This is the time to turn around the economic game so it works for all of us rather than the 1%.

From the producers of The Economics of Happiness DVD which will be the subject of a review in February and whose trailer appears below comes a March Conference dedicated to the same theme. Bringing together some of the greatest economic visionaries of our time who collectively are redefining economics so that it serves people and the planet, the conference will be held from March 23-25 at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, California.

Conference themes include Breaking Down the Old Economy, Small Scale on a Large Scale, Local Futures and Reweaving the Fabric of Hope.

Among the stellar international group of presenters are Vandana Shiva, a worldrenowned activist, physicist, feminist and the founder of Navdanya, Annie Leonard, the author and host of The Story of Stuff and director of The Story of Stuff Project, Richard Heinberg, the author of ten books, including The Party’s Over, Peak Everything, and The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality, Bill McKibben, the author of a dozen books about the environment and the economy including The End of Nature and Deep Economy: the Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, Helena Norberg-Hodge, the founder and director of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) and its predecessor, the Ladakh Project. She is the author of Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh and producer and co-director of the film, The Economics of Happiness, Judy Wicks, the founder of White Dog Café and an international leader and speaker in the local living economies movement. Judy is co-founder of the nationwide Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE), Rebecca Tarbotton, Executive Director of Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and former Project Coordinator at ISEC. Under her direction, RAN challenges corporate power in order to protect endangered forests, transform dirty energy expansion into a clean energy future, and combat global warming.

There will also be performances by Jennifer Berezan (edgeofwonder.com), Nina Wise (ninawise.com) and Wes “Scoop” Nisker (http://woodzie.org/scoop/)

You can download the PDF Conference brochure by clicking here

The date to obtain discounted tickets is January 15, so if this is of interest to you, please check out the brochure and make your ticket purchase before then.

Please let me know if you decide to attend and perhaps a group of us can have a lunch or dinner together. I will be there to interview a few of the conference speakers in preparing my story.

From Institute of Noetic Sciences

Ed. Note: There are few scholars in the world better equipped to evaluate where civilization is headed than eminent professor of philosophy and cultural history Richard Tarnas. In the following dialogue, excerpted and edited from the Institute of Noetic Sciences’ teleseminar series, Shifting Paradigms, IONS Senior Scientist Dean Radin talks with Dr. Tarnas about the notion of paradigm shifts and what is required for a society to make such a leap. To read a chapter from Tarnas’s book, Cosmos and Psyche, go here.

Radin: In your first book, The Passion of the Western Mind (1993), you explain the context in which we find ourselves, how we got where we are. Most people most of the time don’t think much about why they believe the things that they do and why society works the way that it does. In your second book, Cosmos and Psyche (2006), you use an enchanted view of reality, in a sense, to show why some of the aspects of traditional astrology are actually quite useful in seeing where we are and where we are going.

Tarnas: I wrote The Passion of the Western Mind as a kind of overview of the history of the Western worldview up until the late twentieth century. I wanted to try to see the larger paradigm shifts that took place and the major factors that were at work in forming our current worldview. We really can’t understand ourselves or the present without having a good grasp of the historical factors that shaped us. I love that sentence from historian Daniel Boorstein: “Trying to understand and create the future without knowing the past is like planting cut flowers.” We need a sense of our roots. The Passion of the Western Mind gives that kind of overview.

It’s particularly focused on the West, starting from the ancient Greeks, because that’s the cultural worldview that is so fundamental in shaping the global context today. For better or worse, modernity is the most powerful influence on our global civilization now, and that history goes from the ancient Greeks up through the Roman period, right through the medieval era to the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the scientific revolution, and so forth, up to the modern and postmodern periods. In my first book, I attempted to see the big picture as well as the ways in which a culture’s philosophy, religion, and science interact in any given era; it will shape the worldview, the cosmology, the notion of the divine, the notion of our understanding of the human self and its place in the universe. All these things constitute a worldview. So, in that book, I sought to understand that evolution of consciousness as well as I could.

My second book, Cosmos and Psyche, is actually the reason I wrote the first book, which served as a kind of prelude and a foundation to the second one—I’ll go into that in a second.

But perhaps we might want to engage some of the larger issues that go into paradigm shifts and why a culture seems ready or ripe for a major change of vision at a particular time? What makes a difference?

To continue reading this penetrating interview, click here.

Three upcoming IONS events:

“Conscious Aging” Telecourse

On January 18th, IONS begins its next 8-week educational program, “Conscious Aging,” facilitated by Kathleen Erickson-Freeman, IONS Elder Education Program Manager, and featuring experts in the field of conscious aging. Sessions will take place on eight consecutive Wednesday evenings from 5–7pm PT through March 7th. The course is $75 for IONS members and $235 for nonmembers (you can join for as low as $35!); low income rates are also available. To register, go here. Next on the schedule: “Buddha’s Brain: Taking in the Good” with Rick Hanson, PhD, from March 14 – May 2. More details coming soon…

Spirituality and Psychology Conference
February 17–19, 2012
Menlo College, Atherton, CA

The third biennial ATP-ITP Spirituality & Psychology Conference will bring together clinicians, therapists, spiritual guides, faith-based and healing practitioners, academics, and researchers to explore the promises and pitfalls of the spiritual path. Join keynote speakers Roger Walsh, Shauna Shapiro, Jeanne Achterberg and a host of luminaries including Jim Fadiman, Arthur Hastings, Olga Louchakova, and David Lukoff to examine the nature of spiritual illusion while we seek the wisdom and health benefits available in spirituality. Enjoy workshops, presentations, music, ritual, yoga, meditation, drumming, and social networking. For more information and to register, visit www.regonline.com/spiritualitypsychology.

Noetic Film Experience

From psi research and positive psychology to meditation, mythology, and personal transformation, IONS’ first Noetic Film Experience will have something for everyone. Join us March 9–11, 2012, at the IONS EarthRise Retreat Center where we will celebrate the power of film while sharing our experiences via panels, receptions, and Q&A with filmmakers and scientists. The lineup is coming together, and additional films just booked include The Dhamma Brothers, a powerful documentary about the introduction of meditation techniques into a high-security Alabama prison. Finding Joe, which explores the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell and his focus on The Hero’s Journey. May I Be Frank, the inspiring story of a troubled man whose life starts to change when he meets the folks at Café Gratitude. Something Unknown, considered by many to be the best film on parapsychology research ever made.

And this just in: Jean Houston will be joining us to introduce and discuss her new movie, A Passion for the Possible, premiering at the festival! Go here to register or for more information.

For sponsorship information, contact Matthew Gilbert at mgilbert@noetic.org.

back from a series of hospitals back from a mugging
after funerals we are saying thank you
after the news of the dead
whether or not we knew them we are saying thank you

over telephones we are saying thank you
in doorways and in the backs of cars and in elevators
remembering wars and the police at the door
and the beatings on stairs we are saying thank you
in the banks we are saying thank you
in the faces of the officials and the rich
and of all who will never change
we go on saying thank you thank you

with the animals dying around us
our lost feelings we are saying thank you
with the forests falling faster than the minutes
of our lives we are saying thank you
with the words going out like cells of a brain
with the cities growing over us
we are saying thank you faster and faster
with nobody listening we are saying thank you
we are saying thank you and waving
dark though it is

W. S. Merwin

And, Seth Godin’s new book, We Are All Weird, describes this same shift through the lens of a celebration of choice, of treating different people differently and of embracing the notion that everyone deserves the dignity and respect that comes from being heard. The book calls for end of mass and for the beginning of offering people more choices, more interests and giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values. For generations, marketers, industrialists and politicians have tried to force us into little boxes, complying with their idea of what we should buy, use or want. And in an industrial, mass-market driven world, this was efficient and it worked. But what we learned in this new era is that mass limits our choice because it succeeds on conformity. As Godin has identified, a new era of weirdness is upon us. People with more choices, more interests and the power to do something about it are stepping forward and insisting that the world work in a different way. By enabling choice we allow people to survive and thrive.

The trailer was first unveiled Tuesday at MIPCOM, where Sutherland said that in contrast to his signature role on Fox’s 24, where he had to keep all the emotion back, his character on Touch is all about emotion, something that is on display in the trailer. Fox has not announced an exact launch date for Touch, but speculation is that the series would premiere in March in what has become known as the “Kiefer” slot on Fox: Monday at 9 PM, where 24 (as well as Heroes) aired.

To view the trailer, click here.

Steve Jobs has one wish for you.

Everything else is secondary.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish (adopted from Stewart Brand’s iconic Whole Earth Catalog).

Bonus: Love this, from an 8th Grader:

Keep your brand (and life) simple:

Here’s to the Crazy Ones: (original)

So great design is essential to products and services and their visual language promotes brand affinity and loyalty assuming the product or service is of a high quality and thus informs consumer buying decisions. In short, given a well designed product or service, the logo becomes visual shorthand for the brand and buying decision wither for or against. Poor design can insure an underwhelming desire to purchase. So selecting a designer is a critical part of the business development decision tree.

In a world of commodification of everything, its not surprising that you can find websites offering $29 logos. At the opposite end of the spectrum are world-class designers like Santa Barbara based Benjamin Cziller who, for the past 20+ years, has worked with clients including The Skirball Center (Los Angeles), Technicolor, Capital Records, Guess?/George Marciano, CBS, Marriott, Richard Gere (Tibet House), International Medical Corps, UCLA, Virgin Records, The Sculpture Foundation and Season for Non-Violence. Amplifyd’s services include Launch Campaigns, Brand Identities and Applications, Book and CD covers, Film Posters, Product Packaging, and Web Site Design and Development.

Ben recently launched his new updated website, www.amplifyd.com

John Raatz, a Public Relations and Marketing professional and founder of GATE (Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment) has this to say about Ben:

“For nearly 20 years, the art direction and graphics work for The Visioneering Group and our clients has been provided by Benjamin Cziller. Ben is a world-class creative director and designer and has worked on projects that span both the commerce sector, as well as social/humanitarian foundations and organizations.”

“Ben is committed to creating clear, effective and memorable graphic impressions for clients and projects that address the humanitarian, social and spiritual issues he finds most meaningful, the kinds of projects that Visioneering has embraced for almost 25 years.”

“Ben is not only a world-class designer, he¹s a world-class human being.”

- John Raatz

If you or anyone you know is in need of a distinct visual identity for your product or service on which to build a brand, you should consider a conversation with Ben. I have known him for over 20 years and never hesitate to recommended his services to friends and associates looking for memorable world class design. Ben delivers exceptional work on time and budget and reflects the highest business integrity in all his dealings.

“Our goal is to bring food back to communities, and focus on communities that don’t currently have good access to food and are heavily dependent on public transportation,” says founder and owner Carrie Ferrence. This week, Stockbox celebrates the opening of a 160-square-foot prototype store in a parking lot in a neighborhood where corner stores are the only source of food. Up to five customers can shop at once, said Ferrence, and only one person is needed to staff the operation.

This first store—housed in a temporary structure that’s actually smaller than a shipping container—is intended as a six-to-eight-week experiment to feel out the needs of the community and gather feedback. “A lot of people who come in are breaking down the myth that people of low income and mixed income don’t want access to organic or natural food,” Ferrence says. By the end of next year, she and partner Jacqueline Gjurgevich hope to have four permanent shipping container stores up and running.

“Everyone’s really excited to have a grocery store in the community,” Ference says. “The community’s been asking for years.”

Ed. Note: While this idea makes sense, what makes even more sense are the trends of organic home, community, container, vertical, and rooftop gardens.

Hi Readers,

As I am on holiday in New Zealand and Australia for the next month, I thought it was the perfect time to ask you for your feedback on NPD.

If you could take a moment to e-mail me your comments, it would be greatly appreciated. I would like to know what you like most about NPD, anything you might like to read about that we don’t presently cover and any improvements you feel would make NPD more useful to you. Please e-mail at jefhut@gmail.com

Thank you for being a valuable part of the new paradigm community. Without you, I’d be talking to myself

Thank you!

Jeff Hutner

Waiheke is a small island with lots of artists, great restaurants, wineries and beauty. It’s winter and yesterdays arrival in sunshine was wonderful. Today it’s raining and windy and a bit chilly which is more typical of winter.

I’ll soon be seeing my good friend Claude Lewenz and catching up on his Village Towns project. In the meantime, if you are interested in a visionary way of life and community, you may want to check out his books and videos and if you or anyone else you know might be interested in helping to birth the first Village Town in the world, an investor overview is available here.