubble, let us thank the universe for redemption, that we might rebuild our lives together.

It is not to forgive and forget. It is to comprehend, accept, and let go. It is not even about moving on, as if every moment in life must be filled with deeper meaning; sometimes someone is simply a predator and that's how life works. It is consciously accepting the cost. It's about severing the memory's control. When we choose to ignore it, we demolish its power and distance ourselves from its influence. Only the entitled believe life is fair. The only thing left to do is decide how long the mistake will haunt us.

As much as we move towards things, as much as we pretend to be free, when the time comes, when fear floods our heart, we will do what it takes to escape or die fighting. This is the loyalty of fear. Ultimately, the human animal will fall from time to time. The animal cannot conquer fear but the human can deal with it.

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Constant Prayer

As a child, I was told to pray before I went to bed. I spent a lot of time repeating the same words night after night. Sometimes, I would plead for something I wanted or beg to be spared from something I feared. Then I would iterate a laundry list of things I was thankful for and people to be blessed. It was all very mechanical.

What is prayer? Is it simply talking in my head to no one … to someone? Is it strictly religious, spiritual? Or is it more, much more. In order to quantify the effect, studies have defined the behavior: mindfulness or mental focus. So, is prayer meditation? Does it play a role in cellular renewal? One thing's for sure, prayer is real in this respect: it can change the neurochemistry (mindset) of the one doing the praying.

Whether prayer works on some mystical, quantum level or is simply a state of mind, I would like to emphasize the definition. I propose that we pray all of the time; that prayer is our state of mind. A mindful presence is key to producing desirable outcomes. And the greatest form of prayer is not a laundry list of items we appreciate but actually feeling our appreciation for those things. The rain-dance was feeling the rain before the clouds even formed.

Instead of praying you will survive the situation with a thousand words, try a single feeling: thankfulness. Feel thankful for the possibility that you will not only survive but thrive. Be mindful of your constant prayer – how you feel right now.