Super Bowl Ads

                                                                                     written 16 February, 2025

                                                                                 published 23 February, 2025

  

            Like 127 million others, I watched the Super Bowl two weeks ago.  While the game was dynamic, I am not a sports fan.  I watched for the ads, which are a window into our culture.  This year they cost a record $8M for each 30 second spot.  They were well produced, included a wide variety of celebrities, and a few stood out to me.

            Despite official climate denial from the White House, there were several ads for electric vehicles, including a heartfelt endorsement of an electric Jeep by a Ford.  Fox News presented a moving tribute to all first responder heroes, folks who actually risk their lives to help others.  Being Fox News, they also snuck in a shot of the politician wounded in the ear while making his pitch at a rally.  

            However, I was most impressed with the many ads supporting improved social values.  One showed several groups of young children being led in multiple chants of "I am somebody".  It took several tries to get everyone shouting this wonderful affirmation with enthusiasm.  But as excitement grew, eventually everyone joined in.  This is a powerful antidote to the cultural pressures which tend to discount most people, exhalating only the "best", without crediting the fact that we are all unique, exist, and are therefore valid humans, entitled to respect.

            Another ad addressed the corrosive effect of hate.  If we accept that we are all somebody and unique, then it is foolish to hate just because the other is different, since everyone is different.  Only insecure people fear the other.  Hate weakens the mind and body.  Hate prevents us from learning anything new.  From a unity perspective, hate is just self-loathing projected onto the other.

            Once again, we saw the "Jesus Gets Us" ad.  This seems like a no-brainer, since the Bible describes him as the son of God, after all.  The more important question is: Who Gets Jesus?  This year the ad was more in depth, presenting the core of Christ's teaching: love and compassion.  For everyone!  I was impressed that so much money was spent presenting such a message, without any of religious/economic/political complex messaging that often comes with Christianity.

            For example, I recently heard a woman describe how, in second grade, her nun teacher told her she was "too sinful" to speak directly to God, and could only speak to God through a priest.  This is like a grifter trying to get you to pay for something you already own.  If there is anything an individual has, just by virtue of being alive, it is the internal capacity to pray and listen to inspiration, whatever form you believe that to be.  The attempt to highjack that, demanding it be channeled through "proper" sources, is spiritual assault.  When such rigid rules are attributed to God, violence can become sanctified.

            A local example occurred in 1850, when white vigilantes, joined by members of the California military, massacred native Americans at Clear Lake.  There was a cash bonus paid for the scalps, and the whole affair was justified as eradicating the "heathens", because they weren't Christian. 

            As spiritual power is collected and channeled, economic power increases, which must then be protected.  The 2015 movie "Spotlight" portrays the 2001 revelation, by the Boston Globe, of the wide spread pedophile priest problem.  The Church had covered it up for decades in order to protect the organization while sacrificing their parishioners.  As a result of the investigation, over 250 priests were exposed in the Boston area alone.  The problem was subsequently revealed in 100 other cities in America, and as many more around the world.

            As economic power grows, so does political power.  Leonard Leo, head of the Federalist Society, has selected GOP nominees for the Supreme Court for years.  He is also a member of Opus Dei, a powerful organization within the Catholic Church, which is criticized for its secrecy, ultra-conservative teachings, and alleged links to fascism.  In part, the chaos unfolding in America today is the result.

            Against this kind religiously distorted spirituality, it was refreshing to see the simple message of love and compassion presented.  Our president has stated that "fear is power".  While this is historically popular, it is naive and short sighted.  We are each faced with a personal choice: fear or love.  One divides us, and the other strengthens us.  It is your choice about how to live.

 

 

Deja Vu All Over Again

                                                                                       written 9 February, 2025

                                                                                 published 16 February, 2025

 

            The last time fascist boots marched across the world, millions died, and many countries were smashed to dust before it was over.  My father survived that war, so it is deeply depressing the authoritarian fascists this time are American.  In just the first few weeks in office, the tsunami of chaos, disruption, and ill feelings flooding from the White House feels overwhelming, and denial is policy.  

            As the Asian bird flu expands, decimating commercial flocks, raising egg prices, the Center for Disease Control is being gutted, and information expunged, leaving the population blind at a time of increasing risk.  A growing measle epidemic in Texas is expanding unacknowledged, without any official recognition or reaction, in that very red, anti-vax state.

            Rather than face issues, we have a "know nothing" party in power, focused on narrowly popular social issues, with heavy punitive religious overtones.  When authoritarian rule is aligned with fanatical religious dogma, people feel justified by God to kill and oppress for exclusive gain.  Fear, judgement, and revenge are the currency of this administration, and people already feel it.

            Yesterday, a man with a battery powered bullhorn was standing on the street corner, shouting non-stop at the passing traffic.  The words were unclear, but the tone was dire.  As I passed, I could only see the words "Jesus" and "vomit" on his sign.  According to the Bible, Christ taught the two most important actions were to love God and love the other.  How can anyone hate, and still believe they are truly "Christians"?

            But the most significant juggernaut headed our way is the growing climate crisis. Out of spite, the new regime is defunding all previous climate efforts.  Regulations are being removed, allowing unfettered fossil fuel development, despite the industry knowing their time is ending.  All mention of climate change is being stripped from government websites.  National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, which has been significant in monitoring climate change, is being gutted and muted.  

            But reality doesn't bend to denial.  January 2025 was the hottest January on record.  Temperature at the North Pole was 20°F above normal last week.  The Earth has now exceeded the previous Paris accord limit of 1.5°C above preindustrial times, and it was recently reported that we will blow past 2°C in no time, as the planet is heating faster than was previously feared.

            The proof is becoming impossible to ignore.  Lloyd’s of London, a major re-insurance firm, reported that in the last decade the quantity of insurance claims increased a factor of 3 and payments increased a factor of 5.  State Farm Insurance recently announced it will raise home owner insurance rates in California an average of 22 percent.  Insurance may not be affordable, even if available.  Uninsurable property loses 80 percent of its value, threatening real estate and banking industries, and the funding of state and local governments.

            The January wildfires in Los Angeles destroyed $70 billion in insured property, but the regional economic impact, including lost incomes, uninsured losses, and destroyed infrastructure, is estimated as high as $280 billion.  The estimated regional economic impact of the fall hurricanes in the southeast is $140 billion.  These two events, in just five months, add up to about half the annual US Pentagon budget.  Rest assured, these aren't the last climate disasters we will see.  These are only teaser previews of coming attractions!  But our "leader" doesn't believe it is real.  

            The challenge is how to respond.  We each have the power to choose, despite the external situation.  Hating the other, not only doesn't work, it is just the same play book as the party in power and we become what we resist.  

            From a Buddhist, unity reality, we are all one, and our "leader" is part of me.  He was abused by his father, taught the world is only killers and losers.  He had no emotional support, and no real friends.  He knows he is a fraud, but can't embrace that, so he spews hate on everyone else.  If I have compassion for that destroyed, angry, frightened little boy, my attitude changes.  I don't forgive his actions, but I don't hate him, and I feel better.

            We don't know what will happen.  In the long term, the rise and fall of Hitler ushered in 80 years of peace in Europe, the longest in recent history.  Hold fast to the vision of what we want.

 

Canada and Greenland

                                                                                       written 2 February, 2025

                                                                                   published 9 February, 2025

     

            The 2021 fictional movie "Don't Look Up" portrays how humanity responds to the impending disaster of a comet about to impact the Earth.  The entrenched status quo declared it "fake news", to calm the public and protect profits.  More responsible people organized a global attempt to deflect the comet enough to avoid any impact.  At the last minute, wealthy voices, seduced by the value of the rare minerals in the comet, derailed that attempt.  Instead of changing trajectory, the goal became capturing the comet.  That failed, and everyone died.

            "Don't Look Up" is a metaphor for the climate crisis, which our current "leader" labels as "fake news".  Addicted to protecting short term corporate profits, he is working to undo the modest efforts of the previous administration.

            But the changes in the Arctic Ocean are real.  The Northwest Passage, once completely frozen solid, was first transited by 3 icebreakers in 1957.  The Arctic is warming 3-4 times faster than the rest of the planet, with diminishing summer ice cover each year.  The first summer with an ice-free route was in 2007, and cruise ships now occasionally make the passage.  

            The potential economic opportunities are huge, as passage through the Arctic, from China to Europe, is twice as quick as current routes using the Panama or Suez Canals, which are often congested.  Further, vast mineral and fossil fuel deposits could be exploited as the ice recedes.  China and Russia are very interested, which explains why our "leader" is now threatening to make Canada another state, and invade Greenland, offending two of our traditional allies.  National Security is the excuse, but greed is the driver.  However, like the misguided wealthy in the movie, a fundamental disaster is being completely ignored, risking everyone.

            Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a known greenhouse gas.  Humans have changed the atmospheric chemistry, added over 1,000 billion tons of fossil carbon in the last 75 years, heating the planet an additional 1.6°C.  Atmospheric CO₂ lasts for millennium, and the heating effect lags behind the atmospheric content by about a decade, so even if we stopped adding more today (which is NOT happening), the planet will slowly continue to heat up.

            But methane (CH₄) is another important greenhouse gas.  It is a smaller part of the atmosphere, and breaks down into CO₂ within a decade, but over that short interval it is 80-120 times more potent than CO₂ at heating the planet.  Natural methane is the byproduct of anerobic bacterial action, so wet lands, rice paddies, landfills, and herbivore belches contribute, but they recycle existing atmospheric carbon.  Natural gas is fossil methane, buried for millions of years.  As that industry expands, methane leakage increases.  In 2005, natural gas fracking boomed and by 2007 atmospheric content of methane began increasing sharply.   

            But the looming disaster in the warming Arctic comes from long frozen methane in the vast area of permafrost and in the sea floor of the Arctic Ocean.  These deposits have accumulated over millennium from buried bacterial action.  Like frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice), frozen methane goes directly from solid to gas when heated.  With increasing frequency, when frozen methane in permafrost warms and turns to gas, it blows out visible craters on the surface.

            The Arctic Ocean is a shallow sea, with an average depth of about 100'.  When the surface is covered with ice, as it has been for thousands of years, sunlight is reflected back, keeping the ocean floor cold, and the frozen sea floor methane remains stable.  The concern is that when the ocean surface is ice free, the darker water absorbs heat, warming the shallow sea and eventually the ocean floor, turning the frozen methane to gas which then rises to the surface.  

            The Arctic is relatively unexplored, so the amount of frozen sea floor methane is estimated between 200 billion to 10,000 billion tons.  If 1,000 billion tons of CO₂ warmed the world by 1.6°C, then just 10 billion tons of methane would have the same impact.  That is only 5 percent of the lowest estimated amount of sea floor methane, or less than 0.1 percent of the highest estimate.  The heating impact would hit within months.  Once any significant methane induced heating started, there would be nothing to stop the whole frozen mess coming to the surface.

            GOP/MAGA institutionalizes denial, distracted by greed, domination, and petty revenge, ignoring issues that are rapidly corroding our economy and our civilization.

 

 

Oil Sheen

                                                                                    written 20 January, 2025

                                                                                   published 2 February, 2025

  

            Everyone has seen the iridescent rainbow patterns in an oil sheen on water.  Oil is hydrophobic, which repels water and doesn't mix.  It spreads out across the surface of the water, and if the quantity of oil is small enough, the layer gets very thin and the rainbow patterns become more distinct.

            White light is composed of different colors, which are different wavelengths of energy.  A thin layer of oil reflects some light from the surface, but also allows some light to penetrate into the layer.  When that light hits the oil/water interface, some is reflected back toward the source, where it interacts with light reflected from the top surface.  For a given color, or wavelength, the interaction can be constructive (in phase) or destructive (out of phase) depending on the depth of the oil layer.  When constructive, that color is enhanced, when destructive, that color is diminished.  The rainbow patterns we see on the surface are a visual map of the subtle, varied thickness of the oil film.

            The human eye "sees" from red to blue, with red having a longer wave length than blue.  The wavelength of red light is 700 nanometers, 28 millionths of an inch, and blue light is only 16 millionth of an inch.  The rainbow patterns result from oil layer thickness differences as small as 10 millionths of an inch, 100 times finer than a human hair. While we can't directly experience those small distinctions, we clearly perceive the material consequences, seeing patterns without realizing the subtlety underlying those patterns.

            The same can be said for our experience of what we call the "material" realm.  Most people have heard of Einstein's famous equation E=MC²: energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.  All material form is concentrated energy.  Because the speed of light is so great, the energy represented by even a modest amount of mass (material) is enormous.  For example, a single 12 ounce bottle of my favorite beer, Boont Amber from Anderson Valley Brewery, has the energy equivalence of 13 megatons of TNT, 1000 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. Fortunately, beer is a very stable form of energy, delicious to drink, and easy to experience.

            The physical perspective resulting from Einstein's equation has been validated by transformative technologies ranging from the destruction force of nuclear weapons to LED lights, computers, cell phones, and solar cells.  No person alive today is untouched by the consequences of this view of reality.

            Like seeing the patterns in the oil sheen, yet unable to directly perceive the underlying subtle reality, our material experience misses another deeper reality.  The concentrated energy we experience as material form arises from a vast ocean of energy, much like the waves we see on the ocean ride on the invisible depth of water below.  We see only the surface patterns, not the volume.  

            Enormous as they are, the energy concentrated in the matter pales to insignificance when compared to the vast energy ocean from which all matter arises.  The most concentrated mass known, and therefore the most energetic, is the core of a neutron star, yet the difference between that and "nothing" is a billion trillion times less than the distinctions we see in an oil sheen.

            Why is any of this important?  How does it apply to my daily experience?

            The fundamental dysfunction of our times, the root of every "ism" that bedevils us all, is the persistent illusion that we are all completely separate, apparently supported by our limited experience of material reality.  The ways we divide reality are everywhere, and have been perpetuated through centuries, but they all rest on the belief that the differences we experience are absolute differences, instead of only relatively superficial distinctions.  To the extent we can open to the idea that all form is simply waves on the surface of the same ocean, we can begin to experience the unity of reality, instead of eternally fighting against what is inherently actually ourself.  

            This idea is not new, as the mystical core of every spiritual tradition teaches the same message.  For thousands of years, as far back as written history extends, the unity of life has been known and taught.  But over the same period of time, it has been ignored by the fanatics seeking power and domination.  However, we are now too numerous, and too powerful to be so ignorant much longer.