Samuel Kirschner asked:


Are you Accommodating a bruised ego? Yours or some one else’s? Do you realize how much time, energy, mental health and money we spend on feeding and accommodating our bruised egos, and those of our friends, co-workers, family and loved ones?
Is it really satisfying? Is it fulfilling? Does it make us any happier, more at ease, except for moments of immediate gratification, a feeling of being right that wares off as quick as it comes on - because the ego is insatiable.
Can we resolve conflicts when we are governed by our bruised egos? Wasn’t it Einstein who said that we can’t solve problems with the mentality in which they were created?
Do you realize that only you can stop the vicious cycle of your bruised ego simply by making a split-second in-the-moment choice: to stop catering to the exhausting adrenalin fueled insanity of your ego wanting to be right and make someone else (often your self) wrong, and take care yourself in that very moment with one conscious and awakened breath of compassion?
Sometimes we have to use tough love with our ego - as with an unruly child. Let it know our intention, and remember who we are. Of course, for this to happen we have to know who we are, what we are serving and what’s our wise intention.
Example: I was meditating recently and noticed as I was scanning my body for sensations that I had this annoying cough… and just as I coughed I could hear my mind about to go into an all too familiar tirade “There must be something wrong with me… perhaps a symptom of cancer… after all it’s summer, and who coughs in the summer except for someone who is very ill?”
At that very instant, as I was noticing this drama waiting to happen and about to erupt full blast - I had a feeling of compassion for my cough and an acceptance of my traumatized mind… like for a frightened child needing a hug while throwing a fearful or angry tantrum…. and my choice determined my feeling OK and at ease about it.
So, how is that different from other instances in life, seemingly bigger and more serious?
Not much. Take a feud between friends. What it always comes down to is that someone did someone else wrong. Or, someone didn’t do what was expected of them. Or, someone just didn’t say it the right way… and the ego gets furious, hurt, and bruised once again. Shame, humiliation, indignation come up. And then retaliation. “Let me pout and punish myself and you by quitting the relationship and isolating. I’m out of here. You’re history.” Or, “Let me show you my might. I’ll do to you twice the damage you’ve done me to teach you a lesson” and “Don’t forget, that I’m doing it for my own protection” and in some cases “for your own good…!”
What are the alternatives?
“Look buddy, this does not work for me. Can you make a correction, and do it this way?” or in a closer relationship: “Please understand that your behavior puts me in an uncomfortable position. Can you support me as a friend to take care of myself?” (if doing it by yourself doesn’t work…)
And of course the other option is to walk away. Not as retaliation or making a grand stand, but to simply take care of yourself - because all the other options failed. And yes, sometimes, we can walk away from our own ego - simply by letting go of the struggle, and choose to be happy rather than right. Making that choice requires self-love of the most genuine kind.
Now, you tell me if it ’s different between our relationship with ourselves, with each other and between nations?
Can it be any different - since the paradigm that governs human relationship is one and the same?
To bring it to present moment, that’s how I feel when I look at the horror of what’s happening in the Middle East. While my mind is busy taking positions and having opinions about who is right and who is wrong in that endless and loaded conflict, there is another part in me that’s engaged in connecting to, having compassion for
and accepting the pain of what’s happening to the people. That keeps me connected to humanity and to myself. It’s not up to me to judge, nor does it really matter what I think. I can’t change it. But, for this I have to be willing to FEEL it. And that seems to be the hardest thing to do. Feeling the helplessness, and seemingly the powerless of our human pain. Paradoxically that is what empowers us and gives birth to hope and courage.
Then if I want to take any actions - they are not driven by your bruised ego - but rather by your experienced and authentic conscience.
In these challenging times in which we live, we don’t need more acting out and crazy egos. The world today is saturated with enough ego power to destroy it. At times like this so many bruised ego’s are waiting for the opportunity to erupt and go bizzerk like Mr. Mel Gibson’s bruised ego - whose anti-Semitic remarks were made when he was drunk and out of control. Think of all the many bruised ego’s that could erupt and create
more chaos. Heaven’s gates are getting crowded…. rehabs are getting busy….
At these times, we need to take more personal responsibility for calming our own world and contribute to a calmer world… by personal example.
If you have any comments - please feel free to share them with me at: samuel@livinginthepresent.com or on my blog at http://www.calmingyourworld.com
A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest is kind of an optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. (A. Einstein)

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Richard Stoyeck asked:


Until the 1950’s, Hollywood was controlled by seven major motion picture studios. More importantly it was controlled by moguls, all of whom were men they of eastern European descent, who ruled the studio in the same way that the kings of their previous countries ruled the peasants. Creative control belonged to the mogul, while the money was always controlled by the New York bankers, the so-called “Suits”.

This power alignment began with the beginning of Hollywood prior to 1920, and continued for 40 plus years. What held it intact was the caste system, whereby the stars were controlled by individual studios. They were paid on a yearly basis, and had no say whatsoever in the movies they would appear in. In essence they were slaves to the system, not very different from how baseball players were handled until the Supreme Court outlawed career-long captive players.

The Hollywood caste system began to crack in the 1950’s, when Kirk Douglas, the father of Michael Douglas went independent, and formed one of the first independent film companies called Bryna, for his mother. They produced the “Vikings”, “Spartacus”, and “Seven Days in May”. The so called Studio system was now dead. Power shifted to the individual actors, who became BRAND NAMES in their own right.

Two developments began in the 1960’s. The Hollywood studios would be taken over by corporations, and then reacquired by giant multinational corporations seeking world-wide influence. The second development was that the stars began to exercise their power. Giant multinationals like Sony, Newscorp, and Viacom hated the fact that stars had so much power. In the last ten years, A-List actors like Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, and Robert Redford started to receive profit participations, which the studios only gave begrudgingly.

At first it didn’t matter because Hollywood accounting is such that somehow the studios could always show a loss on the movie. The stars got wise to that very quickly, and started taking front end participations, a percentage of the ticket when movie goers bought their tickets. In my 35 years on Wall Street, I participated in financing many movies, and I have to tell you that nobody ever made money on the backend. No matter how big the movie, somehow the movie always lost money when it came to the backend participations.

We have now reached a point where the giant multinationals that control media on a world wide basis are fed up with what they are putting up with on behalf of brand name stars. Mel Gibson as you know has run into trouble on the West Coast with his drinking, and purported anti-Semitic remarks resulting in Disney canceling a Holocaust series with Gibson’s production company.

Now Tom Cruise has had a falling out with Sumner Redstone, and Viacom. Publicly Redstone has stated he doesn’t like some of Cruise’s actions in the last year. This doesn’t make sense. Normally when a studio breaks with a star, there is no public statement. None is required to be given, and they just part ways. This is more personal.

It is rumored that Viacom had offered Cruise a $2 million production deal, down from $4 million in the previous deal, plus a $6 million fund for the development of movie projects. Here’s the real deal. Tom Cruise did “Mission Impossible III” for Viacom, the movie grosses near $400 million world-wide. Cruise had negotiated as a fee, 25% of Viacom’s gross revenue on the movie.

This is the way it works. The movie does $400 million. The theaters get half, and Viacom gets half, that’s $200 million apiece. Cruise gets 25% of Viacom’s half, that’s $50 million. In the end Viacom gets $150 million, and Cruise gets $50 million. Sounds great for Viacom doesn’t it. Not really, Viacom must pay for the movie which had to be $150 million plus advertising. Viacom gets zero, and Cruise still gets $50 million. This is why Sumner Redstone of Viacom is annoyed, and Cruise is sitting on top of the world.

In the end Redstone will last laugh, why you ask? There’s still Hollywood accounting to deal with. Remember that all the original Hollywood studios were sold off into the hands of multinational corporations (MNC’s). Do you really think the MNC’s bought the studios for the theater gross? Absolutely not. In reality movie ticket sales represent a third of a movie’s earnings power. Viacom can lose money on a picture, and still make a fortune on DVD sales (a third), and future television and cable rights (a third).

The MNC’s have never shared profits on these other two-thirds of the revenue, and they never will. They refuse to even discuss it, and the numbers are buried deep in the corporation’s financial statements. They are never broken out, and they are kept secret. Viacom has made, and will make hundreds of millions of dollars on Mission Impossible III.

Redstone got fed up and threw Cruise off the lot. There are now statements being made by Cruise’s production partner Paula Wagner. She says that Cruise is raising $200 million from hedge funds to fund Cruise’s future projects. Wait until these Wall Street hedge fund types learn about Hollywood accounting. They are going to lose their shirts funding movies. This is not an industry that Wall Street should want to get involved with. Losing your shirt is one thing, but not even knowing that you have lost it until you are standing naked in the street is quite another.

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Maria Palma asked:


We’ve been seeing quite a few celebrity faces splashed across the internet because of their DUI arrests. It’s almost an everyday occurrence. We’ve seen celebrities such as Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, and Lindsey Lohan who have been charged with drunk driving. Fortunately people weren’t seriously injured or hurt because of their careless behavior. Would it have been an issue if someone was injured or was killed? Should we be holding these celebrities responsible for being good role models?

It seems like nowadays most people in our society think drinking and driving isn’t such a big deal. People get a slap on the wrist, little bitty fines, and short jail sentences. No wonder it isn’t taken seriously.

Are the lawmakers and legislature to blame because they haven’t been pushing for harsher jail sentences and DUI penalties? Are kids not getting enough education on this issue? What if celebrities had to do public service announcements as part of their DUI sentence? Do you think these celebrities have an obligation to be good role models for our children?

There are some initiatives going on right now to combat this drunk driving epidemic. Car companies like Nissan are working on installing technology similar to the ignition interlock device that detects alcohol in a person’s body when they get behind the wheel. Also, the state of New Mexico has ordered talking urinals to be installed in various establishments that serve alcohol. These talking urinal cakes utter public service announcements while someone is using the restroom. Will these initiatives work?

What can we do to prevent drunk driving in America? Should there be less drinking in movies and TV shows? Should celebrities be more responsible in their behavior? After all, children idolize them and often mimic their behaviors in order to be perceived as “cool”. What do you think?

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Tsoof and Eden Baras asked:


I usually like really deep and meaningful movies a lot more than any others. Surprisingly, actions movies take my fancy once in a while and Bruce Willis usually stars in the more entertaining of the lot. “The Fifth Element” was a great action / sci-fi movie that I particularly liked and it managed to squeeze in a cute message just for good measure.

In 1914 in a ruined temple in Egypt, an archaeologist and a priest uncover ancient writings describing the arrival of a Great Evil every five millennia. The excavation is interrupted by the arrival of giant aliens called Mondoshawan. The Mondoshawan enter the temple and removed four stones corresponding with the four elements (water, fire, earth and air) from a hidden crypt inside the temple. They hide the stones until such time as the Great Evil arrives. They charge the priest with preserving the temple and its knowledge through the generations and promise to return with all the stones and the fifth element necessary to protect the world when the time comes.

In the year 2263, a Federal Navy space fleet is swallowed by a planetary eclipse, giving birth to the Great Evil that was foretold by the Mondoshawan. As they promised, the Mondoshawan come to earth to return the stones in order to stop the Great Evil. However, during their journey, the Mondoshawan’s ship is shot down by a war-like alien race called Mangalores. From the wreck, scientists recover a fragment of one of the Mondoshawan with several living cells. From the fragment they clone Leeloo Minai Lekarariba-Laminai-Tchai Ekbat De Sebat (played by the beautiful Milla Jovovich), a supreme being. Leeloo escapes the laboratory and dives into a passing taxicab driven by Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis), a former major in the Federated Army’s Special Forces. Korben brings an unconscious Leeloo to Priest Vito Cornelius.

The Mangalores meet Zorg (Gary Oldman), a wealthy industrialist who commissioned the assault on the Mondoshawan ship. Zorg offers to give weapons to the Mangalores in exchange for the stones inside the case salvaged from the crashed Mondoshawan ship. Unfortunately for Zorg, and the Mangalores who he subsequently kills, the case from the Mondoshawan ship is empty.

Meanwhile, at Cornelius’s apartment, Leeloo reveals that the stones are actually safeguarded by renowned opera singer Diva Plavalaguna (Ma?wenn Le Besco), whom Leeloo must meet and that she is the fifth element necessary to save the world from the Great Evil.

The Galactic President learns about the stones and the Diva and drafts Dallas back into the Federated Army to retrieve the stones. Dallas is sent to Fhloston Paradise, a space liner where the Diva will be performing, as a winner of a contest. Dallas and Leeloo go to Fhloston Paradise where all hell breaks loose during the Diva’s evening performance.

In order to save the world, Leeloo must take the four stones and herself to the ancient temple. When they finally get to the temple, a physically and emotionally wounded Leeloo questions the validity of protecting life that is not worth protecting. She is hesitant to provide the Divine Light needed to complete the process, fearing that humans will inevitably destroy themselves. As it turns out, the fifth element, necessary to save the world and protect it from the Great Evil, is Love.

It all just goes to show that, in the past hundreds of years, we humans have been destroying ourselves in many different ways and the reason life is worth living, is for the love we share. So save the world, spread the Divine Light, share the love.

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