Tune in to WBKM at 8 PM ET for the start of Paradigms Season 4!

Well, I was going to go to Baltimore to cover the Green Party Convention for Paradigms. That didn't pan out. Then I was going to cover it remotely using the live feed from the convention. That also didn't work out. All that being said, I want you all to know that the Green Party of the US held it's nominating convention in Baltimore this past week and Dr. Jill Stein was selected to run as the Green Party Nominee for President of the United States.

As much as US elections are pretty much theater at this point, if you do choose to vote, a vote for Dr. Stein is spit in the eye to the republicans and democrats who so richly deserve to be spat upon. They will steal votes from her but they will know that our numbers are growing, and soon, planet willing, their days of dominance will be coming to an end.

Dr. Stein, good on ya!

http://jillstein.org

Life is interesting, no doubt.

Maybe not everyone, but certainly a lot of humans have to face the choice of whether they want to live or die many times in life…some people are not given a choice but what I mean is, for instance, say someone murders your mother, you might go through some deep psychological stuff about staying in this world and it might take a lot of time and experiences to navigate that.

I'm a pretty physical person, by which I mean I experience life through my body, including emotions and psychological stuff etc. I have a sense, today, having had a positive outcome from yesterday's upper endoscopy, that I have come through something; the threat of cancer represented my ambivalence about staying alive. Now that it seems that I do not have cancer I feel immense relief and excitement about going forward with life. It feels good to feel good!

Sunday May 13 Paradigms is very happy to bring you a live acoustic set with Todd Thibaud! 8 PM Eastern on WBKM!

Tune in, don't miss this wonderful talented heartfelt musician.

The chair of the House Ag Committee in the VT Legislature is caving in to Monsanto, and refusing to bring the GMO Labeling Law to the House for a vote.

802-828-2228 Rep. Carolyn W. Partridge, Chair House Ag Committee

Let her know that it is her job to serve the people of Vermont, not Monsanto. The bill is H.722

Sunday April 15 2012 Paradigms:

The Vermont Legislature is considering passing a law requiring all GMO foods to be labeled as such. 16 other states are in a similar process. The Bio-tech industry is threatening to sue Vermont if they pass this law. April 12, 2012 there was a rally at the Vermont State House. Paradigms was there! Tune in to hear the rally including people in the crowd and speakers.

8 PM Eastern http://wbkm.org and http://paradigms.bz

Coming up on Paradigms, two "David & Goliath" stories, one which worked out well and one which is in process.

Vermont's own Rock Art Brewery prevailed when Hansen's Natural stopped their trademark infringement complaint over the name of a beer, The Vermonster. Matt Nadeau of Rock Art is on the show this week.

Bo Muller-Moore, the Eat More Kale guy, is currently being targeted by Chik Fil A. Bo is on the show discussing what's happening.

Great music as always including a new tune from Bobby Treasure! Sunday April 8, 2012 at 8 PM Eastern on WBKM and at Paradigms.

Paradigms tonight!

Jim Lantz is a filmmaker and playwrite whose play "The Bus" debuted in Burlington, VT and made it to Off-Broadway in NYC. Jim is now working on a film, A Defiant Dude, with Bo Muller-Moore, the Eat More Kale guy.
Ryan Harb returns to Paradigms a year after his initial visit to tell us about what's happened with the UMASS Amherst Permaculture Project; some very exciting stuff!

8 PM Eastern http://wbkm.org and http://paradigms.bz

Tell all your friends!

Equinox Eve, March 20, 2012. Outside tonight, a moonless sky bright with planets and stars. The even of the vernal equinox, Ostara, 2012, and record breaking heat across the continent.

Being outside under the stars is for me one way of going to church. It is a tangible experience because my senses inform me of the star field and the sphere I am on, and of the enormity of the supposedly spherical expanding universe. All those stars, even just the ones I can see, shedding light on me, literally particles from those stars permeating my body, sending photons into my eyes, so looking at the night sky is for me to experience connection at the deepest.

Blessed Equinox to all!

love,
Baruch

Malik Rahim of New Orleans, co-founder of Common Ground Relief and Common Ground Health Clinic, is the guest on Paradigms tonight, discussing what's happening on the Gulf Coast, in New Orleans, the Occupy movement and more. Great music as always. 8 PM Eastern WBKM and Paradigms.

2012 sure has started out with a lot of oomph in my life! Things with Paradigms are going well. Teaching is going well. The global revolution is progressing. And, I found a great piece of land and I have put down a deposit on it. Now I need to raise the rest of the down payment!

I've put together a narrative and a short video of the land that you can check out here.

The most exciting thing about this project is that I am not doing it alone. Old friends and some new ones are "on on it" with me which is way more fun than doing it alone.

I hope you will check out the link and if you feel so moved, make a contribution. I would also be very grateful if you shared this email, or the link, with people you think would be interested in the project.

Even if you are not in a position to contribute monetarily, love and support are greatly appreciated!

Here is a preview of the next three episodes of Paradigms!

Jan 15 the makers of the film "1/2 Revolution"

Jan 22 Presidential Candidate Dr. Jill Stein and Victoria Collier from VoteScam

Jan 29 Jazz and Gospel singer extraordinaire Moonlight Davis and a truly amazing urban naturalist Nance Klehm

8 PM Sundays on WBKM and at the Paradigms website.

Welcome to 2012! Here we are...so much going on, from the sublime to the horrendous.

I found a beautiful piece of land with a funky building I can fix up on it...for sale! I can afford the monthly payments, I just need to raise down payment money. Loans, gifts, investments...interested? I need to raise a total of $26k pretty much ASAP.

If you are interested, or have ideas, give me a holler! baruch@mcn.org

Tonight Paradigms comes from Alaska!

Paul Pike is a musician originally from Newfoundland Canada, a Mi'kmaq man, a parent, grandparent, and a substance abuse counselor. Great interview, fantastic music!

Josh, part of Occupy Anchorage and Occupy Fairbanks, talks about some of the challenges facing Alaska.

Tonight at 8 PM Eastern http://wbkm.org and http://paradigms.bz

Here is where I am today.

There are numerous irons in the fire for Paradigms and for my teaching, and today I am at a pause. Nothing is happening today. Foundations are laid and now we will see what happens.

There is an overwhelming amount of information about things that are going wrong in governments, in policies, acts of cruelty, acts of stupidity; the presidential grandstanding and election theater in the US, the ongoing fighting for freedom around the world, more repression, more economic pressurization, more militarization. On it goes. All of it, from Wal-Mart to cluster bombs to riots, and it’s only just begun, this period of worldwide transition transformation, starting off with the ugliness one expects from dying empires, and hopefully leading to some creative kind effective sustainable new systems.

It is the dark time of the year and I am feeling tired. It is not cold and snowy here yet but hopefully it will be. I just want to sleep and dream and eat and hibernate and gestate the next season’s ideas, form the seeds for new creativity in the spring.

I am also tired of the human bullshit, all that stuff I listed above. I mean, really, this is the best we can do? So much foolishness, people lusting after power and things and status and all this meaningless nonsense, losing sight of (if they ever had it) the bigger picture. And the willingness to cause suffering in order to make money. That is really just sick.

The US Senate has now passed a law allowing military arrest and detention of anyone in the US, declaring that the “homeland is now part of the battlefield.” That’s pretty fucking scary sounding to me. The President can veto the law. I hope he does. If he signs it then the next phase of fascism will be set into motion.

This coming Sunday Paradigms will be about positive music and Gratitude. I would love to include as many peoples voices as possible expressing gratitude in their own way. If you are interested, please call 802-232-4205 and leave a message. You can say your name, or not, and then just speak or sing or whatever you like to express your gratitude. I might answer the phone in which case you won't leave a message, we will get to speak together and I will record your expression.

My Gratitude to all of You!

love,
Baruch

http://paradigms.bz
http://wbkm.org

Here is something I don't understand. A man, veteran of one of our government/corporate wars, shoots himself in the head in a public park in Burlington and no one is talking about the implications of that. What does it mean that this man, one of so many veterans who commit suicide, chose to do this in a public place? What is the statement? Obviously it is a cry of terrible pain, but is it more? When a monk or a nun immolates themself in Tibet it is seen as a clear political message. Why is that type of analysis missing in this situation? It is easy to say "Oh the occupation is unsafe, look what happened" but what we should be asking ourselves is "what does it mean about our way of life that a veteran kills himself in a public park?"

Addendum November 16

I was mistaken. The man who shot himself was not a veteran. I still think that there is a bigger picture to look at when someone kills themself in a public park.

It is a sunny day in San Francisco. I hear the cars going by on Bush Street below me. The friends I am staying with have gone out for a bit and I am working on my radio show for tomorrow, responding to students and enjoying the change in perspective one can receive taking a break from the day to day, traveling.

It has been nearly 7 years since I sold my house, closed my therapy practice, and went on sabbatical. I feel a sense of coming full circle...or at least the sabbatical coming to an organic resting place, transitioning into something else.

There is a body of work in my past; as a therapist, as an educator, as a producer and host of a radio program. I’m in my 50’s. I am starting to perceive a sort of cohesive quality to all of what’s come before. It’s all coming together, my past gathering itself into something whole, forming a new starting point where I can draw from my past learning and go forward. I’m feeling more excitement and inspiration than I have in a while.

If I have one piece of wisdom to share, one piece of advice to give, (something I benefit by remembering!) it’s this. Never underestimate the value of true friendship.

Tonight I will attend the 32nd annual Spiral Dance! Tomorrow night I will share some of that on my radio show. If you are hungry for magic, tune in!

I have just launched an IndieGoGo campaign for Paradigms! This is an opportunity for people to support the show, including making it possible for me to take on an intern to help with research and to learn how to create their own programming. I'm pretty excited! Check out the campaign here.

Like many people I am watching what’s happening in the world, from extreme weather to extreme politics to extreme human-made environmental disasters and cruelty...the list goes on and on. I am wading through my own personal distress to stay aware of the bigger picture. I am not alone in this.

I said to a friend yesterday “I used to be so organized, now I wear pajamas to go out visiting or to town to do errands.” It is all I can do to keep track of what is in front of me, let alone the bigger broader concerns.

I see the possibility, still, of another world than the one we have made. I can see a world where people are kind and think about the wellbeing of others, and the Earth. I see a world where people treat non-renewables with great care, reuse everything, where the words “garbage” and “trash” are obsolete. I see a world where everyone is valued for what they can contribute to the common good. I see a world where the conglomerates we now call “government” and “corporation” no longer exist, and where sociopaths are cared for while being prevented from seeking or achieving political or economic power. I see a world where war is unthinkable, where every birth is wanted and every death acknowledged. My vision is broad and deep and far reaching. I know that many others have such visions.

I have foreseen and written about what will happen with humans on Earth if we do not change our behavior. I’m sure that many others have had these experiences as well.

The question I see before me now, always, is not what are my politics or who do I sleep with (no one currently) or whether or not I support abortion rights, it’s about finding ways to participate which support the common good. That can mean helping a friend or helping someone I don’t know. I am fortunate that my paying work is in alignment with the value I hold of supporting others in their learning and in becoming more conscious of the life of the Earth. It is a small contribution but I know that at least some of the people who take my classes do go on to use what they learn. But it doesn’t feel like enough. Maybe there is no “enough.” I suspect that is the case.

In contemplating all this I always come to the same cognitive dissonance. I understand intellectually but do not “get” how people can make decisions that are so heartless. Obama is set to decide (he has already decided) whether or not to approve an oil pipeline from the Alberta tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico. It is already clear that this would be an environmental disaster, an economic nightmare, and will continue the process of enriching a few while impoverishing many. Obama, and the rest of the US political establishment, have made it clear time and again that they do not care about the people, they do not care about the Earth, they care about money and power and political expediency. This pipeline is just one example of thousands which point to the psychopathic mindset of those “in power.” At some point, maybe sooner than later, “The People” will have had enough. Something will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Here in the US so many are inured, numb, stressed by just surviving, they can barely even think about resisting the forces that are coming down on them, so I don’t know what that last straw could be, but it seems inevitable.

In the meantime, we do what needs to be done, and we find inspiration where we can.