LYDIA CORNELL: AFI Best Actress Nominee, People's Choice Award winner; Actor, Writer, Director, Producer; woman and children advocate; teen mentor, comedienne, talk show host, inspirational pubic speaker best known for her starring role on ABC's "Too Close for Comfort" as TV legend Ted Knight's daughter 'Sara'; HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, and over 250 shows, episodes and movies worldwide. Turns tragedy into comedy, life-saving issues for women and equal pay for equal work...
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Saturday, July 14, 2012
LYDIA CORNELL PSA for HIGH HOPES Head Injury Program, RYAN'S REACH
Listen to Lydia's PSA recorded at Coto de Caza Country Club during Pat Boone's Golf Tournament to raise money for his grandson's charity Ryan's Reach. Pat Boone's grandson Ryan accidentally fell off a building and suffers from traumatic brain injury. But great strides have been made in his recovery and that of many others, due to the charity High Hopes Head Injury Program, and Ryan's Reach.
Lydia Cornell invites you to the Eric Marienthal & Friends Jazz Concert at the Hyatt Regency in Newport Beach THIS SUNDAY, July 22, 2012 to raise funds for children and victims of traumatic brain injury High Hopes Head Injury Program & Ryan's Reach.
** Please note the change of date: it is JULY 22, not July 29.
JAZZ GREATS who have appeared in the past include: Johnny Mathis, Lou Rawls, David Benoit, David Koz, Al Jarreau, Debby Boone, Pat Boone, saxophonist Eric Marienthal and many more.
For tickets and more info: http://947thewave.cbslocal.com
High Hopes
MISSION STATEMENT
Ryan’s Reach is a supporting organization organized under Internal Revenue Code section 509 (a)(2) that seeks to aid brain injured individuals and their families by providing financial resources and promotional support toHigh Hopes Head Injury Program. They are committed to expand the programs, services and outreach of High Hopes Head Injury Program to more effectively address the financial, emotional, physical and spiritual needs of Traumatic Brain Injury victims and their families.
Concert is on Sunday July 22, 2012
at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach
1107 Jamboree Rd. Newport Beach 92660
Purchase your General and VIP tickets below
Past Special Guest Performers
VIP Tickets Get You;
Dinner with celebrities
Open bar during dinner
Preferred seating
And early preview of auction items
Sponsorships
Or call (949) 733-0044 to order tickets
2012 Eric Marienthal Concert Flyer
Thursday, July 05, 2012
NEWPORT BEACH ~ TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY, HIGH HOPES
Please join us in Newport Beach on July 22, 2012 for the Eric Marienthal and Friends concert at the Hyatt Regency Newport Beach to raise funds for High Hopes Head Injury Program ~ Ryan's Reach for victims of traumatic brain injury.
Lydia Cornell invites you to the Eric Marienthal & Friends Jazz Concert at the Hyatt Regency in Newport Beach THIS SUNDAY, July 22, 2012 to raise funds for children and victims of traumatic brain injury High Hopes Head Injury Program and Ryan's Reach.
** Please note the change of date: it is JULY 22, not July 29.
JAZZ GREATS who have appeared in the past include: Johnny Mathis, Lou Rawls, David Benoit, David Koz, Al Jarreau, Debby Boone, Pat Boone, saxophonist Eric Marienthal and many more
About Lydia Cornell
Award-winning actress, author, teen mentor, talk show host, comedienne and public speaker, Lydia Cornell grew up in America’s living rooms. An international celebrity best known for her starring role as the daughter of TV legend Ted Knight (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Caddyshack) in the hit ABC series Too Close for Comfort, Cornell was one of the most popular sex symbols of the 80’s, playing virginal blonde bombshell cheerleader Sara Rush. The series airs daily on Tribune Broadcasting’s new channel Antenna TV.
Charity Work
This year Lydia has worked with the Red Cross, Firefighters, Autism Awareness, and High Hopes — Pat Boone’s charity for traumatic spinal cord injury. She recently hosted a documentary for Safe Passage Home, an organization that gives extreme life makeovers to victims of domestic violence, for viewing on Oxygen network. Last fall she housed domestic abuse victims and cared for their children throughout the school year. With the help of the police, Cornell helped rescue a battered woman from a predator.
A mother of boys, she is stil raising teenagers (and their girlfriends, who confide in her about the most horrifying things, on a daily basis.) “At one time I had three boys and two dogs, including my husband, and they were all going through puberty. Then my husband left me for Gene Simmons. He went on the road with KISS. But so much comedy material came out of our marriage. And instead of holding onto the hurt, I choose to see it as a an a suspenseful adventure. Only the good remains in a broken relationship. The love doesn't go away.” She also did charity events with L.A. Team Mentoring (after school programs for underprivileged kids) and is developing a site for troubled teens called “The Answer Room.
Triumph over Tragedy
Lydia Cornell is a women and children’s advocate, and an inspirational speaker on teen suicide prevention, domestic violence, Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease) — as well as on drug, alcohol and Adderall[1] abuse.
"Raising a child with brittle bone disease has been one of the most precious gifts of my life!" she says of her wonderful stepson.
Lydia endured a shattering personal tragedy when she found her younger brother’s body after a drug overdose. Sober now for 17 years, she speaks to recovery groups of up to 300 or more. She has done over 170 speaking engagements. Her talks are laced with poignant stories of transformation with an innate sense of humor and comic timing.
"Raising a child with brittle bone disease has been one of the most precious gifts of my life!" she says of her wonderful stepson.
Lydia endured a shattering personal tragedy when she found her younger brother’s body after a drug overdose. Sober now for 17 years, she speaks to recovery groups of up to 300 or more. She has done over 170 speaking engagements. Her talks are laced with poignant stories of transformation with an innate sense of humor and comic timing.
She spoke at Texas A&M for Domestic Violence Prevention KTAL 6 and has hosted two documentaries for Safe Passage Home.org — an organization that gives extreme life makeovers to victims of domestic abuse — which will be shown on Oxygen network. Last fall she housed several abuse victims and cared for their children throughout the school year. With the help of the police, Cornell helped rescue a battered woman, Cheri Hall Cramer, from a predator. The woman had been hit in the head with the claw-end of a hammer and left for dead. After recovering from a brain aneurysm, she is finally getting her life back on track. But because of her injuries, she was left destitute and literally "thrown away" by her husband, who has made it impossible for her to ever visit her children again. All she wants is to see her precious children, whom she has not seen in years. Justice must prevail.
Cornell speaks at high schools, hospitals, and women’s centers on overcoming grief, unemployment, sexism, ageism, depression, self-sabotage, obnoxious teenagers — and every imaginable hardship. Her talks are laced with poignant stories of transformation with an innate sense of comic timing. “If you can laugh at yourself you probably won’t kill yourself.”
Cornell’s triumph over tragedy, depression and addiction was the result of a ‘catastrophic spiritual awakening.’ “There is a reason so many celebrities are in rehab these days,” she says. Her experiences in overcoming a string of failures and humiliations inspired her to assist others with their own demons.
A mother of boys, she has been raising teenagers (and their girlfriends, who confide in her about the most troulesome things, on a daily basis.) “I have three boys and two dogs, including my husband, and they’re all going through puberty.” She also is a teen mentor and has a site for troubled teens called “The Answer Room.” She had an epiphany: ”Teenagers are not nice people,” she jokes. “But I think the Universe makes them into jerks so we don’t miss them so much when they’re gone! Or when they’re finally old enough to leave home.”
• With 20-35 million viewers each week on ABC primetime, Too Close for Comfort is back nightly on Tribune Broadcasting's comedy channel, and has been in worldwide syndication for over 25 years and recently began airing again on Tribune, WGN and in top markets nationwide.
• Received the USO Distinguished Service Award for Beirut war zone trip for troops.
• Known for her knife-sharp humor on HBO, in standup comedy concerts, and on morning-drive radio, Cornell has been called: “A fresh voice; one of the most original voices in America today.”
• Had a feud with Ann Coulter; interviewed Elizabeth Edwards and Sen. John Edwards.
• Interviewed Pulitzer Prize Winners, White House advisers, presidential candidates, Senators, Congressmen and women, and bestselling authors for her award-winning radio show
• Has written over 350 articles on politics, women’s issues, pop culture, spirituality, religion, sex, divorce.
• Wrote an international thriller on the Stalin’s plot to kill Trotsky.
• HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David
• Kelsey Grammer – Bill Zucker Comedy Hour with Scott Baio
• Hosted red carpet live stream for TODHD at Variety’s Power of Comedy honoring Russell Brand, with Justin Long, Helen Mirren; Garry Shandling, Sarah Silverman; Melissa Etheridge; Patton Oswalt; BJ. Novak; Aziz Ansari, Lake Bell, Donald Glover; Dylan McDermott; the cast of Outsourced, benefitted The Noreen Fraser Foundation for breast cancer research.
• Lydia costars with Robert Downey, Jr., Steven Tyler, Jon Bon Jovi, Cloris Leachman, Malcolm McDowell, and Gary Oldman in Dean Grakal’s indie Me, Miami and Nancy which just won The Park City Film Festival.
• Lydia co-stars in Director Jordan Alan’s Cats Dancing on Jupiter with The Mentalist’s Amanda Rhigetti, Ashley Hamilton, Richard Grieco, Keith Coogan
• She is in talks with Dancing with the Stars.
• Lydia Cornell's blog - a triple Koufax nominee for best writing, recipient of the Thinking Blogger Award and winner of the Freedom Award and three World Report Awards, is “a consistentlyought-provoking firecracker of pointed socio-political commentary and observant, caustic wit.” (Yahoo News.)
• Cornell has crashed, burned, and seen it all. She rose from the depths of suicidal despair in an astounding resurrection. Cornell's upcoming inspirational comic memoir is a story of having to play dumb to get ahead as a woman iood. It’s about falling apart, sliding and crashing headlong into humiliation in Hollywood, New York, Monte Carlo, Beirut and beyond. “It's about how I ruined my life, behaved like an idiot, crumbled from rejection — but against all odds, kept “falling up.”
• Author – book release in 2011 the first in a series to be produced for film and TV
• She did 22 speaking engagements 2008-2011 and spoke at Texas A&M on overcoming domestic violence and did a documentary for Safe Passage, a battered women’s shelter.
• Venus Conspiracy – written and directed by Lydia Cornell, costarring Deborah Van Valkenburgh, who played her sister on Too Close for Comfort
• Pain is Inevitable, Sex Optional – on stage in her original three-woman show
• Political Voices of Women Best Writing Awards ~ World Report Award, Thinking Blogger Award; Weblog Award and Double Koufax Nominee.
• Standup: Improv, Laugh Factory, Las Vegas at the Riviera, Sahara; opening for Paul Rodriguez at Pechanga 1500 seat theater
• Yahoo! Finance News: Lydia Cornell interviews World Leaders, Pulitzer Prize Winners, White House and Presidential Candidates for new Radio Show
• Radio Show Co-Host on KLAV 1250 AM morning drive Las Vegas' Entertainment talk show for 2 years.
• Founder of Comedy Dance Film Festival co-sponsored by Saturday Night Live alum Jon Lovitz, in conjunction with CityWalk Universal in 2011 (*TBA)
"Lydia Cornell is an award-winning actress, writer, comedienne, and talk-radio host best known for her role as "Sara Rush” - Ted Knight's dazzlingly beautiful yet stereotypically dumb blonde daughter on ABC's '80s hit sitcom, “Too Close for Comfort.” Lydia starred in over 250 TV shows & films including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Full House, Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, A-Team, Hunter, Hardball, Hotel (2), Love Boat (6), Fantasy Island, T.J. Hooker and the pilot of the cult series Quantum Leap with Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. She signed hundreds of autographs at their convention earlier this year in Los Angeles. She co-starred with three Oscar winners James Earl Jones, Jose Ferrer and Lila Kedrova in The Red Tide, shot in the Greek Isles.
Miscellaneous:
John Conley, a disabled Marine combat vet, sent her his Purple Heart for her courage in standing up to Ann Coulter's 'extermination speak'
Cornell is a Synesthete and has Synesthesia, artists, musicians and writers (including V. Nabokov, John Mayer and David Hockney) who see colors when hearing sounds, and see numbers and letters in color. The World Symposium on Synesthesia convened in Belgium last year.
Lydia stars in several award-winning indie films: Miss Supreme Queen (AFI); Damage Done; Happy Holidaze from the Joneses; Me, Miami and Nancy; Venus Conspiracy.
NEW articles:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/25/kelsey-grammer-ponzi-scheme_n_1624450.html
PLEASE JOIN US on July 22, 2012, next Sunday in Newport Beach to raise funds for victims of TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. Please post it every where, to help promote the event. Lydia recorded this at the Pat Boone Classic golf fund raiser at Coto de Caza for Ryan's Reach and High Hopes. Ryan is Pat Boone's grandson, who fell off a building when he was a teenager.
www.LydiaCornell.com
Saturday, June 30, 2012
RADICAL HEALING MIRACLES: THE POWER OF LOVE ~THERE IS NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT ~
THE POWER OF LOVE: RADICAL HEALING MIRACLES
In muscle testing, if you think thoughts of revenge or anger, you become weak. If you think thoughts of love and forgiveness, you become strong. - Wayne Dyer from David Hawkings experiments.
If you need radical help in getting yourself out of fear, depression, anxiety, panic, addiction, suicidal thoughts please do this now:
STOP EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING AND SIT STILL. Take a deep, long breath. Feel your heartbeat. Go outside if possible to the crisp cool air, the snow or even the cleansing rain.
Stop for a moment and enjoy this moment. Know in your inner heart that all is well right now. The sky is not falling. The house is not burning (unless it is); and your heart is still beating.
Unless you are in the middle of a true medical emergency, you have no reason to move or go anywhere for a few moments.
Now, think of 5 things to be grateful for. Really count your blessings. Look up at the trees, the sky, the birds, the flowers. Once your own thoughts are lifted, you can hear higher thoughts and solutions.
BE STILL. Fill your mind with love. Focus on love and forgiveness. Stare at a beautiful photo of nature, in the color PURPLE if you can't go outside.
There is nothing to worry about. You have all you need right now to be happy and at peace.
All our suffering comes from thinking about the future or the past: what we want and fear we won't get, or what we lost or are afraid of losing, or what mistakes we made. Everything can be restored in proper order, or even better the faster that we turn our attention to the GOOD. In every catastrophe is the seed of something wonderful if we don't give up before the miracle. "I will restore to you the days the locust has eaten."
If you want an uplift and some encouragement to know that there is nothing ever to fear, check out this website for miracles of healing.
http://www.spirituality.com/tte/wellness.jhtml
"A Cure for Every Ill, even Incurable Illness"
Victory over Paralysis.. Cancer healed, etc.
Don't give power to illness with your thoughts. Stop focusing on your problems, aches, sores, pain. You can't heal if you believe in both good and evil; in duality. That's the secret of healing. To take a stand on the side of good — no matter what the outer picture. The material world is always changing, but we are solid inside.
Keep your thoughts on the beautiful, the good and the true. Try to think only of your perfect health, radiant beauty, glow, spirit. Make a list of things to be grateful for. Keep out of fear by focusing on the good around you.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
I LOVE DISNEY, APPLE, FACEBOOK and PUSH POP PRESS
I have a really good feeling about Facebook because they were smart enough to acquire a cutting edge company called Push Pop Press, created by two of the most amazing young interface geniuses, Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris, winners of the 2011 Apple Design Award. For my upcoming humor book series and trademark launch, I was trying to figure out a way to insert interactive video and audio into a digital book and stumbled upon Mike Matas' Ted Talk. Matas is one of the most creative minds I have seen in years. He reminds me of a young Steve Jobs, without the ego. All the features of this stunning new interface can be seen in the innovative book Our Choice.
Here's what tech columnist David Pogue of The New York Times said about Push Pop's technology: "...this is one of the most elegant, fluid, impressive apps you've ever seen. It's a showpiece for the new world of touch-screen gadgets.”
Here is the Apple part of the story. I'm a huge fan of Steve Jobs and have been devouring the Walter Issacson book "STEVE JOBS" at a pace that allows me to relish each chapter, laugh out loud and gasp in amazement and wonder so often, I even re-read it out loud to myself.. especially the parts in which Jobs makes out with women, pines and cries publicly! I couldn't believe he asked everyone's opinion on which woman he should marry, which one was prettier -- Laurene Powell or Tinda Resde! How embarrassing! For the women. What I loved most about the book was the evocative nature of this time in history -- the juxtaposition of technology and the sexy spiritual-intellectual-hippie lure of the West Coast where people really are more open-minded.. the beginnings of Silicon Valley, and the historical journey through this new Edison-like-minded world. I love this wonderful merging of conscious, thoughtful sandal-wearing Peppermint soap-bathing Jobs, inventor-geeks like Wozniak and creators of things-they love so much they finally- give away like Stewart Brand's "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish" The Whole Earth Catalogue! Ahh to live in a world in which the profit model does not reign supreme. I wish we were all more authentic, less driven to "grow" our economy but more driven to love each other, feed each other and walk into the sunset together, sowing, planting, reaping hand-in-hand.
I have noticed a mean-spirited, ugly, lethargic, un-inspired society lately. As Arianna Huffington so brilliantly put it at the Panetta Institute in Monterey: "We have a lot of talking heads, a lot of opinions, a lot of social interaction, but no wisdom. No one is making good moral choices... look at Lehman Brothers, etc"
But I admire Jobs because of his passion, focus and purist vision in creating the greatest American company of our times. In 1996, Jobs personally sent me a free computer free after I wrote Apple a letter about how upset I was that my desktop Performa had crashed prematurely.
Jobs could be the rudest jerk, and seemed to lack the compassion gene. But had impeccable integrity. He made me feel as if perfectionism isn't such a bad thing, especially if you're about to change the world. I laughed out loud at the way Oracle's Larry Ellison complained that Jobs "made him" go to the fake mock-up Apple Store on weekends to practice shopping, just to see if the store was laid out in a minimalist feel-good way. Jobs created this practice store in a warehouse and wouldn't open any of the Apple stores until the layout was perfect.
But here is where Jobs went wrong: allowing Push Pop's founders Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris to leave Apple. How could he let them get away? Why would Apple not want to keep the cream of the crop around instead of using the blandly boring industry standard ebook software. This does not fit Apple.
Jobs should have kept this amazing inventor and his partner happy.
I have no idea yet what ibooks Author can do. It seems there was a conflict over who owned the copyrght to original software created while under Apple's auspices: "Jobs reportedly delivered an ultimatum to Matas that resulted in the company selling itself to Facebook as a talent-based acquisition that abandoned its allegedly tainted ebook apps business model.
Because Push Pop Press planned to deliver its version of ebooks as native iOS apps, Apple's iOS App Store was ultimately the sole potential distributor the finished work Push Pop Press would have created, giving the company little leverage in arguing around any IP claims by Apple.
But this sounds Greek to me. Maybe Facebook will join forces with talented content creators/authors to launch interactive book franchises. As a content creator, I have spent years writing and creating, NOT going to parties, trying to stay out of the public eye. It hasn't worked: in the past two years I have done 25 charity events, 17 TV shows, plus a feature film. But now my own content is ready to launch.
We are a Disney-Pixar-ABC-Apple family. When I was five years old, I decided to come out to California and move into Disneyland.
Too Close for Comfort, the hit series I starred in with Ted Knight was an ABC primetime hit that followed Three's Company on Tuesday nights. with 35 million viewers during primetime and in syndication for 25 years so far. We were number one and in the top ten and twenty for years. Too Close for Comfort is now on Tribune Broadcasting's new comedy channel @AntennaTV.
Like Pixar's John Lassetter, my son goes to CalArts in the fall, and Disney is building 20 new soundstages on the Golden Oak Ranch land Walt Disney himself set aside for his Renaissance vision of an arts institute comparable to science/technology institutes Cal Tech and MIT. My father, a violinist born in Russia and raised in Shanghai, attended the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, which merged with Choinard Art Institute to form California Institute of the Arts.
As a comedy writer creating original TV shows, books and movies, I can't wait to work with Disney and ABC again. I am so happy that Bob Iger, a CEO who really trusts and 'gets' artists, is in charge. He was smart enough to acquire both Pixar and Marvel Comics. The Avengers is amazing! I also adore Anne Sweeney. And I think Facebook is quietly waiting until some of their best decisions pay off. And Apple has just created the best products with unforseen advantages that will help us for years to come. My son had his first Apple computer at the age of two years old. I don't want him to see this blog, or he will be mad that I'm talking about him. I'm not supposed to brag that he won the Playstation E3 Contest winner for video effects award at the age of 15, and was too young to accept the prize. http://Mooseflakes.com
- Luv xo Lydia
http://LydiaCornell.com
ON ANOTHER NOTE: PLEASE LISTEN to this PSA I recorded to benefit traumatic brain injured children and young adults on behalf of Pat Boone's charity honoring his wonderful grandson Ryan. Ryan's Reach and HIGH HOPES:
For Al Gore's book Our Choice, the startup has created an ebook that talks, spins, moves, and folds, featuring video, interactive infographics, maps, and more, all seamlessly interwoven with the text in a way that helps bring the concepts to life. Even if you've already read Our Choice, a follow-up to the urgent environmental call-to-action of An Inconvenient Truth, the app offers something completely different. While this digital version has the same rich photo content and clear writing as the book, it transforms the act of reading into something totally new. Amy Lee Huffington PostYes, Apple has created iBooks Author but I hope Facebook doesn't stick Push Pop on the shelf and keep this secret from the world. I hope Facebook starts publishing digital books, so Push Pop Press can join forces with us as we are about to launch the funniest, most mind-bending content imaginable. The books, videos and audio are already in the can, we just need to seamlessly integrate them into our books in the fluid way only Push Pop can.
Here's what tech columnist David Pogue of The New York Times said about Push Pop's technology: "...this is one of the most elegant, fluid, impressive apps you've ever seen. It's a showpiece for the new world of touch-screen gadgets.”
Here is the Apple part of the story. I'm a huge fan of Steve Jobs and have been devouring the Walter Issacson book "STEVE JOBS" at a pace that allows me to relish each chapter, laugh out loud and gasp in amazement and wonder so often, I even re-read it out loud to myself.. especially the parts in which Jobs makes out with women, pines and cries publicly! I couldn't believe he asked everyone's opinion on which woman he should marry, which one was prettier -- Laurene Powell or Tinda Resde! How embarrassing! For the women. What I loved most about the book was the evocative nature of this time in history -- the juxtaposition of technology and the sexy spiritual-intellectual-hippie lure of the West Coast where people really are more open-minded.. the beginnings of Silicon Valley, and the historical journey through this new Edison-like-minded world. I love this wonderful merging of conscious, thoughtful sandal-wearing Peppermint soap-bathing Jobs, inventor-geeks like Wozniak and creators of things-they love so much they finally- give away like Stewart Brand's "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish" The Whole Earth Catalogue! Ahh to live in a world in which the profit model does not reign supreme. I wish we were all more authentic, less driven to "grow" our economy but more driven to love each other, feed each other and walk into the sunset together, sowing, planting, reaping hand-in-hand.
I have noticed a mean-spirited, ugly, lethargic, un-inspired society lately. As Arianna Huffington so brilliantly put it at the Panetta Institute in Monterey: "We have a lot of talking heads, a lot of opinions, a lot of social interaction, but no wisdom. No one is making good moral choices... look at Lehman Brothers, etc"
But I admire Jobs because of his passion, focus and purist vision in creating the greatest American company of our times. In 1996, Jobs personally sent me a free computer free after I wrote Apple a letter about how upset I was that my desktop Performa had crashed prematurely.
Jobs could be the rudest jerk, and seemed to lack the compassion gene. But had impeccable integrity. He made me feel as if perfectionism isn't such a bad thing, especially if you're about to change the world. I laughed out loud at the way Oracle's Larry Ellison complained that Jobs "made him" go to the fake mock-up Apple Store on weekends to practice shopping, just to see if the store was laid out in a minimalist feel-good way. Jobs created this practice store in a warehouse and wouldn't open any of the Apple stores until the layout was perfect.
But here is where Jobs went wrong: allowing Push Pop's founders Mike Matas and Kimon Tsinteris to leave Apple. How could he let them get away? Why would Apple not want to keep the cream of the crop around instead of using the blandly boring industry standard ebook software. This does not fit Apple.
Jobs should have kept this amazing inventor and his partner happy.
I have no idea yet what ibooks Author can do. It seems there was a conflict over who owned the copyrght to original software created while under Apple's auspices: "Jobs reportedly delivered an ultimatum to Matas that resulted in the company selling itself to Facebook as a talent-based acquisition that abandoned its allegedly tainted ebook apps business model.
Because Push Pop Press planned to deliver its version of ebooks as native iOS apps, Apple's iOS App Store was ultimately the sole potential distributor the finished work Push Pop Press would have created, giving the company little leverage in arguing around any IP claims by Apple.
But this sounds Greek to me. Maybe Facebook will join forces with talented content creators/authors to launch interactive book franchises. As a content creator, I have spent years writing and creating, NOT going to parties, trying to stay out of the public eye. It hasn't worked: in the past two years I have done 25 charity events, 17 TV shows, plus a feature film. But now my own content is ready to launch.
We are a Disney-Pixar-ABC-Apple family. When I was five years old, I decided to come out to California and move into Disneyland.
Too Close for Comfort, the hit series I starred in with Ted Knight was an ABC primetime hit that followed Three's Company on Tuesday nights. with 35 million viewers during primetime and in syndication for 25 years so far. We were number one and in the top ten and twenty for years. Too Close for Comfort is now on Tribune Broadcasting's new comedy channel @AntennaTV.
Like Pixar's John Lassetter, my son goes to CalArts in the fall, and Disney is building 20 new soundstages on the Golden Oak Ranch land Walt Disney himself set aside for his Renaissance vision of an arts institute comparable to science/technology institutes Cal Tech and MIT. My father, a violinist born in Russia and raised in Shanghai, attended the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music, which merged with Choinard Art Institute to form California Institute of the Arts.
As a comedy writer creating original TV shows, books and movies, I can't wait to work with Disney and ABC again. I am so happy that Bob Iger, a CEO who really trusts and 'gets' artists, is in charge. He was smart enough to acquire both Pixar and Marvel Comics. The Avengers is amazing! I also adore Anne Sweeney. And I think Facebook is quietly waiting until some of their best decisions pay off. And Apple has just created the best products with unforseen advantages that will help us for years to come. My son had his first Apple computer at the age of two years old. I don't want him to see this blog, or he will be mad that I'm talking about him. I'm not supposed to brag that he won the Playstation E3 Contest winner for video effects award at the age of 15, and was too young to accept the prize. http://Mooseflakes.com
- Luv xo Lydia
http://LydiaCornell.com
ON ANOTHER NOTE: PLEASE LISTEN to this PSA I recorded to benefit traumatic brain injured children and young adults on behalf of Pat Boone's charity honoring his wonderful grandson Ryan. Ryan's Reach and HIGH HOPES:
Friday, May 25, 2012
Should You Attend an Online University?
The Democratizing Forces of Online Universities
Blogging democratized the news industry; has the increase in online learning platforms democratized the education industry? With the proliferation of free and low-cost online educational tools, learners unlikely to attend a traditional four-year college now have greater access to education.
Free and low-cost educational platforms such as "Online Schools" now dominate the online educational market. Coursera, a platform that allows you to take classes from accredited and well-respected colleges across the nation, including Stanford, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania, has attracted investors across the United States. TED-Ed, an educational alliance created by TEDTalks, allows users to access lectures and lessons on a variety of subjects, from the arts to science and technology. Udemy, a new startup venture, further democratizes the learning process by allowing users to post their own lesson plans. Because of the availability of user-generated content, Udemy functions more as a community skillshare than a classroom.
Online classes and non-degree educational platforms democratize the entire learning process. First, online classes and educational platforms are generally available for free, low-cost or at a rate drastically reduced from classroom learning prices. This allows a greater number of people to access information. According to a recent Seattle Times article, the cost of attending a four-year college rose by 300% from 1990-2011. This escalating cost has led to an “education bubble,” where graduating seniors are saddled with debt that they can no longer afford to pay back. The democratizing forces of online schooling allow students who are unable or unwilling to take out federal or private loans to access training without taking on exorbitant debts.
Secondly, because platforms like Udemy allow users to upload their own videos, lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations, a wider variety of information is available to interested parties. Classes in business are positioned next to classes in technology, history, mechanics and engineering. So online learning even democratizes the former hierarchical structure of subject matter that is available to college students.
Because online education is available on demand, at all hours of the day or night anywhere in the world, students who would not have had access to traditional American college campuses are engaging in exchanges of ideas. For instance, MITx, a new initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, allows a fluid exchange of ideas between MIT students and engineers of all nationalities and age ranges. Additionally, learners who work full time jobs and have families can now access educational platforms in their spare time.
According to the New York Times, online education has even democratized what students value in education. Big name professors or large, well-stocked libraries are no longer a draw for online learners. Instead, accessibility, quick response time and availability of technical support have all increased student registration and retention rates. These services can be provided by online educational platforms at a fraction of the cost of celebrity professors or rare books.
Though stalwarts of four-year colleges may consider online educational platforms secondary to a traditional college campus experience, many online learners disagree. With free or low-cost training and education available to a wide variety of learners across all age ranges and nationalities, online educational platforms have, and will continue to, democratize the educational process.
Blogging democratized the news industry; has the increase in online learning platforms democratized the education industry? With the proliferation of free and low-cost online educational tools, learners unlikely to attend a traditional four-year college now have greater access to education.
Free and low-cost educational platforms such as "Online Schools" now dominate the online educational market. Coursera, a platform that allows you to take classes from accredited and well-respected colleges across the nation, including Stanford, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania, has attracted investors across the United States. TED-Ed, an educational alliance created by TEDTalks, allows users to access lectures and lessons on a variety of subjects, from the arts to science and technology. Udemy, a new startup venture, further democratizes the learning process by allowing users to post their own lesson plans. Because of the availability of user-generated content, Udemy functions more as a community skillshare than a classroom.
Online classes and non-degree educational platforms democratize the entire learning process. First, online classes and educational platforms are generally available for free, low-cost or at a rate drastically reduced from classroom learning prices. This allows a greater number of people to access information. According to a recent Seattle Times article, the cost of attending a four-year college rose by 300% from 1990-2011. This escalating cost has led to an “education bubble,” where graduating seniors are saddled with debt that they can no longer afford to pay back. The democratizing forces of online schooling allow students who are unable or unwilling to take out federal or private loans to access training without taking on exorbitant debts.
Secondly, because platforms like Udemy allow users to upload their own videos, lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations, a wider variety of information is available to interested parties. Classes in business are positioned next to classes in technology, history, mechanics and engineering. So online learning even democratizes the former hierarchical structure of subject matter that is available to college students.
Because online education is available on demand, at all hours of the day or night anywhere in the world, students who would not have had access to traditional American college campuses are engaging in exchanges of ideas. For instance, MITx, a new initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, allows a fluid exchange of ideas between MIT students and engineers of all nationalities and age ranges. Additionally, learners who work full time jobs and have families can now access educational platforms in their spare time.
According to the New York Times, online education has even democratized what students value in education. Big name professors or large, well-stocked libraries are no longer a draw for online learners. Instead, accessibility, quick response time and availability of technical support have all increased student registration and retention rates. These services can be provided by online educational platforms at a fraction of the cost of celebrity professors or rare books.
Though stalwarts of four-year colleges may consider online educational platforms secondary to a traditional college campus experience, many online learners disagree. With free or low-cost training and education available to a wide variety of learners across all age ranges and nationalities, online educational platforms have, and will continue to, democratize the educational process.
- Estelle Shumann
"We only truly learn when the future has become history; when we're leaping forward, turning mistakes into achievements." ~ Anonymous
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
HUFFINGTON POST: Lydia Cornell, 'Too Close For Comfort' Star, Backs Gay Marriage
First I have to tell you something my radio co-host Doug Basham said after he saw Katie Couric ask Sarah Palin about gay rights. Palin answered that one of her best friends is gay, and that her pal "made a choice that isn't a choice that I have made.” Basham said, “I wish Couric had asked Palin, 'Do you remember the exact moment you chose to become heterosexual?'"
My sister is gay, and she never made a choice, but that’s beside the point. The marriage contract is a private contract between two individuals. How does it hurt anyone to let two souls honor their monogamy by allowing them the sanctity and dignity of marriage, as other human beings have a right to? Isn’t this in the Bill of Rights? I am heartsick at the bigotry I see in America today. I can’t believe my sister may never have the same rights I have! And furthermore, according to Suze Orman — as it stands now, civil unions do not permit the transfer of a deceased person's estate to the partner. Next of "kin" is first in line.
After my Ann Coulter death threats and hate-mail settled down, one thing became clear: right-wing Christians are obsessed with the sexual immorality of others to the exclusion of any other sin, including their own sins of pride and judgment — which by the way, were the only sins Jesus ever cared about or actually mentioned! Sexual immorality was not even on Christ’s radar, as was clear when the mob was stoning the prostitute: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
He did condemn divorce, but since divorce is rampant among evangelicals, no one ever sees them picketing courthouses to abolish divorce.
All this talk about Christ’s return and the "Rapture" misses the point entirely. I've prayed about this and been given a revelation of my own: when humans can love each other unconditionally — love their enemies and neighbors as themselves — then the so-called Rapture will happen. It will not be a big Broadway show; it will be a change in consciousness. This is the Second Coming. It will occur in the hearts of men.
The Ku Klux Klan also used the Bible to justify killing Blacks. Where are all the reasonable, sane people of faith who actually follow Christ’s teachings?
Maybe they don't realize that 'Christ' is the root of the word 'Christianity' because the vowel sounds are different! They often espouse the EXACT OPPOSITE of Christ’s teachings. If fundamentalists take the Bible literally, then why don’t they take Christ’s actual words literally?
There's a cartoon I saw shortly after the 2004 election: I can't remember the exact words, but two pot-bellied Rednecks are standing around drinking beer, happy with being red: "Well, my son lost his legs in Iraq, veteran benefits got cut, lost my pension plan to Enron, got laid-off down at the plant, they cancelled my health insurance, Bush vetoed stem cells which would have saved my daughter’s life from brain cancer -- BUT I'M SURE AS HELL GLAD THOSE TWO GAYS DOWN THE STREET CAN'T GET MARRIED!"
We’re a nation ruled by several opposing forces: the atheist, the optimist, the materialist — and of course, the idiot — that person inside all of us (or just fundamentalists and neocons) who choose to remain unconscious.
What is so strange is that modern-day fundamentalists often condone the death penalty quite casually, yet think fetal cells in a Petri dish are too sacred to be used for stem cell research in order to save lives! This seems highly immoral to me.
I can’t imagine what it must be like to be gay or lesbian in America today. There is a “Christian” group that has a website called "Godhatesfags.com" that displays an animated picture of Matthew Shepherd surrounded by flames, burning in hell. Shepherd was brutally murdered in Wyoming, the victim of a hate crime.
Instead of seeing the beauty and unique goodness of the gay person — his artistic gifts of design or dance, the sweetness of his spirit, his yearning to be accepted and to bury the agony of being bullied as a child or of being “born different" — the morally repulsed “Christian” chooses the easy way: hatred.
My son’s best friend and his brother are being raised by a gay male couple, who are scholars and wonderful parents. Both children are completely "straight" and have girlfriends already. The family considered moving to Canada out of fear. They are very afraid of the hateful Christian ruling elite in America. I can’t think of anything more un-Christlike than an intolerant “Christian.”
It saddens me that many in the religious right have taken their obsession with morality and their fear of Hollywood to such an extreme they've lost compassion for their fellow man. They have become homophobic, disdainful of the poor and cruel toward any human who does not meet their rigorous standards — while ignoring their own pride, the character flaw which annoyed Christ the most!
Intolerance is the easy way out, and many will go through this wide, broad gate. Very few will squeeze through the "narrow gate" of turning the other cheek and loving one's enemies. It's easy to judge others from a position of moral superiority; it's difficult to look kindly upon criminals, prisoners, "sinners." It's difficult to love "the other," as Christ commanded us to do. Most fundamentalist right-wing Christians these days refuse to look at their enemy as a whole human being. They are ruled by primitive fears that totally contradict Christ’s entire mission: to love one another for love casts out fear.
Some background: Just after the election in November 2005, I was so upset over the bizarre form of Christianity George Bush espoused in justifying his invasion of Iraq — and so appalled at Ann Coulter calling herself a Christian while engaging in "extermination speak" toward liberals — I wrote an article for BradBlog Death is Sexier than Sex to Ann Coulter I admit the title is provocative but I had no idea what I was getting into. My family and I received the most virulent hate mail and death threats from Ann Coulter fans because of this line in particular: "I never mix religion with politics, but for Christ's sake, don't they know that Jesus was a Democrat? A bleeding heard liberal!? (I think that was the line that annoyed them.
But maybe it was this one from the same article: The Great Peacemaker was the very essence of love and compassion; he was revolutionary in his softness and forbade vengeance of any kind. How the "Christian right" has twisted The Great Peacemaker's teachings is one of the riddles of our times. For years I’ve been bewildered to the point of jaw-gnashing agony at how fundamentalist Christians can call themselves Christian, when they do not follow the teachings of Christ! Are they reading the same bible I'm reading? I feel I’m going insane. How the Christian right has twisted Christ's peaceful message is one of the riddles of our times..."
There is such a hunger for a fresh, inclusive, non-fundamentalist Christianity — the kind Christ intended. Unless you are an alarmist, Premillenialist or Dominionist who believes in the end-times, the Rapture or the Apocalypse — you have no right to call yourself a Christian anymore. Where are all the reasonable, sane people of faith who actually follow Christ’s teachings? If fundamentalists take the Bible literally, then why don’t they take Christ’s actual words literally — instead of reading that tribulation porn known as the La Haye- Jenkins "Left Behind" books? It bears repeating: maybe they don't realize that Christ is the root of the word Christianity because the vowel sounds are different!
On the night of November 5 we saw at least nine helicopters circling over our city. We thought it was another SWAT team lock-down, which happens at times in our residential neighborhood. Two weeks ago the police put blockades up and wouldn't allow anyone to leave their homes because an armed robber was hiding in someone's back yard.
This time it was one of the biggest civil rights protest in years: the Proposition 8 Gay Marriage ban. Protestors were marching down Santa Monica to Wilshire in Beverly Hills — to the corner where Trader Vics used to be, inside Merv Griffin's Beverly Hilton.
Though we live on a tree-lined street far from the action, the kids climbed on the roof to see if they could catch a glimpse of some fighting. My youngest has a new BB gun (environmentally friendly) and thought he was in a video game "Resistance 2." I am excited to show my kids that actual protest marches are still happening these days — and that civil rights are something to fight for.
The core of Christ’s teaching is: ‘Love one another' and leave judgment and vengeance to God.”
In fact, the main thing he warned about was the self-righteous pride, arrogance and intolerance of the religious leaders (the pharisees) — because these meant “unkindness or lack of compassion.” These people were truly a destructive force in society for they cared more about style over substance — rituals, rules and dogma over the spirit of compassion or love.
But man’s big job on earth is to learn the law of love, the Golden Rule. To love the unlovable, no matter how disgusted, offended or persecuted one is by him. A soft answer turns away wrath. It's easy to be loving to those who are loving to you, but a true Christian must go much further and return love for hate.
Jesus was the Prince of Peace. His entire ministry was spent caring for the poor, the lepers (today’s Aids victims), the immoral "sinners", prostitutes, outcasts, prisoners and forgotten ones whom the religious leaders thought were too dirty to touch. By accepting them and with love and compassion — not by moralizing or ostracizing them — they became whole. No matter what our religious beliefs, it's our job as a society to care for the poor, the "least among us."
Oddly, Christian evangelicals threw out the whole of Christ’s teaching, in order to focus on the “frightening” sins of homosexuality and abortion, which Christ never once mentioned!
Get this: Ann Coulter gleefully promoted the death penalty, even for 4-year-old boy who killed his brother. “Once a child commits a crime like that, what are the odds that he could be redeemed in any event, no matter where he’s put?” It’s hard to comment on a quote like this. (Did you really say that Ann?)
Jesus himself didn’t judge others, he spoke gently in parables. He attracted people to him with his revolutionary softness, never by force, aggression. The crowd wanted to stone the adulterer, but Jesus’ heart was so big, he healed her of her “sin” and guilt simply by his love and acceptance. Everyone is redeemable (even William Ayers!) The divine idea that you win your enemies to your side by making them you friend, never by fighting them — actually works.
***
A young girl of 14 was kicked out of her Christian school for having two lesbians as parents. These were the only parents the girl had ever known. The two women had been partners for 22 years and had 2 other children; they were a loving, stable Christian family, so utterly non-controversial that no one even knew they were “different.”
This cruel ostracism is in direct opposition to Christ’s teachings: to punish a child and take her away from her friends – because one doesn’t approve of her parents' genetic orientation — is not what Jesus would do. In fact, it is destructive to the child and morally reprehensible. I wonder what they do in the case of a divorced couple or a single mother who had a child out of wedlock. After pride, Jesus mentioned only one other sin: divorce. Jesus never once referred to homosexuality. But divorce was truly destructive to the child.
Letter to the School Principal
"The Bible has been used to justify slavery, inquisitions, apartheid and the subjugation of women. Just as slavery was condoned for centuries based on people's interpretation of the Bible, just as the Crusades were fought in the name of God, just as Christ was crucified because people misunderstood Him and misinterpreted the Scripture, so too the topic of homosexuality has been misunderstood. It is now time to raise a voice, an Angelic choir, and a national outcry against Christian intolerance that promotes condemnation, discrimination and hatred toward homosexuals.
Please explain how your actions differ from the Pharisees or Nazis? These two groups wanted to exclude others and wanted to exercise absolute power over others as well. They wanted to stone and gas those who they feared and were different, I guess you only what them removed. Well feel proud Mr. Stob, you are as benighted and in good company as Fred Phelps, and the pastor who resigned after he kicked people out of his church who did not vote Republican."
Looking more deeply into the school’s reasoning, it is clear they were motivated by fear — fear that other students would be tainted by the school’s validation of a lesbian couple. But why were they so afraid? Maybe she was expelled to protect a fundamentalist worldview that children of gays cannot grow up ‘straight or moral’. In this line of thinking, if fundamentalists’ children go to school with a normal, well-adjusted child of two lesbians — it will be difficult to brainwash the students that lesbians can’t raise a child well.
But all we’re dealing with is fear. The Bible says, “Perfect love casts out fear.” Fear itself is not from God, and good Christians should never make decisions based on fear (as in ‘preemptive strike’) because “Love casts out fear.” We should first look “to do no harm.” We should always try to do the kindest thing, the least hurtful thing.
More than any other virtue, Jesus pleaded with us to love one another. If you think you're supposed to go into the world and spread the Gospel without bringing the love required, then it's pointless. The entire message is about love. Love heals all wounds.
That doesn’t mean we are never to reprimand a violent or immoral act. But we are to “hate the sin and love the sinner.” The sin in this case is not the existence of the girl’s female parents. The sin is the behavior of the school board, who imagined a sinful lifestyle, and judged people who were just trying to get through the day. Life is hard enough without adding to each other’s suffering.
Jesus also did not say: “Blessed are the warmakers.” and “If you suspect someone is going to attack you, invade his country and bomb him back to the Stone Age.” These warmongering right-wingers are behaving in absolutely un-Christlike ways. They have corrupted Christianity and usurped it for their own militant, belligerent agenda.
We will never understand everything others do but taking away others' rights is not our business. Our business is to to embrace our differences, and “leave judgment and vengeance to God.”
Liberal-bashing radio hosts and pastors are committing moral crimes by telling their flock that it’s their patriotic duty to hate others whose beliefs and appearance are different. This resulted in the recent killings in the Unitarian Church in Tennessee. This is what many modern churches do: target people they disapprove of by selecting one or two sins they believe belong to that group, and make their lives a living hell. And they receive tax-free funds to do it!
Fighting and disapproving of one’s enemies” is not the Way; it is in direct opposition to Christ’s teachings. It’s too easy to hate, too mainstream; everyone can fit through this broad, wide gate.
But the narrow gate Jesus says we must pass through to attain union with God or Love, involves “loving our enemies”. It’s so simple, it’s hidden in plain sight, like an anagram: Look at the sentence above: “Since God is love, to attain union with God, we must LOVE!” This is simple, but not easy. It’s much easier to gossip, demonize liberals, exclude gays, and ostracize prisoners — who are most in need of redemption.
This is very difficult, especially if you equate your enemy as a homosexual, and you blame homosexuals or liberals for the evils of the world. Anger feels good. It feels good to be morally superior to others. Religious fundamentalists justify their judgment of gays by scouring the bible for one remote mention of homosexuality as a sin. This occurs in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul, long after Jesus died.
They cling to this, saying the sin of homosexuality (and abortion) is worse than any other sin, even murder. But why? Why do they fixate on sexual immorality? Because they themselves must be guilty of prurient sexual thoughts; puritans who are ashamed of human sexuality. I too am horrified by the increasingly pornographic world we live in, and especially the effect it has on our children. I want stricter Internet controls, and frankly, I wish porn wasn’t so available on the Internet at all.
But there is also a spiritual answer here. We are “fighting our enemies” by focusing so much on the lascivious aspects of our society, giving attention and power to this element. In fact, the solution is NOT giving evil so much attention. I know that when I focus on the good in others, the good increases.
The more one pushes something down, the more it rears its ugly head in inappropriate places; perversions appear. This explains why celibacy in priests acts like a pressure cooker, often resulting in crimes of molestation. Celibacy is unnatural; too much pent up desire perverts itself. Like Pandora’s box, whatever is taboo becomes irresistibly tempting. People will sneak out of their cages to experience the forbidden.
So the Puritan, guilt-ridden over his own uncontrollable urges, cannot live with himself. Unable to cut out his own filthy thoughts, he looks outside himself for someone to blame and project his guilt onto. The easiest way to ameliorate his shame is to broadcast the evil, project it onto others where he can see it – and lash at it with swords. This way he can feel morally superior and “religious”; it’s a quick fix. He investigates it, dwells on its dark side, inflates its evil effects until evil is all he sees. Hence the homosexual is no longer a human, but an object of disgust.
___________________
As a culture we put so much emphasis on the body: on cellular substance of the fetus, the death and burial of a corpse, the saving of an unconscious sack of flesh that contains no life force or spirit, as in the case of Terry Shiavo. We are focused so exclusively on the letter, not the spirit; the style, not the substance; the right hat, not the heart, the ritual, not the meaning — and the flesh which can be wiped out so easily — that it must make me wonder: is flesh man’s most important quality?
At the risk of sounding like a crackpot, I have to say here that I no longer believe in the physical universe as being primary, or that important. In other words, the things I know are valuable and real are the things I can’t see with my eyes – the invisible qualities of love, truth, wisdom, soul, principle, thought, harmony, wisdom, compassion, beauty, strength and character – things that cannot be physically touched or scientifically proven.
As Emerson said: "this is a spiritual universe and thoughts rule the world."
___________________
Archives from last election:
Digg Celebrity Interview with Actress Lydia Cornell
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT back on TV on WGN! Check out my new interviews on SitComs Online.com Exclusive! "Unleashed"
Check out Basham and Cornell Radio archives for podcasts of our amazing guests from CNN's Paul Begala, Tom Daschle, John Dean, Bill Press, Pat Buchanan, Greg Palast, Pulitzer Prize Winner Charlie Savage, Brad Friedman, John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Robert Wexler, Charlie Rangel, Carolyn B. Maloney, Senators Patrick Murphy, Byron Dorgan, Fareed Zakariah, Naomi Klein, Paul Krugman, etc.
My sister is gay, and she never made a choice, but that’s beside the point. The marriage contract is a private contract between two individuals. How does it hurt anyone to let two souls honor their monogamy by allowing them the sanctity and dignity of marriage, as other human beings have a right to? Isn’t this in the Bill of Rights? I am heartsick at the bigotry I see in America today. I can’t believe my sister may never have the same rights I have! And furthermore, according to Suze Orman — as it stands now, civil unions do not permit the transfer of a deceased person's estate to the partner. Next of "kin" is first in line.
After my Ann Coulter death threats and hate-mail settled down, one thing became clear: right-wing Christians are obsessed with the sexual immorality of others to the exclusion of any other sin, including their own sins of pride and judgment — which by the way, were the only sins Jesus ever cared about or actually mentioned! Sexual immorality was not even on Christ’s radar, as was clear when the mob was stoning the prostitute: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
He did condemn divorce, but since divorce is rampant among evangelicals, no one ever sees them picketing courthouses to abolish divorce.
All this talk about Christ’s return and the "Rapture" misses the point entirely. I've prayed about this and been given a revelation of my own: when humans can love each other unconditionally — love their enemies and neighbors as themselves — then the so-called Rapture will happen. It will not be a big Broadway show; it will be a change in consciousness. This is the Second Coming. It will occur in the hearts of men.
The Ku Klux Klan also used the Bible to justify killing Blacks. Where are all the reasonable, sane people of faith who actually follow Christ’s teachings?
Maybe they don't realize that 'Christ' is the root of the word 'Christianity' because the vowel sounds are different! They often espouse the EXACT OPPOSITE of Christ’s teachings. If fundamentalists take the Bible literally, then why don’t they take Christ’s actual words literally?
There's a cartoon I saw shortly after the 2004 election: I can't remember the exact words, but two pot-bellied Rednecks are standing around drinking beer, happy with being red: "Well, my son lost his legs in Iraq, veteran benefits got cut, lost my pension plan to Enron, got laid-off down at the plant, they cancelled my health insurance, Bush vetoed stem cells which would have saved my daughter’s life from brain cancer -- BUT I'M SURE AS HELL GLAD THOSE TWO GAYS DOWN THE STREET CAN'T GET MARRIED!"
We’re a nation ruled by several opposing forces: the atheist, the optimist, the materialist — and of course, the idiot — that person inside all of us (or just fundamentalists and neocons) who choose to remain unconscious.
What is so strange is that modern-day fundamentalists often condone the death penalty quite casually, yet think fetal cells in a Petri dish are too sacred to be used for stem cell research in order to save lives! This seems highly immoral to me.
I can’t imagine what it must be like to be gay or lesbian in America today. There is a “Christian” group that has a website called "Godhatesfags.com" that displays an animated picture of Matthew Shepherd surrounded by flames, burning in hell. Shepherd was brutally murdered in Wyoming, the victim of a hate crime.
Instead of seeing the beauty and unique goodness of the gay person — his artistic gifts of design or dance, the sweetness of his spirit, his yearning to be accepted and to bury the agony of being bullied as a child or of being “born different" — the morally repulsed “Christian” chooses the easy way: hatred.
My son’s best friend and his brother are being raised by a gay male couple, who are scholars and wonderful parents. Both children are completely "straight" and have girlfriends already. The family considered moving to Canada out of fear. They are very afraid of the hateful Christian ruling elite in America. I can’t think of anything more un-Christlike than an intolerant “Christian.”
It saddens me that many in the religious right have taken their obsession with morality and their fear of Hollywood to such an extreme they've lost compassion for their fellow man. They have become homophobic, disdainful of the poor and cruel toward any human who does not meet their rigorous standards — while ignoring their own pride, the character flaw which annoyed Christ the most!
Intolerance is the easy way out, and many will go through this wide, broad gate. Very few will squeeze through the "narrow gate" of turning the other cheek and loving one's enemies. It's easy to judge others from a position of moral superiority; it's difficult to look kindly upon criminals, prisoners, "sinners." It's difficult to love "the other," as Christ commanded us to do. Most fundamentalist right-wing Christians these days refuse to look at their enemy as a whole human being. They are ruled by primitive fears that totally contradict Christ’s entire mission: to love one another for love casts out fear.
Some background: Just after the election in November 2005, I was so upset over the bizarre form of Christianity George Bush espoused in justifying his invasion of Iraq — and so appalled at Ann Coulter calling herself a Christian while engaging in "extermination speak" toward liberals — I wrote an article for BradBlog Death is Sexier than Sex to Ann Coulter I admit the title is provocative but I had no idea what I was getting into. My family and I received the most virulent hate mail and death threats from Ann Coulter fans because of this line in particular: "I never mix religion with politics, but for Christ's sake, don't they know that Jesus was a Democrat? A bleeding heard liberal!? (I think that was the line that annoyed them.
But maybe it was this one from the same article: The Great Peacemaker was the very essence of love and compassion; he was revolutionary in his softness and forbade vengeance of any kind. How the "Christian right" has twisted The Great Peacemaker's teachings is one of the riddles of our times. For years I’ve been bewildered to the point of jaw-gnashing agony at how fundamentalist Christians can call themselves Christian, when they do not follow the teachings of Christ! Are they reading the same bible I'm reading? I feel I’m going insane. How the Christian right has twisted Christ's peaceful message is one of the riddles of our times..."
There is such a hunger for a fresh, inclusive, non-fundamentalist Christianity — the kind Christ intended. Unless you are an alarmist, Premillenialist or Dominionist who believes in the end-times, the Rapture or the Apocalypse — you have no right to call yourself a Christian anymore. Where are all the reasonable, sane people of faith who actually follow Christ’s teachings? If fundamentalists take the Bible literally, then why don’t they take Christ’s actual words literally — instead of reading that tribulation porn known as the La Haye- Jenkins "Left Behind" books? It bears repeating: maybe they don't realize that Christ is the root of the word Christianity because the vowel sounds are different!
On the night of November 5 we saw at least nine helicopters circling over our city. We thought it was another SWAT team lock-down, which happens at times in our residential neighborhood. Two weeks ago the police put blockades up and wouldn't allow anyone to leave their homes because an armed robber was hiding in someone's back yard.
This time it was one of the biggest civil rights protest in years: the Proposition 8 Gay Marriage ban. Protestors were marching down Santa Monica to Wilshire in Beverly Hills — to the corner where Trader Vics used to be, inside Merv Griffin's Beverly Hilton.
Though we live on a tree-lined street far from the action, the kids climbed on the roof to see if they could catch a glimpse of some fighting. My youngest has a new BB gun (environmentally friendly) and thought he was in a video game "Resistance 2." I am excited to show my kids that actual protest marches are still happening these days — and that civil rights are something to fight for.
The core of Christ’s teaching is: ‘Love one another' and leave judgment and vengeance to God.”
In fact, the main thing he warned about was the self-righteous pride, arrogance and intolerance of the religious leaders (the pharisees) — because these meant “unkindness or lack of compassion.” These people were truly a destructive force in society for they cared more about style over substance — rituals, rules and dogma over the spirit of compassion or love.
But man’s big job on earth is to learn the law of love, the Golden Rule. To love the unlovable, no matter how disgusted, offended or persecuted one is by him. A soft answer turns away wrath. It's easy to be loving to those who are loving to you, but a true Christian must go much further and return love for hate.
Jesus was the Prince of Peace. His entire ministry was spent caring for the poor, the lepers (today’s Aids victims), the immoral "sinners", prostitutes, outcasts, prisoners and forgotten ones whom the religious leaders thought were too dirty to touch. By accepting them and with love and compassion — not by moralizing or ostracizing them — they became whole. No matter what our religious beliefs, it's our job as a society to care for the poor, the "least among us."
Oddly, Christian evangelicals threw out the whole of Christ’s teaching, in order to focus on the “frightening” sins of homosexuality and abortion, which Christ never once mentioned!
Get this: Ann Coulter gleefully promoted the death penalty, even for 4-year-old boy who killed his brother. “Once a child commits a crime like that, what are the odds that he could be redeemed in any event, no matter where he’s put?” It’s hard to comment on a quote like this. (Did you really say that Ann?)
Jesus himself didn’t judge others, he spoke gently in parables. He attracted people to him with his revolutionary softness, never by force, aggression. The crowd wanted to stone the adulterer, but Jesus’ heart was so big, he healed her of her “sin” and guilt simply by his love and acceptance. Everyone is redeemable (even William Ayers!) The divine idea that you win your enemies to your side by making them you friend, never by fighting them — actually works.
***
A young girl of 14 was kicked out of her Christian school for having two lesbians as parents. These were the only parents the girl had ever known. The two women had been partners for 22 years and had 2 other children; they were a loving, stable Christian family, so utterly non-controversial that no one even knew they were “different.”
This cruel ostracism is in direct opposition to Christ’s teachings: to punish a child and take her away from her friends – because one doesn’t approve of her parents' genetic orientation — is not what Jesus would do. In fact, it is destructive to the child and morally reprehensible. I wonder what they do in the case of a divorced couple or a single mother who had a child out of wedlock. After pride, Jesus mentioned only one other sin: divorce. Jesus never once referred to homosexuality. But divorce was truly destructive to the child.
Letter to the School Principal
"The Bible has been used to justify slavery, inquisitions, apartheid and the subjugation of women. Just as slavery was condoned for centuries based on people's interpretation of the Bible, just as the Crusades were fought in the name of God, just as Christ was crucified because people misunderstood Him and misinterpreted the Scripture, so too the topic of homosexuality has been misunderstood. It is now time to raise a voice, an Angelic choir, and a national outcry against Christian intolerance that promotes condemnation, discrimination and hatred toward homosexuals.
Please explain how your actions differ from the Pharisees or Nazis? These two groups wanted to exclude others and wanted to exercise absolute power over others as well. They wanted to stone and gas those who they feared and were different, I guess you only what them removed. Well feel proud Mr. Stob, you are as benighted and in good company as Fred Phelps, and the pastor who resigned after he kicked people out of his church who did not vote Republican."
Looking more deeply into the school’s reasoning, it is clear they were motivated by fear — fear that other students would be tainted by the school’s validation of a lesbian couple. But why were they so afraid? Maybe she was expelled to protect a fundamentalist worldview that children of gays cannot grow up ‘straight or moral’. In this line of thinking, if fundamentalists’ children go to school with a normal, well-adjusted child of two lesbians — it will be difficult to brainwash the students that lesbians can’t raise a child well.
But all we’re dealing with is fear. The Bible says, “Perfect love casts out fear.” Fear itself is not from God, and good Christians should never make decisions based on fear (as in ‘preemptive strike’) because “Love casts out fear.” We should first look “to do no harm.” We should always try to do the kindest thing, the least hurtful thing.
More than any other virtue, Jesus pleaded with us to love one another. If you think you're supposed to go into the world and spread the Gospel without bringing the love required, then it's pointless. The entire message is about love. Love heals all wounds.
That doesn’t mean we are never to reprimand a violent or immoral act. But we are to “hate the sin and love the sinner.” The sin in this case is not the existence of the girl’s female parents. The sin is the behavior of the school board, who imagined a sinful lifestyle, and judged people who were just trying to get through the day. Life is hard enough without adding to each other’s suffering.
Jesus also did not say: “Blessed are the warmakers.” and “If you suspect someone is going to attack you, invade his country and bomb him back to the Stone Age.” These warmongering right-wingers are behaving in absolutely un-Christlike ways. They have corrupted Christianity and usurped it for their own militant, belligerent agenda.
We will never understand everything others do but taking away others' rights is not our business. Our business is to to embrace our differences, and “leave judgment and vengeance to God.”
Liberal-bashing radio hosts and pastors are committing moral crimes by telling their flock that it’s their patriotic duty to hate others whose beliefs and appearance are different. This resulted in the recent killings in the Unitarian Church in Tennessee. This is what many modern churches do: target people they disapprove of by selecting one or two sins they believe belong to that group, and make their lives a living hell. And they receive tax-free funds to do it!
Fighting and disapproving of one’s enemies” is not the Way; it is in direct opposition to Christ’s teachings. It’s too easy to hate, too mainstream; everyone can fit through this broad, wide gate.
But the narrow gate Jesus says we must pass through to attain union with God or Love, involves “loving our enemies”. It’s so simple, it’s hidden in plain sight, like an anagram: Look at the sentence above: “Since God is love, to attain union with God, we must LOVE!” This is simple, but not easy. It’s much easier to gossip, demonize liberals, exclude gays, and ostracize prisoners — who are most in need of redemption.
This is very difficult, especially if you equate your enemy as a homosexual, and you blame homosexuals or liberals for the evils of the world. Anger feels good. It feels good to be morally superior to others. Religious fundamentalists justify their judgment of gays by scouring the bible for one remote mention of homosexuality as a sin. This occurs in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul, long after Jesus died.
They cling to this, saying the sin of homosexuality (and abortion) is worse than any other sin, even murder. But why? Why do they fixate on sexual immorality? Because they themselves must be guilty of prurient sexual thoughts; puritans who are ashamed of human sexuality. I too am horrified by the increasingly pornographic world we live in, and especially the effect it has on our children. I want stricter Internet controls, and frankly, I wish porn wasn’t so available on the Internet at all.
But there is also a spiritual answer here. We are “fighting our enemies” by focusing so much on the lascivious aspects of our society, giving attention and power to this element. In fact, the solution is NOT giving evil so much attention. I know that when I focus on the good in others, the good increases.
The more one pushes something down, the more it rears its ugly head in inappropriate places; perversions appear. This explains why celibacy in priests acts like a pressure cooker, often resulting in crimes of molestation. Celibacy is unnatural; too much pent up desire perverts itself. Like Pandora’s box, whatever is taboo becomes irresistibly tempting. People will sneak out of their cages to experience the forbidden.
So the Puritan, guilt-ridden over his own uncontrollable urges, cannot live with himself. Unable to cut out his own filthy thoughts, he looks outside himself for someone to blame and project his guilt onto. The easiest way to ameliorate his shame is to broadcast the evil, project it onto others where he can see it – and lash at it with swords. This way he can feel morally superior and “religious”; it’s a quick fix. He investigates it, dwells on its dark side, inflates its evil effects until evil is all he sees. Hence the homosexual is no longer a human, but an object of disgust.
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As a culture we put so much emphasis on the body: on cellular substance of the fetus, the death and burial of a corpse, the saving of an unconscious sack of flesh that contains no life force or spirit, as in the case of Terry Shiavo. We are focused so exclusively on the letter, not the spirit; the style, not the substance; the right hat, not the heart, the ritual, not the meaning — and the flesh which can be wiped out so easily — that it must make me wonder: is flesh man’s most important quality?
At the risk of sounding like a crackpot, I have to say here that I no longer believe in the physical universe as being primary, or that important. In other words, the things I know are valuable and real are the things I can’t see with my eyes – the invisible qualities of love, truth, wisdom, soul, principle, thought, harmony, wisdom, compassion, beauty, strength and character – things that cannot be physically touched or scientifically proven.
As Emerson said: "this is a spiritual universe and thoughts rule the world."
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Archives from last election:
Digg Celebrity Interview with Actress Lydia Cornell
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT back on TV on WGN! Check out my new interviews on SitComs Online.com Exclusive! "Unleashed"
Check out Basham and Cornell Radio archives for podcasts of our amazing guests from CNN's Paul Begala, Tom Daschle, John Dean, Bill Press, Pat Buchanan, Greg Palast, Pulitzer Prize Winner Charlie Savage, Brad Friedman, John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Robert Wexler, Charlie Rangel, Carolyn B. Maloney, Senators Patrick Murphy, Byron Dorgan, Fareed Zakariah, Naomi Klein, Paul Krugman, etc.
Our radio show Basham and Cornell — the only Progressive show in Vegas — helped turn Nevada blue for the first time in years! Of course, had a little help from Obama :)
In this blog below is an essay from a book I'm writing about left wing Christianity — why it's wrong to condemn gays or gay marriage.
Also: check out my Election Day cover story on Obama, gay rights, Sarah Palin's cruelty and Hollywood porn. It has lots of pictures! Lydia Cornell Cover Story Retroality Magazine
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