Words Have Power

Long Term Food Security For Urban Areas

Urbanization, climate change, and food security are tightly linked issues. It is estimated that by 2050 more than 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas.

New strategies are needed to ensure food supply and food security for people living in urban areas.

Food security means achieving a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self-reliance and social justice.

Cities Must Be Reimagined and Redesigned

Promoting local food production in urban areas is the key to integrating green and edible vegetation into their boundaries. Cities must be re-imagined and re-designed to incorporate agricultural practices in order to achieve sustainability.

Rooftops, courtyards, and public green areas can all be converted into vegetable gardens.

In Italy, an average of 44% of the population grows fruit and vegetables in urban gardens and private terraces.

The heritage of Italian vegetable gardens is rooted in a tradition born of a deep reverence for the earth, for growing and preparing food, and can pave the way to more sustainable urban living.

If you google “Italian vegetable gardens” you’ll get a whopping 137,000,000 results. Not only have Italian gardening traditions been maintained in Italy and abroad by Italian immigrants, in their backyards, they’ve also been adopted by other cultures. Classic Italian vegetable gardens can be found throughout Canada and the USA.

Many years ago I relocated from Canada to Milan, Italy. It was in the city of Milan, where I saw my first communal vegetable gardens.

In a city such as Milan, a private backyard garden is a rarity. Mostly I would see older Italians, tending after these communal gardens. They reminded me of summers spent at my aunts’ and uncles’ homes in Ontario.

I grew up in an Italian immigrant family, in Canada, at a time when traditions from the old country were held onto with passion and commitment by the previous generations.

My uncles and aunts each had an ‘Orto’, an Italian vegetable garden. At times most of the backyard was allotted to the vegetable garden.

I witnessed frequent conversations about whether there had been too much or not enough sun and rain and which moon cycles needed to be observed for yielding the best results, as different vegetables require to be planted and harvested at specific times during the lunar phases.

In these gardens, they grew aubergines, tomatoes, zucchini, fava beans, peppers both hot and sweet, string beans, rucola, carrots, lettuce, fragrant herbs, and so on. Italian vegetable gardens can produce a lot in very small spaces. Tiny backyard plots would feed an entire family and friends.

In the fall, endless jars of tomatoes, grilled eggplant, peppers, jams, and pickled vegetables would be stowed away for the winter months ahead.

Unfortunately, these traditions were not always held onto by successive generations as many opted for a BBQ deck and/or a swimming pool in place of a vegetable garden.

Promoting Local Food Production

Over the years, since living in Italy, I’ve seen a shift, with a passion for vegetable gardening taking a hold of the younger generation. Gardening is no longer only a pastime for the elderly.

Projects such as Coltivando, an urban vegetable garden, set up on 1000 sqm of land at the Bovisa Campus of Politecnico di Milano, is a perfect example of urban community gardening. The project was developed and designed with the collaboration of and for people from the neighborhood.

Local authorities in Italian cities, organize and rent urban gardens. There are different parameters and systems for the concession of public gardens. Some municipalities may offer annual use in exchange for a small fee, while others may be reserved for certain age groups and there are those who open tenders for assignments, offering rent shares that vary according to income and age.

Just 25 km outside of Milan, in the province of Lombardy, there is an experimental educational farm, the Minoprio Foundation, with the production structures consisting of greenhouses, tunnels, shadows, nurseries, vegetable gardens, and an orchard with old and new varieties of plants.

The Minoprio Foundation enjoys and benefits from an estate of about 60 hectares consisting of a historical, agricultural, and naturalistic park.

Another initiative that got my attention is MILANO GREEN WAY. A five thousand square meters urban community green area, in the city of Milan, along the Olona river, in the Barona village district. This redevelopment project transformed a degraded urban area into a shared community garden. The project was curated by OPERA in FIORE, a Social Cooperative, with the collaboration of inmates on leave, residents, students, and young gardeners.

With over 44% of the population growing fruit and vegetables in urban gardens and do-it-yourself terrace gardens Coldiretti’s analysis of the latest Istat data from 2019 showed a recorded growth of 18.5% in five years, exceeding 2.1 million square meters and estimates for 2020-21 indicate further growth with the introduction of vertical gardens in Milano’s latest architectural projects.

Data also shows that in one year the number of Italians living in conditions of utter poverty increased from 4.6 million to 5.6 million.

To make matters worst, crop losses, from anomalous weather trends, coupled with a sharp rise in production costs, from fuel to fertilizers and an increase in energy costs, have taken their toll on Italian households.

Urbanization, climate change, and food security are tightly linked issues. It is estimated that by 2050 more than 70% of the world’s population will live in urban areas.

Perhaps being locked in for months on end, due to the pandemic, and the resulting economic crisis has ushered in a new design for urban living, with a desire to reconnect with nature, save money and eat well.

It’s truly delightful to see gardening traditions continued, whether on a small or large scale. These practices help us understand the importance of living close to the earth and do our part in creating a more sustainable future.

It is no longer possible to remain inactive and hope for better times.

A Daily Dose Of Happiness

What is happiness? If you look up synonyms for this elusive word you’ll find gems such as euphoria, glee, jubilation, seventh heaven, bliss, and elation.

How does one achieve such a state? Is it love, money, beauty, youth, health, success, or a combination of all of these? Hard to come by the full package, don’t you think?

I believe in a daily dose of happiness, no matter what. A permanent state of happiness is difficult to achieve and would be counter-productive. It is the difficult times in our lives that teach us to appreciate the good times.

It can be said that certain life circumstances and conditions contribute to one’s happiness, give or take.

Falling in love, getting a raise, your favorite team winning the game? But are these not fleeting moments of happiness? So what would make for long-lasting happiness? Winning the lottery? I imagine oodles of money would make many people happy, yet those same happy lottery winners could very quickly fall back into unhappiness, should their spouses, once they cash in half the winnings, choose to leave them, or if the lottery winner were to never walk again, following a head-on collision with a wild boar, while speeding on a country road in their new dream sports car.

I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but my point is simply that life is made of ups and downs, and these don’t come announced or have any particularly recognizable patterns. Life is full of surprises, some better than others.

I don’t believe in being happy all the time, it simply doesn’t work, doesn’t exist and the mere thought of having to be happy all the time is stressful. I enjoy crying when I have a good reason to cry. I enjoy arguing when I have a good reason to defend a position. I enjoy anger as well, as long as it is properly vented, in a constructive creative manner.

A full range of feelings must be given free reign, in order for us to keep developing our very unique identities. Life serves up all the experiences we need in order to realize our potential.

Perhaps it would be wise to get more acquainted with the sources of our unhappiness in order to navigate our way towards happiness. It’s a little like getting vaccinated. You become less prone to falling into the unhappiness rut, you react with a constructive resolution instead, and find ways to move beyond. Go ahead and scream at yourself in the mirror, but make sure you don’t take any shit from yourself…that’s the trick. Come to an agreement with yourself, no use beating yourself up. Make little adjustments to how you think and how you communicate with yourself.

The difficult times in our lives can help us appreciate the good times. Whether it is the loss of status or of a loved one, these are the defining moments that help us realize happiness, like life, is a temporal and fleeting occurrence.

Research shows that happiness is not the result of bouncing from one joy to the next, but typically involves times of considerable discomfort

Happiness is a state of well-being that encompasses living a good life, with a sense of purpose, meaning, and deep satisfaction. Research shows that happiness is not the result of bouncing from one joy to the next, it typically involves periods of considerable discomfort.

My secret is to find a daily dose of happiness. I do this by thanking the universe every morning when I wake up to a steaming cup of my favorite coffee, a flushing toilet, and the hot shower that follows. I cultivate my friendships as if they were all part of an exotic garden that I am the keeper of, and I take every occasion I can to immerse myself in nature and celebrate the beauty of life. Don’t underestimate the simple comforts in life and how they contribute to your happiness.

New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work and Here’s Why

New Year’s Resolutions are a secular tradition. A person promises themselves to embark on a mission of self-improvement, or simply promises to be more civil with nice gestures such as picking up their dog’s poo as soon as the New Year starts. I say, hey why not start right away ?

Forget those New Year’s resolutions. Want to quit or reduce smoking, drinking, start working out? Want to start eating healthy, working less, reduce, re-use, recycle, give up your seat bus to elders, pay more attention to your family and loved ones? Watch less TV?

Want to give yourself a boost and get back on track? Been feeling sluggish, and life seems dull? New Year’s Resolutions aren’t going to do it.

This mass-induced ritual of self-betterment, that we embrace with the entrance of a New Year, is a futile gesture considering most people will not stick to the program they’ve set out for themselves.

Studies showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail.

Often the program is unrealistic, and part of the reason that most people postpone it to the New Year is that they want to keep partaking in their old habits, be they good or bad, for as long as possible. In this manner, resolutions become sacrifices.

Resolutions are about self-betterment, about shedding old baggage and all that stuff that apparently prevents us from being our best, and from achieving our full potential.

This lady says it well…LIFE IS THE GAME WE PLAY

I believe, beyond any reasonable doubt, that in order to reach our full potential and give birth to OUR SELVES, we need to embrace our madness. We need to not care what others think or say about us, we need to stay true to ourselves against all odds. Simply put, it means you need to listen to your inner voice. Which one, you might ask, there are several.

If you pay attention, you will be able to distinguish your own inner voice from the voices of your elders, society, friends, peers and colleagues, the church, and the media. Your voice will stand out amongst all of that caucus that lives inside your head.

Chase out all those voices that don’t belong to you, all those voices leading you astray, that tell you you’ll never make it, that you’re too fat, too young, too old, too tall, too small, your skin too dark, that your ideas are stupid. Chase them all away and embrace yourself, embrace your madness.

No matter how crazy your ideas may sound, even to you, go for it! So instead of wasting time making a list of resolutions, you won’t keep, why not start thinking on your feet? Why not do something to stimulate your blood flow and get your juices flowing. Somewhere in there, if we dig deep enough we all have some crazy ideas, and these very ideas may be the key to harnessing our full potential and freeing us from boredom and a life afloat in dullness and repetition.

Embracing your madness means harnessing your passions and creating something from nothing.

Here’s a couple of ridiculous ideas that made these guys a fortune.

“Back in the 70’s some guy bought a bunch of stones from a builder’s supply store, packaged them in cardboard boxes with holes (so the rocks could “breathe”), and marketed them as serious “pets”. For a production cost of less than a dollar, Dahl sold each rock for $3.95. And sell them he did. By Christmas of 1975, pet rocks were all the rage. As for Dahl, his aptly-named Rock Bottom Productions was rolling over…. in profits.”

IFart App has Ridiculously Rich Person Behind It: Joel Comm. Estimated Profit: $400K Somewhere, in Joel Comm’s unique mind, the iFart was conceived, the whoopee cushion for the iPhone. What’s even crazier? He thought people would pay for the app. iFart retails for 99 cents, and the absolutely insane part about this all is that Joel Comm was right.

The more you define who you are, the more you unleash your potential.

Who cares how much you weigh and how many followers you have. As new adventures enter your life, you will come into your own new skin as you shed old habits. The best part is you don’t have to wait for New Year’s eve to do so, and it doesn’t have to be a million-dollar idea.

It can simply be getting off your butt right now, picking up the phone, and getting something in motion. Doing that thing that has been nagging at you for some time. Get involved with people and make things happen, small projects that can benefit many, simply by creating a common goal, and playing together to make it happen.

Self-improvement is a full-time activity and requires healthy doses of feeling good about ourselves, very different from what people are usually feeling when they make resolutions.

If you absolutely must stay true to tradition then here’s one bit of advice. Resolutions are more sustainable when shared, both in terms of with whom you share the benefits of your resolution, and with whom you share the path of maintaining your resolution. Peer support will increase your chances of actually sticking to your New Year’s Resolution.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and remember to EMBRACE YOUR MADNESS!

Use It Or Lose It – Words Have Power

But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.
George Orwell, 1984

Through the study of language, we can discover some revealing things about any given culture. It is said that the Eskimos have over 35 words for “snow” because its exact condition is very important to their thinking. Sanskrit has 96 words for love.

Approximately 359 million people speak English as their first language. Although the English language has only one word for love, it reportedly has over 500 words for the female genitals and almost as many for the male apparatus. Merriam-Webster dictionary has 23 synonyms for the term ‘sexual-intercourse’.

How language Affects Thinking

Russian speakers, who have more words for light and dark blues, are better able to visually discriminate shades of blue.
Some indigenous tribes say north, south, east, and west, rather than left and right, and as a consequence have great spatial orientation.
The Piraha, whose language eschews number words in favor of terms like few and many, are not able to keep track of exact quantities.
In one study, Spanish and Japanese speakers couldn’t remember the agents of accidental events as adeptly as English speakers could. Why? In Spanish and Japanese, the agent of causality is dropped: “The vase broke itself,” rather than “John broke the vase.”

Language shapes how we understand, space, time, and causality

It turns out that if you change how people talk, that changes how they think. If people learn another language, they inadvertently also learn a new way of looking at the world. When bilingual people switch from one language to another, they start thinking differently.

Does language shape our thoughts and influence culture?
Do English, Chinese, Russian and Japanese understand and remember experiences differently simply because they speak different languages?

These questions touch on major controversies in the study of the mind, with important implications for politics, religion, and sexuality. The idea that language might shape thought was for a long time considered untestable, at best, or dismissed altogether.

New cognitive science research has shown that language profoundly influences how we see the world.

New research shows us that the languages we speak not only reflect or express our thoughts but also shape the very thoughts we express. The structures that exist in our languages profoundly shape how we construct our reality, and assist us in being as smart and sophisticated as we are.

“That language embodies different ways of knowing the world seems intuitive, given the number of times we reach for a word or phrase in another language that communicates that certain je ne sais quoi that we can’t find in our own language.”
—Steve Kallaugher

What role does the media play in shaping our thoughts and our language?

News coverage of the pill (in the 60’s) and of the Clinton/Lewinsky episode proved to be 2 turning points in an accelerating preoccupation by the American Media with all things sexual.

The role of the media in shaping public perceptions and opinions regarding significant
political and social issues has been the subject of both speculation and research since its inception. Now the focus has shifted to Social Media. With so much going on globally, media has the power to influence not only our perceptions it also decides what is important and what isn’t.

The Julian Assange case is a striking example of how corporate media buried news about one of the most important political trials of our lifetime.

The “power of language” not only means language in service of power, remember that language can also undermine power

While censorship is often conducted by corporations and governments to prevent words, images, or ideas from entering the mainstream, censorship of literature was around as early as 399 B.C. The Catholic Church had been compiling lists of banned books since 1559, and only stopped the practice in 1966.

“Of all the weapons of destruction that man could invent, the most terrible-and the most powerful-was the word. Daggers and spears left traces of blood; arrows could be seen at a distance. Poisons were detected in the end and avoided. But the word managed to destroy without leaving clues.”

― Paulo Coelho

Brain Interfaces: Evolutionary Advance Or Decline?

Man’s evolutionary quest has taken us from the bottom of the ocean to deep space, now science and technology join forces to expand beyond our physical realm and explore new frontiers of communication.

Elon Musk’s Neuralink app, a new kind of brain interface being developed, one of several, would allow you to control your iOS device, keyboard, and mouse, just by thinking about it. When you stop to think about it, even the telephone was invented to meet the needs of long-distance communication.

Both the application and the implications are numerous. Consider the endless possibilities of increasing the brain’s channels of communication. These methods could be employed to treat a wide range of neurological disorders, restore sensory or movement functions, and without a doubt change the way we interact with one another.

Understanding the physical mechanisms of telepathy has inspired modern technology with the endless possibilities and applications of brain-to-brain communications. Much can be uncovered by studying the sensing, emitting, and receiving principles at work in telepathic communication.

In the realm of our physical senses-based world, telepathy has long been regarded as a controversial phenomenon. However, as of late, science and tech journals feature ever more studies, indicating telepathy holds keys to modern technological applications with designs to increase the brain’s channels of communication.

Telepathy is not science fiction. In fact, both science and technology are now drawing inspiration from the principles of telepathy to develop brain interfaces designed to increase the brain’s channels of communication.

Telepathy has long been a disputed phenomenon in the scientific community. On the other hand, it has often been perceived as a viable means of accessing the unconscious mind.

In the late 19th and early 20th Century telepathy was a topic of interest, discussed and written about, by Sigmund Freud, Thomas Huxley, W. T. Stead, and Oscar Wilde, amongst many other eminent men and women of the times. They put into question whether telepathy signaled an evolutionary advance or a possible decline.

In his book, The invention of telepathy 1870-1900, Roger Luckhurst investigates this question and many other questions, in a study that blends the history of science with cultural history and literary analysis surrounding telepathy.

Telepathy and mysticism have been intimately connected in man’s attempt to answer the most taunting questions about life. One could say that telepathy has been seen as a possible bridge to the metaphysical world.

Edgar Cayce, also known as the “Sleeping Prophet” spent over 43 years of his life as a practicing “trance physician” and telepathic clairvoyant. When Cayce passed away, on the 3rd of January 1945, he left an impressive legacy of his life’s work, 140,000 documented stenographic records of his trance readings, one of the most extensive compilations of psychic primary materials recorded to date.

Telepathic connections between twins have provided researchers with the means to study the phenomenon and have served as significant evidence of telepathy amongst humans.

Dr. Lynn Cherkas, who studied Telepathy in twins, concluded that 20% of identical twins and 1% of fraternal twins had some type of telepathic experience with their twin. A most comprehensive survey on the history of research into twin telepathy is compiled in the book Twin Telepathy by Guy Leon Playfair.

Many people claim to have had some form of telepathic experience at some point in their lives.

Have you ever found yourself jolted out of reverie by your phone ringing and the name that appeared on your screen made your heart leap? Almost gave you the creeps? The very person you were thinking of!

Perhaps a distant friend or family member you’ve been out of touch with for years. Is it a coincidence that they happened to contact you at that particular moment or the exact day you happened to wake up thinking about them or had dreamt of them?

Often time it can be as simple as being in a room with another person and you know exactly what they are about to say, before they say it, at other times it can be a hunch that saves your life or the life of a loved one.

These types of experiences always leave us feeling as though there is some special deeper meaning to the event and give us momentary access to an otherwise invisible and complex network of communications that most of us are unable to willingly harness. They make us reflect deeply on life. The possibility of communicating at a distance by simply using our minds is both alluring and unnerving. It shakes up some fundamental belief systems.

Some people experience precognition, a feeling, or a presentiment of something about to happen or about someone, which reveals itself to be a real occurrence.

I dreamt of my grandfather’s funeral, as a child, and the following day we received news of his death. I had only ever seen my grandfather in photographs since my parents had relocated from Europe to Canada shortly after I was born, so I had no conscious recollection of my grandfather.

I have had several other premonitions over the years, one particularly stands out, involving a girlfriend I’d been quite close to and lost touch with when I moved from the West Coast of Canada back to the East Coast.

For days, following a vivid and preoccupying dream, I attempted to find her. There were few resources available, no internet yet. I managed to get an address for her brother and sent a letter, which eventually made its way to her. Years later, when we met up again, she admitted that upon reading the letter she was startled. How could I possibly have known that she was going through difficult and trying times, in a situation that had put her life at risk? The letter had been a wake-up call for her and as a result, she set herself on a new path and out of harm’s way.

How can an event that is occurring to a person at a specific time and place be simultaneously communicated to another person’s consciousness who is at a distance?

When telepathic communication occurs, place, time and distance have no bearing.

Extrasensory perception during the dream state has been studied for decades. In truth, the first attempt to study telepathic dreams experimentally is reported by G.B. Ermacora (1895) in a publication of the Society for Psychical Research.

Most Telepathic experiences involve a direct transference of thought from one person to another. So essentially we have a sender and a receiver communicating without putting into play the usual sensory channels of communication, therefore considered a form of extrasensory perception (ESP).

Studies conducted on people experiencing paranormal phenomena have yielded significant results.

“Scientists at the University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon University created a brain-to-brain interface system that allows one or more people, called “Senders,” to influence the decisions of an individual, called a “Receiver”
https://massivesci.com/articles/mind-control-brain-machine-interface/

Aside from the possible medicinal uses, brain-to-brain interfaces could find interested players across many disciplines, from sports to business, the military, and civilians. If this technology were to be used on the battlefield it would enable soldiers to send and receive commands and warnings, through a form of electronic or synthetic telepathy.

There is more than sufficient evidence pointing to telepathy and its scientific possibilities. Telepathy no longer resides in the realm of superstition. According to Forbes mind sharing is definitely coming. It will revolutionize how people learn, interact and experience new things.

Consciousness, free will, and the meaning of life have always been at the core of man’s questions about our existence. It stands to reason that our evolutionary progress should eventually take us beyond the limitations of the five physical senses we rely on and science and technology are leading the way.

Some would argue that we are not ready for this leap and that our innate telepathic abilities are meant to be matured and accessed organically, so to speak, without the aid of technology.

These developments would greatly increase both the efficiency and power of select individuals and organizations to monitor, regulate and respond. Just as we use tools to shape our world, the tools we use shape us.

In our quest to make great leaps, with science and technology at the helm, perhaps we should ask ourselves the same question those luminaries from the early 20th century posed themselves, ‘will it lead us to an evolutionary advance or a possible decline?

Why Comedy Should Not Be Censored

Given the recent outcries from the LGBTQ+ community over Dave Chapelle’s recent material I’ve given much thought to WHY COMEDY SHOULD NOT BE CENSORED.

We’ve been Laughing at jokes about Blacks, Asians, Jews, Blondes, Mexicans, Americans, Italians, the size of dicks, tits, and noses, fat and skinny people, sex, religion, the KKK, politics, and more, for decades.

Comedy has historically pushed boundaries and poked at sensitive issues and topics. As with all other art forms, comedy is also hatched in a dark, deep personal realm where everything is unfiltered. Many comedians draw from personal experience.

Take Richard Pryor for example, who through his own personal experience and raw, uncensored brand of humor brought to light issues surrounding poverty, racism, and drug abuse.

Lenny Bruce was another pioneer who pushed the boundaries. “Lenny worshipped the gods of Spontaneity, Candor, and Free Association. He fancied himself an oral jazzman. His ideal was to walk out there like Charlie Parker, take that mike in his hand like a horn and blow, blow, blow everything that came into his head just as it came into his head with nothing censored, nothing translated, nothing mediated, until he was pure mind, pure head sending out brainwaves like radio waves into the heads of every man and woman seated in that vast hall. Sending, sending, sending, he would finally reach a point of clairvoyance where he was no longer a performer but rather a medium transmitting messages that just came to him from out there — from recall, fantasy, prophecy.”

“Lenny Bruce worshipped the gods of Spontaneity, Candor, and Free Association.

Comedy is an art form and as such should not be censored. People need to learn how to laugh at themselves again. Without shock, subversion, and a little bit of transgression and irreverence, comedy cannot fulfill its important social function. Laughter is revelatory and can awaken our awareness of injustices.

I read somewhere that humor can turn anger and frustration into fine art. Even science advocates the value of self-mockery

Comedy is very much like a pressure valve, releasing us from our daily challenges and existential strife. If you want to read more about the value of comedy and laughter in our lives.

Have We Forgotten How To Laugh At Ourselves?

Revisiting classic movies can be a seriously startling experience. Last night I watched some scenes from Death Wish 3. The story of a once mild-mannered liberal, New York City architect, played by Charles Bronson, who snaps when intruders break into his home, murder his wife, and violently rape his daughter. His frustration with the police, unable to find the intruders, leads him to moonlight as a vigilante, and gingerly gun down any criminal that crosses his path.

There is a scene, in Death Wish 3, where an elderly Jewish couple’s home is broken into by local scoundrels that have been terrorizing the neighborhood. This scene, by today’s standards, would be considered inappropriate, tasteless to say to least. The stereotypical representation of the elderly Jewish couple is both comical and dismal, not to mention the character that leaps in through their window, like a flying monkey version of Rick James, in a crop top, may he RIP.

This got me thinking and reflecting on some of the classic movies I grew up with, such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I asked myself, how does Mickey Rooney’s stereotyped performance as Holly’s Japanese neighbor, Mr. Yunioshi, fare by today’s standards?

Hell, they’ve even censored Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry for depicting racial stereotypes and caricatures.

Recently we’re seeing more and more censorship, and Disney is a perfect example. They’ve edited and censored everything from the movie Splash to Toy Store. What exactly are we concerned about?

They say humans start laughing as early as three months, in life. “In a study of thousands of examples of laughter, the speakers in a conversation were found to be 46 percent more likely to laugh than the listeners.” This is because laughter is also a way for us to signal that we want to connect and collaborate.

laughing baby — They say humans start laughing as early as three months.

Laughter may have evolved as a way to enhance connectedness in societies but it goes far deeper. Have you ever asked yourself why people will laugh at the misfortunes of others and in the realization that a norm has been breached?

Plato, along with other ancient Greek philosophers maintained that people find humor in, and laugh at, earlier versions of themselves and the misfortunes of others because they feel superior. The bottom line is that people are attracted to authenticity since it stands to reason that by revealing our own flaws in a humorous way, we can build bridges so that others might feel comfortable lowering their guard.

Several centuries later Freud advanced the notion that laughter is a release, allowing people to let off steam or release pent-up “nervous energy.” This theory also explains why tabooed scatological and sexual themes and jokes hinting at those familiar thorny social and ethnic topics are amusing to some.

There are many definitions of humor, yet it still seems to be elusive. However, whether it’s slapstick, double entendre, or ethnic jokes that induce laughter, these all have one aspect in common; A person realizes that an ethical, social or physical norm has been violated and that this violation is not reprehensible.

Chris Rock, Jennifer Saunders and more have argued that ‘wokeness’ is stifling comedy.

Shock, subversion, and transgression are essential elements of comedy. Nowadays we are experiencing a redefinition of humor. Some comedians are sounding the alarm, stating that cancel culture is killing comedy. Chris Rock, Jennifer Saunders, and more have argued that ‘wokeness’ is stifling comedy. Has social media become a tool of oppression?

Comedy has historically pushed boundaries and poked at sensitive issues and topics and as with all other artforms, comedy is also hatched in a dark, deep personal realm where everything is unfiltered. Many comedians draw from personal experience. Take Richard Pryor for example, who through his own personal experience and raw, uncensored brand of humor brought to light issues surrounding poverty, racism, and drug abuse.

I read somewhere that humor can turn anger and frustration into fine art. Even science advocates the value of self-mockery. In a recent study, researchers discovered that self-deprecating humor improves our health. It goes without saying that one shouldn’t use self-deprecation in order to camouflage insecurities, however in this study, it was observed that people who regularly poke fun at themselves exhibit greater levels of emotional well-being.

“In particular, we have observed that a greater tendency to employ self-defeating humor is indicative of high scores in psychological well-being dimensions such as happiness and, to a lesser extent, sociability,” the study authors wrote.

Having a good laugh is excellent for reducing stress and it makes us more flexible, creative, and effective in the face of challenges. Comedy is very much like a pressure valve, releasing us from our daily challenges and existential strife.

Without shock, subversion, and a little bit of transgression comedy cannot fulfill its important social function. Laughter is revelatory and can awaken our awareness of injustices, as well as open our eyes to what is wrong in our world and needs fixing. Laughing unites people.

“In order to truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain and play with it. “
charlie chaplin

Remembering Diana Rigg

Many of you probably know Diana Rigg from the series, Game of Thrones, where she played Olenna Tyrell, a withered, cunning and sharp tongued old woman with a wicked wit. To me Diana Rigg will always be synonymous with Emma Peel, the stylish, sexy, confident, daring devilish, crime-fighting partner of the dapper intelligence agent John Steed, played by Patrick Macnee, in the 1960s series, The Avengers.

I know and understand why Actors hate being remembered for a single role in a TV series and that this is tantamount to death, as Diana Rigg herself stated in an interview. Nevertheless, I must state my case and make an exception, where the character Emma Peel is concerned.

Emma Peel was the quintessential new liberated woman of the 60’s and a beam of hope for many young girls my age, who were starving for a new free spirited role model. There was no other female role, on TV, that came close or compared to Emma Peel, in the TV series The Avengers. She was unique, exciting, dangerous, a woman in control of herself and her life. She did not need to be rescued and her special skills were appreciated, and put to good use, instead of being kept under constraint, as was the case for other TV female starring roles, at the time.

TV Shows such as Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie, which were also popular during the 60s, both portrayed iconic blondes with magical powers, sexy, daring and confident, but unlike Emma Peel, they had men, their husbands namely, that were apprehensive, overly conventional and borderline oppressive, always getting in the way, to contain their wive’s extraordinary skills.

My favorite character, in Bewitched, was Endora, played by Agnes Moorehead. She was Samantha’s quick-witted, witch mother. She knew how to exercise her witchy and female powers without exception, and she couldn’t fathom why her daughter would bend to her husband’s will and oppressive expectations. She detested mortals, in particular her son in law, Darrin. Endora refused to speak Darrin’s name correctly, alternately calling him Derwood, What’s-his-name, Darwin and Dum-Dum, all much to his annoyance. Endora saved the show for me, episode after episode, as I waited for the dynamics to change so I could finally take pleasure in Samantha’s triumphs over her controlling husband, except it never happened. The same formula applied to the show, I Dream of Jeannie, where Tony kept his own personal wish granting blond bombshell and her special talents, under wraps and sealed in a bottle.

Of course the scripted sitcom formula provided many opportunities for these women to act out, behind their husbands’ backs, always with good intentions of course. Yet it was always predictable, whereas watching Emma Peel, in The Avengers, was refreshing and exhilarating. There was nothing I enjoyed more than watching Emma kick and toss a villain about, all the while being witty and clearly of superior intellect and prowess. What young girl in the 60’s wouldn’t want to be like Emma Peel and kick ass with body and mind? Needless to say that Emma Peel appealed to both the sexes and many of her most ardent fans were quite young.

In a 2019 interview Diana explains how she was thrown for a loop as she practically became a sex symbol overnight.

Becoming a sex symbol overnight [in The Avengers] shocked me. I didn’t know how to handle it and I kept all the unopened fan mail in the boot of my car because I didn’t know how to respond and thought it was rude to throw it away. Then my mother became my secretary and replied to the really inappropriate ones saying: “My daughter’s far too old for you. Go take a cold shower!”
The Gaurdian 2019

She had a devoted following that, by today’s online social standards, would define her as a mega influencer and hard act to follow.

Diana Rigg’s success, as Emma Peel in The Avengers, generated much celebrity and media attention, which led to a flourishing film career. Throughout her acting career she has often embodied the self assured, daring woman, with nerves of steel, a woman with a sharp mind and tongue, not afraid to speak her mind. Diana herself was just as strong and feisty as the characters she played.

“My father was a railway engineer and got a good job in India, so although I was born in Yorkshire I spent the first eight years of my life out there. But Yorkshire really formed my character. I get straight to the point and say what I feel. I can’t help it, it’s genetic. That’s my excuse anyway.”
The Guardian

Today I want to pay honor to a Grand Dame, who shaped the lives of many young girls during the 1960s. To me, growing up, she represented an antithesis to everything my mother’s generation of women, and those before her had to suffer. This iconic female TV character fueled our collective imagination. This was the first TV show that put a woman front and center. We didn’t have Xena, the Warrior Princess, to serve as a role model for strong independent women, and the Bionic Woman didn’t show up till 1976.

You might laugh all this off as silly nostalgia and think I’ve infused this character with too much social relevance, but I assure you that young girls, growing up in the 1960s, had practically no female role models that gave them permission to explore their wilder female nature and individual gifts and potentials, without constraints.

Nowadays there are many great examples, in movies and TV series, that showgirls and women saving the day, being fearless, and brave. These female characters inspire young girls to dream and be their best. We only had Emma Peel.

RIP, Happy Birthday and thank you, Diana Rigg.

Will Cryptocurrency Transform The Way We Do Business?

Although not all of us may be driven by money, most of us are familiar with how uncertainty about the future and the lack of confidence about a sustained income can lead to anxiety and insecurity, which in turn can upset our sense of well-being and continuity in life. I mean, astonishingly, even the wealthy live with fear, insecurity, and a sense of inadequacy surrounding their wealth, namely for fear of losing or of being cheated out of it. At the end of the day, it turns out that money is intimately connected to our emotional craving for stability and livelihood.

Since the pandemic has swept across the globe, financial insecurity has spread like mold and at the same time, we are seeing a silent revolution at work.

Money has been around for a good 3,000 years, whether a shell, a metal coin, or a piece of paper was used, the value was determined by the importance that people placed on the medium of exchange. Now Bitcoin, along with 10,000 different cryptocurrencies, has emerged as a new medium of exchange, and some have already seen astounding returns over the past decade.

From the moment that humans harnessed fire and chemistry, we journeyed from the Stone Age through the Bronze and Iron Ages, to our modern developed society, and to this day we remain dependent on metals and alloys for survival. The European conquests abroad provided them with constant new sources of precious metals and as a result, until the 16th century, metal coins were the sole form of currency in Europe.

American Express was vital to the evolution of currency and took us from metal to paper, to the invention of the credit card. Once a product only for the wealthy, accepted at only a few places, credit cards became available to millions of people, and the most accepted form of payment worldwide. Who would have thought that a plastic card would take us so far?

The Gemini card is bringing crypto to the mainstream and this is a serious indication that the world of crypto is growing, as digital currencies and blockchain technology keep edging closer to the mainstream by simply providing crypto in a way that doesn’t alter consumer habits.

Many are embracing the idea of cryptocurrency simply because it removes central banks from managing the money supply. More and more companies are warming up to the idea of cryptocurrency. Institutions are climbing on board in a significant way for the first time, while the tourism industry is ahead of the game boasting some impressive partnerships with some of the world’s biggest online travel brands, all of whom are embracing crypto.

For example, 700,000 Expedia Group hotels and accommodations have been available via the crypto-friendly booking platform Travala.com since 2020, and it is expected that new generations of travelers will demand and embrace new forms of payment for travel.

Is Cryptocurrency going to pave the way? It is not an easy concept for everyone to wrap their head around, but what it boils down to is trust and the importance that people place on the medium of exchange, which will determine its value. Does anyone still write cheques? I haven’t for years, yet at one time, a cheque had a value, yet it was a simple slip of paper, and although many of us saw our fair share of bounced cheques, it was still an accepted medium of exchange.

The fact is that no one really needs gold nor paper, for that matter, but everyone needs to feel safe and to exchange goods and services. The market for cryptocurrencies has exploded and is currently estimated to be worth about $2 trillion, so it would seem many people have given it a vote of confidence. Crypto currency security may still be a concern, however innovative solutions are being found, by the cybersecurity sector, that address these concerns.

Cryptocurrencies were the result of a radical desire for access to assets not controlled by governments and central banks. Ironically, regulations are now being considered to guarantee transparent pricing and security for investors. Many believe that new regulations could help cryptocurrencies become a bigger part of our daily lives.

Will cryptocurrency transform the way we do business? Some say it already has and it could eventually make banks obsolete. One thing is certain, cryptocurrency has transformed the money and finance landscape.

Facial Recognition – Friend or Foe?

Many feel that Facial Recognition Technology may be the latest step on the march towards total surveillance and Totalitarian New World Order. Invasive surveillance is nothing new. Monitoring, activities, behavior, and information for data mining and influencing people did not start with the internet. Electronic means of surveillance and data gathering were being deployed way before the advent of social networks and search engine bots.

Research on facial recognition technology dates back to the mid-1960s when Woody Bledsoe along with Helen Chan Wolf and Charles Bisson began working together, and the US government has been putting the technology to the test since the 1990s.

We’ve come a long way since, as facial recognition is becoming increasingly more diffused, which leaves us facing ethical issues that have come into play. Issues that both businesses and consumers should consider.

Facial recognition is but the tip of the iceberg when you stop to think about the risks each and every one of us takes every day online. If you feel you are being watched or listened to, it may not be paranoia after all.

Corporate surveillance, data mining, and profiling, GPS tracking, and wireless tracking have enhanced surveillance to new dizzying heights, never known before. Following journalistic investigations, it was revealed that location data is tracked by a wider variety of parties for a greater number of purposes, and in ways that exceed our understanding or control. With companies hungry to feed us customized savory digital bait, the sheer volume of location data tracked, disclosed, and repurposed has become gargantuan and the tension has risen between innovation and privacy.

How Much Privacy Are You Willing To Sacrifice?

The biggest fear, surrounding facial recognition, is that identity theft would be rendered possible by anyone. For example, Google Glass has sparked debate over privacy, for the simple reason that a total stranger could quickly access all your social profiles, along with personal information about you, simply by snapping a shot of you while you are shopping, having a coffee or walking down the street. I could argue that a total stranger can also come across your FB profile picture and used it for similar purposes, which as we know has been done on many occasions. However the implications of Facial Recognition reach much further and deeper.

Those in favor of facial recognition will cite the many benefits:

Easier to track down burglars, thieves, and trespassers. The technology can also analyze the feed of private and public CCTV camera networks.
By singling out suspects among crowds, face recognition technology could help decrease stops and searches on law-abiding citizens.
It could be used to help find missing children and seniors.
Face recognition could make security checkpoints at airports less intrusive to passengers.
Facial recognition could be used to battle banking frauds.
Face recognition technology could be used to improve attendance at work by putting an end to time fraud. Employees would be required to check-in and out via a face-scanning device for work.

Those against facial recognition technology, such as Civil liberties groups, are concerned over threats to privacy, violations of rights and personal freedoms, potential data theft and other crimes as well as the risk of possible errors due to flaws in the technology.

Facial Recognition technology promises benefits at a cost. How far are you willing to compromise and sacrifice your privacy?

I always envisioned a technology-driven future and amongst my favorite authors were visionaries, such as Arthur C. Clarke, George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, Frank Heinlein, H. G. Wells, and William Gibson.

We are living at a time when the boundaries between science fiction and reality have thinned exponentially and we are now faced with a perplexing scenario. The questions we all need to ask ourselves are, how much privacy are we willing to give up for the benefits derived from technology and most importantly what else are we giving up?