Spirit « i-rant

Rewarding Obama (Nobel Peace) for saying the “correct” things.

Jim Charanis | No Comments » Posted on October 12, 2009

I had a FB post about Obama getting the prize for simply talking about issues rather then executing. Its just a little too political for me. He hasn’t done much yet – and by comparison, the scientists and other recipients all do so much to prove their work. Did Bush get an award for all the work his administration did to combat Aids in Africa? No, very little coverage. Interestingly enough, U2 did mention it in their recent speeches during concerts as they went on and on for 45 minutes mostly around social programs. I love that band thought I don’t always agree with their politics. Everybody is entitled to their opinion – I just prefer rational thinkers.

Anyway, giving this to Obama did piss me off; I don’t know who he was up against though. My post on FB read: "and the king of the world is anointed yet again, oh come let us adore him" It was meant as a joke. But what really amazed me was friends immediately commenting online and in person saying "you are blaming Obama for this?" or "Should he give it back?" – so damn defensive of the guy. He is a demagogue. And that is dangerous. And I’m really wondering if people are going to think I’m racist for thinking this way – some people go to the extreme of saying that any word against him or his plans is racist. That’s not fair. In fact, I’m really concerned for him, making him such a demagogue puts his life in danger – lets keep him human for God’s (the real God) sake.

My response of course was somewhat verbose; but for one I thought it was wrong that he would disrespect the Dali Lama in one week and get the prize in the next; this proved how political this is. And further, my point back to them was that I wasn’t blaming him, I’m blaming the Nobel committee and the "world" for thinking he walks on water - he is just a man but the socialist and anti-American world is using him to "reward" us for socialist moves or those that reduce our power.

Honestly, he is doing a lot of subtle things that really scare me. Refusing to meet with Israeli leaders when he meets with Palestinian and Saudi leaders. This move with China vs. Tibet. It’s not outwardly against our traditional friends, just ignoring them and reaching out to "everyone" seems to really be specific former enemies. I do think he is using his demagoguery to create inertia to get him more power – I do think he has privately even considered the chess moves to make him president of the world – or at least the UN (okay, now don’t call me a conspiracy guy – just thinking its gone to his head).

And what I worry about, that he might sell us out to get there "for the greater good" I can see the blind socialist bleeding hearts in this country saying – "that’s okay, we will give up some of our freedom for world peace" and then we have a big void with only Allah to fill it with another dark age. And the moderates sit by and watch – like the eastern Europeans did as Hitler walked through and slowly changed to more and more evil policies - watching the moderates to see if they would act. No – I am not calling him Hitler – I’m not at all, but this kind of blind faith is what eats away at democracy; I question everything, I fear complacency.

And that is the really scary part – are we a crumbling empire? Are our rivals chipping away at our economic power, our military strength, our will to stay united? The Greek Empire was a loosely held group of city states eventually led by Alexander, a strong leader bringing their democracy to the world (admittedly whether those he conquered liked it or not). And the Afghanistan people loved him (as he loved them), as did much of the world. It was the empires that followed, the Syrians, Romans and others that turned into true theocracies and dictatorships. The Christian and the Muslim religious movement grew from crumbling empires as methods for bringing central power to them again, and suppressing those who disagreed with them. These Bishops and Mullas were the power behind the kings and emperors. They still are today. I’m not saying religion is bad – its when you warp it to dictate power that pisses me off. Obama is at the point where he could become his own religion. The people who "love him" follow him blindly, look beyond his flaws and rationalize or compromise for "the greater good." Compromise is not good for long term – you need a shared vision and to have a shared vision you have to have rational thinking about all issues. We don’t have that today.

That’s my rant for today. For all our forefathers have done and strong young men and women have fought for, we don’t want to end up like Italy, Greece or Iran, shadows of great empires – some good, some bad but definitely gone. Yes, I admit we are a living empire – one that has brought great things to the world and one that has done some damage. But I see nothing better in the world. And I still see the possibilities it can continue to create.

Don’t Judge a Facebook by Its Cover

Jim Charanis | 2 Comments » Posted on July 19, 2009

A couple of things led to today’s rant. Considering the fact that my daughter will be 14 this fall and watching her friends become more and more concerned with their style, wearing makeup, and the friends they have and how many. Considering this forum and a recent funny on my “Preppy” look in high school – and how quickly this defined me for the current audience, it became clear to me how incredibly powerful this social networking technology shift just is.

There are other areas in my professional life that have changed and continue to change based on both the web development tools available and the platforms that these applications can now reside. Specifically SaaS (Software as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) are removing barriers to creativity and extending the reach of new ideas exponentially. When you combine that with the emotional impact of social networking sites it really changes the social dynamic of our culture immensely.

On Facebook it really is very comparative to middle and high school. We are all trying to create our image, define our personality, and express ourselves in one picture, description or witty comment. Just like my daughter and her friends seek to create the right image with the clothes they wear, the amount of makeup they put on or the company they choose to keep (or exclude). This happening on social sites is very unnatural – at least in traditional social circles.

Think about how we all shifted our self image from this superficial fragment of what we are to deeper understanding of ourselves and the friends we kept either in college or our first jobs out of high-school (I’m talking about my generation of course – in my case the “Tweenies” that are not Baby Boomers nor Generation X). Today we have all these FB or MySpace friends that are really acquaintances, mostly irrelevant to our daily lives – but becoming increasingly more relevant.

Think of a Book and its Cover. We were all taught to not judge a book by its cover – usually in Middle School and then High School when these self centered and socially judgmental habits formed. No one was more conscious of this then me, I went to three high-schools and friends (many of you now connected to me on Facebook) all saw a different “cover” in each of them. Seeking to be cool in 9th grade I was a bit of a “freak” as I rebelled against the shitty social situations I dealt with in Middle-school and my parent’s divorce. But moving to Rochester in 10th grade I realized that I had a chance to get a new “cover” deciding that being “Preppie” and a “Jock” would help me to shake some bad habits. It was so irrelevant really – I was still who I was inside (and I continued to pickle my brain in different clothing – often still enjoying my zip up sweatshirt, painters pants and shit-kickers over alligator shirts and chinos). What became apparent to me only at my going away party was what really mattered were the few amazing people I had met and the friendships I managed to develop in only 18 months.

By the time I hit my last high school in 12th grade I was still thinking about my cover but already thinking more of the book inside. I was still a “Prep” and I hung out with a handful of “Jocks” but looking back the combination of this “cover” and my shyness probably seemed like arrogance and definitely prevented me from gaining friendships from some really great people. I did, just like before, make some very close friends – friends that had nothing to do with what we looked like and everything to do with how we treated each other. What I didn’t know was what to do with what I had; and I often made stupid choices based on the image I had created and wanted to maintain, or the pressure to be socially accepted. This correlation to a book and its cover are so relevant here on the internet on social websites from Facebook to the simplest “blogs” in that there is so much pressure we often forget to stay true to what really matters inside: Being “real” vs. living in the moment for an image or a self serving response.

I’m just rambling here – vomiting a bunch of thoughts rattling around in my head. I don’t have anything really profound to share and am not asking nor expecting myself to change. What I need to do is use this to help my kids get thorough the next few years as they make this discovery about the lives they are living and the people they become. My simple rules for them include “Look for Good”; "Seek First to Understand Then to Be Understood”; and “Treat Other People the Way You Want to be Treated" (or “That Which is Hurtful to You Don’t Do to Others”). Can I practice this in my daily life, not get distracted by having the right look or to worry about what others think about me – as I ask them to do the same? Is it a mistake to be this personal here or should I be worrying about what you all think? Can you do the same?

Koran from Muhammad or God; Torah from Babylonian Jews or God?

Jim Charanis | No Comments » Posted on December 07, 2008

Read an interesting article in today’s New York Times Magazine (December 7, 2008; page 24 Who Wrote the Koran?) about a theological reformer challenges those who claim to speak for Islam. By Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabarr. Abdulkarim Sorush is Iran’s leading public intellectual, he is a scholar of Islamic theology and was Ayatollah Khomeini’s man for bringing Islam back to Iran. But he is a smart guy and he really studied what he was doing – and consequently asked people to think, not just follow. Much like the true Rabbi’s and Scholars of ancient Hebrew texts and the Torah. As a Reform Jew I do believe that the Torah reflects what God wants us to live our lives – but through ancient stories passed down from generation to generation. There are some that believe the Torah was directly given to us by God and others who believe that the stories were first written down in Ancient Babylon to unite and help the Jews from becoming assimilated into the Babylonian culture. Its one thing to come out of a cave and say "I have found the word of God – see we weren’t kidding" and another to say "you have to do this because I say its the right way to live your life." Same for the Koran according to Sorush. As written in the article:

"The recent controversey began about eight months ago, after Soroush spoke with a Dutch reporter about on of Islam’s most sensitve issues: the divine origin of the Koran. Muslims have long believed that their holy book was transmitted word for word by God through the Prophet Muhammad. In the interview, however, Sorush made explicit his alternative belief that the Koran was a"prophetic experience." He told me that the Prophet "was at the same time the receiver and the producer of the Koran or, if you will, the subject and the object of the revelation."

Its pretty a conversation I have all the time – you can argue against divine creation of all that we are "Adam and Eve" or you can say Darwin was right. Or you can believe what I believe in that Darwin was right but the hand of God was involved every step of the way. So that as a Reform Jew – I do think these very smart Rabbi’s or Priests or whomever, did write down the Torah very carefully and said "this is the word of God" to get people emotionally involved. The less intelligent were hooked as they needed guidance and a way to follow without thought, the intelligent who had morals and a grasp on social reality said – this is a good way to teach.

So I’ve just insulted my friends who are Orthodox, no way – they are the ones who study and question the most – it is the way of our people, and the way of Islamic scholars for thousands of years. It is only fear and control that make for tyrannical rule. The kind of rule they needed at the time of Mohammad to unite the Arabs, the kind they needed in ancient Israel to unite the Jews and the kind they needed in ancient Rome to re-unite the Roman Empire to become the Holy Roman Empire. I’m equally insulting all religious believers who cling to a patriarchal hierarchy of God-King-Man (or God-Pope-Bishop-King-Man; or God-Ayatollah-President-Man; or God-Priest-King-Man). We don’t need a king in a democracy so we don’t need religion in government. Its what this country was built on – not a Godless nation, a nation under God – but with liberty and justice for all. With the hand of God guiding us along – but not ruling over us. I believe God planned all along to let us find our own way – he just gave us the tools (Torah, Bible, Koran or whatever) to make sure we stay on the right path.

What, do you think you are the center of the universe?

Jim Charanis | No Comments » Posted on August 22, 2008

So I’m in the movie theatre and 4 girls walk in and sit one seat away from me in the same row. Its Batman – The Dark Knight. The kind of movie I like to get lost in. 30 minutes to go in the movie and the girl closest to me pulls out her blackberry with a backlight and starts tapping away. I figure – important message from her boyfriend that his wedgie got stuck and he needed help. Then 15 minutes to go and she pulls it out again, the freaking climax of the movie and what the hell is so freaking important!? I actually got up and moved over 5 seats (away from the awsome center seat I had).

When the lights come on we all leave, only one girl leavs her slurpie cup and empty bag of popcorn on the seat.

Generation Y? Generation Why? Generation Me! Well, we were just as bad – my father was right.

Study finds students narcissistic

These kid’s parents were the "boomers" – the original ME generation. My parents were one each – before and after the boom. I think the difference is that the Boomers were much more physically connected to each other (in many ways) and that led to much more empathy and consideration where the mood of this generation is social but disconnected as they communicate via technology rather then woodstock, wine bars and anti-war rallies. The boomers did end up a bit too selfish during the 80’s and 90’s but they did create a boom in the economy – maybe this generation will help us tweenies get out of the dip we are in now. I hope, there aren’t enough of me right now to support all those retiring boomers!. But first, they have to get their heads out of their computers, read less and get a little dirty. Its one thing to talk about hope, rail in your blog (smile) and complain about the evil empire; its another thing to contribute to the economy, walk among those of us actually working for a living and to give leadership to the next generation by creating wealth and prosperity through something more then temporary fixes and wealth redistribution. In too short of a time there won’t be much to redistribute – it will all be in India and China.

Building a New and Stupid World – Phone Line (Song)

Jim Charanis | No Comments » Posted on July 11, 2008

Building a New and Stupid World – Phone Line No access to instruments of any…

A friend who is powerful. This is a terrific poem. Singing a capella; putting it all out there makes me smile.

Happymaker?

Jim Charanis | No Comments » Posted on July 03, 2008

Q: What the heck is ?

A: The Happy Maker!

Known as XAPANIS (ka-ran-nis) or " The Happy Maker" in Greece, my ancestors produced some of the finer spirits (okay, they had a traveling distillery) on the Island of Lemnos, located in the beautiful Aegean sea.

The stuff was so good that when my great-great-great-…(way back)…….grandfather would come to town, the villagers would say: "here comes the happy-maker!"

So he changed his name to XAPANIS (ka-ran-nis) meaning happy-maker.
When my Grandfather came over from Greece to the USA he changed his name from DEMETRIUS XAPANIS to James Charanis and I was named after him. Here is the house where he was born:

I have not forgotten that tradition of keeping my customers happy.
Years of experience working with corporate clients of all types has taught me how to help my customers find solutions to their information management problems.

Here is another article of someone who traced their roots back to this lovely island

Pictures and info on the town: Lemnos Villages

Sean Kingston “Me Love” sample or just plain suck

Jim Charanis | No Comments » Posted on March 29, 2008

YouTube – Sean Kingston "Me Love" – Music Video

Thanks Andy for pointing this out to me and messing with a memory. Just kidding – you know sometimes a sample is a feeling – like I was just channel surfing and came across this chick-band Pussycat Dolls: Live in Manchester – had to stop: eye-candy. I don’t see much original coming out of these girls either. They are just plain singing other peoples stuff. But at least they aren’t taking a tune and moving the words a bit. The "music memory" that caught my ear on that show was a pop song that has the sample from ELO’s Mid-evil Woman. I don’t know the song, its a sort of Rap.

Tributes are good – remember how Run DMC revived one of my favorite bands – Aerosmith! Explicit rebirth of a great old song.

So I think its okay to sample – after all music is supposed to elicit a feeling, move you. If these rappers pull a few bars from the original recording its makes you miss the next few bars and that will make you think, or feel. Pulling a melody, chorus and changing the words a bit just pisses people off though as Kingston does here. The Zeppelin song was so much better and the words made more sense anyway.

Walt Mossberg article on Jordanian border in Israel

Jim Charanis | No Comments » Posted on December 28, 2007

I love reading Walt’s tech column in the WSJ, not just because he is also a Mac fan but also because he always has a positive and enlightening approach to most subjects, even techie ones. Today I found his weblog and this is a great article on a positive situation in Israel and Jordan. Here Walt talks about the fact that the peace process between the two countries is working and it is possible for the people of both countries to not only get along but work together: Peace in the Mideast, With Great Cellphone Coverage . I think this is wonderful and a model for the possibilities. I wonder if it’s possible for cooperation someday as there is in Asia between Japan, China and the other countries in Asia who for centuries were sworn enemies. Japan is the economic powerhouse and the countries around have learned from them, trade with them and now are on equal ground. Would you call Korea Jordan? I’ve written here how most of these Arab countries are simply extensions of kingdoms. How I feel that the borders are fabrications and simply the result of previous empires leaving – England, France, Rome, Persia, Greece – all built these borders. Are there really Jordanians, Palestinians, Kuwaitis, Iraqis, Israelis? Or are these people from ancient times in kingdoms that replaced empires, countries created out of convenience or voids. Foreign countries drew these lines after world wars. We do know there are Persians, Arabs and Jews, Kurds, Hindus, etc. These are cultures that could be countries; but that’s another topic.

What I can say is Walt hit the nail on the head – a border is just a crossing and it can be a gateway to discovery and possibilities when your perspective is positive. Thanks Walt for stepping out of the box, tapping your experience and shedding some light and love.